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Value Driven Data Science

Episode 115: Evolving Your Data Career for the AI Era

22 July 2026 27:45 Dr Genevieve Hayes

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About this episode

The AI era presents a choice for data professionals: wait to see what happens to your role, or get ahead of it and decide what it becomes. Nicholas Kelly made that choice two years ago, when a client told him ChatGPT could do 50% of what he did. What followed is a masterclass in proactive career evolution.

In this episode, Nick joins Dr Genevieve Hayes to explore how data professionals can evolve their skills for the AI era, what that evolution looks like in practice, and why their existing expertise puts them in a stronger position than they might think.

You'll discover:
1. How Nick evolved from dashboard consultant to AI architect [02:35]
2. Why the data team's role is staying the same even as everything around it changes [06:43]
3. How AI is enabling data professionals to build software that used to require a development team [12:11]
4. The best first project to build if you want to develop your AI skills [25:08]

Guest Bio

Nicholas Kelly is the co-founder and Chief AI Architect of Delivering Data Analytics, a consultancy that helps organisations turn data, BI, analytics, and AI into confident decisions people actually act on. He is also the author of Delivering Data Analytics, How to Interpret Data and the recently released The AI-Driven Data Team.

Links

  • Nicholas's Website
  • Connect with Nicholas on LinkedIn
  • Connect with Genevieve on LinkedIn
  • Be among the first to hear about the release of each new podcast episode by signing up HERE

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