16. Helen Ngo - Real Talk with Machine Learning Engineer

If there’s one trend that not nearly enough data scientists seem to be paying attention to heading into 2020, it’s this: data scientists are becoming product people.

Five years ago, that wasn’t the case at all: data science and machine learning were all the rage, and managers were impressed by fancy analytics and build over-engineered predictive models. Today, a healthy dose of reality has set in, and most companies see data science as a means to an end: it’s way of improving the experience of real users and real, paying customers, and not a magical tool whose coolness is self-justifying.

At the same time, as more and more tools continue to make it easier and easier for people who aren’t data scientists to build and use predictive models, data scientists are going to have to get good at new things. And that means two things: product instinct, and data storytelling.

That’s why we wanted to chat with Nate Nichols, a data scientist turned VP of Product Architecture at Narrative Science — a company that’s focused on addressing data communication. Nate is also the co-author of Let Your People Be People, a (free) book on data storytelling.