Data analysts have traditionally lived behind dashboards, reports, and SQL queries. But in an AI-powered world where technical skills are becoming increasingly democratized, the biggest competitive advantage may no longer be building insights—it may be influencing decisions.
Today's guest believes the future of analytics isn't in the back office—it's sitting alongside sales, helping customers solve real business problems. Nathan Platter is a senior analytics leader, consultant, and founder of Platter Analytics, with a career spent turning data into business outcomes rather than just reports. He operates at the intersection of analytics, strategy, and customer engagement, challenging data professionals to become trusted advisors instead of ticket-takers.
In this episode, we explore why analysts should move closer to revenue, how engineers can develop the people skills needed to thrive in customer-facing roles, what success looks like when analytics is embedded in sales, and why the next generation of data professionals may be measured less by the dashboards they build—and more by the decisions they help drive.