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To compete in the digital age, most companies understand that they must see digital and analytics capabilities as a core competency and strategic priority. But with the supply of talent falling further behind demand, attracting elite talent has proven difficult, especially for organizations playing catch-up. Even companies with advanced digital and analytics capabilities are struggling to meet their needs. The challenge is only getting harder, as demand is expected to grow significantly. Based on input from nearly 450 senior executives, A.T. Kearney’s second annual LEAP study validated its view that companies face growing challenges in seeking to build their digital and analytics talent. The authors define four levels of the analytics organization: 1. Leaders: Companies that deploy analytics to generate foresight on future business trends and to play a role in decision-making innovation. 2. Explorers: Companies that use analytics to predict trends to optimize business performance. 3. Followers: Companies that deploy analytics to understand and manage the drivers of cost and revenue. 4. Laggards: Companies that use analytics in the limited role of viewing past performance. <br><br> Various strategies used by leading firms to hire and retain intelligent, driven people who can work seamlessly at today’s intersection of technology, analytics, and business include: building a unique digital and analytics brand; embracing rotational programs; using cross-disciplinary teams; and building industry–university partnerships. Understanding a firm’s unique needs is key to determining how to go about hiring and retaining the right people to address those needs. Nevertheless, success in today’s marketplace requires a new normal in which digital and analytics capabilities are core to operations. Figuring out how to attract and retain “trilinguals” is the key to offering a distinct competitive advantage.

This article discusses the manner in which analytics-savvy companies achieve competitive advantage using Big Data. The LEAP study surveyed 430 companies around the world from a wide range of industries. Respondents were clustered into leaders (10 per cent), explorers (32 per cent), followers (38 per cent) and laggards (20 per cent). To date, only leaders have attained the analytic competency needed to significantly impact business results. Leaders deploy executive-level “champion practitioners” to carve out analytics mindshare throughout their organization. They also use predictive analytics to fuel innovation and growth, and often utilize pilots and rapid proof-of-concept deployment. While laggards remain focused on applying data for reporting, leaders use analytics to evaluate risks and tradeoffs, understand cost and revenue drivers, and predict trends. Leaders find champions at the very top of the organization, such as the chief operating officer or chief financial officer. Efforts at laggard companies are more typically headed by IT chiefs or business lines. But data and decision making can no longer reside in their own silos. Executives accustomed to “going with their gut” are likely to resist the change brought on by analytics, but this change is inevitable.