The data opportunity: Success with data for everyone, everywhere

Data and analytics used to be tools available to a small number of specially-trained people. Now, data is for everyone: anyone can become a data person and experience the joy of exploring data, asking and answering questions, and having the data they need at their fingertips to spark their next great idea. This shift in working with data—from a job for the few to a skill for everyone—is actively redefining how the world thinks about analytics.

Our mission to help people see and understand data endures. The key word here is people. Real people like you use Tableau to drive real impact, transforming our mission into a movement. With your incredible generosity, expertise, skills, and willingness to help one another, every customer and member of the Tableau Community inspires me and all of us at Tableau and Salesforce. 

We develop powerful, end-to-end analytics products and services for people to use, empowering everyone, everywhere to be successful with data. Whether you’re focused on growth, learning data skills, building a Data Culture, or changing the world, your goals and analytics success drive our mission, help shape how we innovate, and fuel our continued commitment to you. At this year's Tableau Conference (TC21) opening keynote, I spoke about the amazing potential I see ahead. Here are a few highlights from my talk.

Generating new opportunities for Tableau customers, partners, and community members

Organizations recognize that they’re sitting on a mountain of valuable data critical to solutions and improving business performance, but are struggling to tap into this data to become data-driven and reach their goals. A recent survey of global, enterprise leaders revealed that 83% of CEOs want a data-driven organization ¹ (which should come as no surprise), only 30% of these same leaders say their organizations’ actions are driven by data analysis. Additional research from NewVantage Partners reveals similar discrepancies as well.

That is a huge delta between what leaders want and their organizations currently have. It’s also an incredible opportunity. This massive demand for data success has created an economy—a Tableau Economy—to meet the need. 

Built on the foundation of our robust, scalable platform, we think of the Tableau Economy as an ecosystem of customers, partners, and individuals leading the world’s data transformations. The data, skills, and solutions generated by the Tableau Economy create new opportunities in the way of jobs, careers, and business revenue.

As with any economy, you invest to help it grow. We continue to create opportunity with the Tableau Economy, and invest in ways to enable everyone, everywhere to achieve success with data:

1. For data people, we continue to support the networking, sharing, and learning that is essential to making the Tableau Community experience supportive and valuable. With the Data Leadership Collaborative, we’re expanding opportunities for more like-minded leaders to share best practices and advice for how to build data-driven organizations. And we continue to enhance Tableau Public as an inspiring place for the community to share and hone their data skills. To create a more data-literate world, learn about our commitment to enable 10 million people with data skills in 5 years.
2. For our partners, we are evolving in our newly revamped Tableau Partner Network, spanning Reseller, Services and Technology companies, to deliver even more value. We’re making it easier for Tableau customers to find and deploy trusted vendor integrations and unique solutions for their company’s specific needs. We’re also making it far easier to develop new, powerful analytical apps on the Tableau platform. 
3. For our customers, we continue to advance our technology to better meet your analytics needs. To make analytics easier for anyone to use, we have even more resources for you to jumpstart analyses, create effective dashboards, and take action on insights across a variety of use cases, departments, industries, and enterprise applications in the Tableau Exchange. Read about how the Tableau Exchange and other innovations simplify ways for anyone to build solutions on our flexible, end-to-end platform. 

Integral to data success is enabling all people and organizations to realize the full value of their data. Closing the gap between the desire to be data-driven and the reality requires much more than just investing in technology, which is only one part of the equation. 

Jaguar Land Rover and Seattle Seahawks experience success with Data Culture

Success with data isn’t possible without the human part of the equation. Beginning with their people, leaders across businesses have to ensure that individuals have secure and governed access to the data they need, are trained with the data literacy or skills to work and communicate with data, and collectively understand the value of making data-driven decisions. 

When everyone is united by a shared purpose to lead with data, they experience great outcomes together. Building and maintaining a Data Culture is a strategic investment in your data transformation—and absolutely critical to the agility, health, and future of the organization.

Customers like Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)—one of the most respected automobile brands with a long history of success—have driven business transformation by scaling analytics across the entire enterprise with a strong Data Culture. By democratizing access to data and Tableau, JLR is able to navigate supply chain issues and proactively manage risk. They recently tripled the number of Creator licenses and are currently using Tableau in every function across the organization.

Like JLR, NFL legends, the Seattle Seahawks, have also nurtured a thriving Data Culture to drive success beyond the field. Celebrating the relationship they have with their fanbase, also known as “12s,” the entire organization works tirelessly to deliver the best experience for every visitor to Seattle’s Lumen Field. 

In conversation with Seahawks Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) Amy Sprangers, I learned how the Seahawks rely on data as an asset and use Tableau to understand what 12s want, informing what investments need to be made for unique and exciting fan experiences.

At the heart of their success, the Seattle Seahawks and Jaguar Land Rover trust Tableau to surface actionable insights to enable their people, speed up business growth, and better serve their own customers. We only get to come to work at the pleasure of our customers, and this trust is a responsibility we don’t take for granted. Neither is the responsibility to understand the widespread impact of analytics, and to use data ethically.

The power of data to build a better world

Many people beginning their analytics journey may see data as neutral fields and values to be measured and investigated, often without context. When we aggregate, analyze, and communicate with data, it can be easy to forget how the many data points we work with represent—or don’t represent—human beings.

You often hear us talk about the power of data. Extending beyond the dashboard, data can be a force for good–driving public discourse and helping shape the responses to issues we care about most. If used incorrectly, however, data can also do harm. There is no power without responsibility, and we all share a responsibility to do no harm with data. 

The Tableau Foundation team partnered with the renowned research organization, Urban Institute, to develop the Do No Harm Guide. This resource for data professionals provides extensive guidance on how to prioritize equity and inclusion when working with data. 

Shena Ashley, Senior Vice President of the Urban Institute, shared her thoughts on why we need this kind of guidance, and more empathy, in today's world.

I am grateful we have the opportunity to work with partners like Shena and the Urban Institute, who focus on people first, using data to not only prevent harm, but also build a better world.

There are so many problems to solve, communities to support, and stories waiting to be told using data. What started with a simple mission and a grand vision has become a movement. And now, all of us, together—with the Tableau Economy—are delivering unbelievable impact and finding success. It is exciting to realize that this is just the beginning. 

Your trust in Tableau energizes us to carry forward our mission. And to help you realize the full value of your data, Tableau will continue to build and innovate on the broadest and deepest analytics platform that makes all of this possible. Hear Chief Product Officer Francois Ajenstat discuss the exciting product innovations we’ve rolled out this year—like AI-powered Tableau Business Science, Slack-First Analytics, and more—and read about his vision for the future of work with analytics everywhere. 

If you missed the TC21 opening keynote presented by Francois and me, watch the recording on demand here.