If you are a business owner, an employee working for corporations, or someone who enjoys keeping up with the latest and greatest from the tech world, the phrase “Big Data” is definitely a familiar one. For the best part of this past couple of years, big data stole headlines and became the hottest trend on the market.

Big data allows businesses to understand its customers – and the market in general – better through the use of big data sets from more sources than before. In recent months, however, big data’s spotlight was stolen by blockchain. Is that it for big data?

Business Intelligence 2.0

Before we answer that question, it is worth noting that big data is now an integral part of business intelligence. Businesses still rely on information from unconventional sources such as social media and other online platforms as a way to measure various metrics.

Different parts of business operations measure metrics like consumer experience level and product analysis uses the same massive pool of data. The solutions designed to gather those data sets are getting cleverer and more efficient.

The only barrier in big data analysis is the sheer size of the data itself. Manual analysis is no longer a viable option when you have so much input. That brings us to the next big change in the big data landscape: Artificial Intelligence

Smarter Analysis

Artificial Intelligence or AI simplifies data analysis like never before. A single AI entity can consume an incredible amount of data within seconds. With clever programming and the support of top data science engineers, AI systems are capable of separating valuable data from white noise and performing basic to advanced processing of the available information.

This shift to AI-based analysis was quickly followed by a trend of filling key positions related to business intelligence with people that have engineering backgrounds. Top universities such as the University of California Riverside responded to this new trend by making their online master of engineering more accessible.

Students who are studying for an online masters in engineering degree are also learning about advanced data science and how to make data-driven decisions with the help of AI and big data analysis. Strategic decisions can be made at a faster pace and businesses now have the ability to remain competitive, no matter how difficult the market can be.

The Future of Business

The combination of business-focused AI and big data analysis is exactly what today’s businesses need. On top of that, the solutions that rely on these two backbones are more accessible than ever. Your home business, for example, can benefit from AI-driven solutions such as SalesForce and IBM Watson.

The presence of AI in today’s business solutions also translates to better automation. With more data and cleverer analysis, many functions in your business can be automated. Automation leads to better efficiency since you can now let team members focus on their most important tasks rather than deal with day-to-day chores.

So, is that it for big data? Certainly not. There are still a lot of interesting innovations and solutions to expect from the technology; things can only get better.