Communications of the ACM
The Search For Analysts To Make Sense Of 'big Data'
DJ Patil explains a visualization of a person's LinkedIn network, where different groups of contacts are illustrated by different colors. He now recruits mathematicians for a venture capital firm.
Credit: Joi Ito / Flickr
Businesses keep vast troves of data about things like online shopping behavior, or millions of changes in weather patterns, or trillions of financial transactions — information that goes by the generic name of big data.
Now, more companies are trying to make sense of what the data can tell them about how to do business better. That, in turn, is fueling demand for people who can make sense of the information — mathematicians — and creating something of a recruiting war.
DJ Patil, with venture capital firm Greylock Partners, is on a perpetual manhunt, looking for a rare breed: someone with a brain for math, finesse with computers, the eyes of an artist and more. "Everybody's looking for these people, because they know these individuals can move the needle by themselves. They're that impactful," he says.
From NPR
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