The 8 Skills That Will Redefine Your Analytics Career

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Dashboards refresh themselves. Models improve on their own. And AI can spit out a first draft of your analysis before the steam’s even risen from your coffee.

For a long time, technical skill was enough. It was your moat, your differentiator. Mastering the tools, knowing the syntax, building complex pipelines, those were the tickets to growth.

But that game has changed.

Generative AI has made analytics faster, cheaper, and far more available. What used to require days of work now takes minutes. The activities that once signalled value.. cleaning data, optimising SQL, designing dashboards are no longer the differentiators they once were. They're being automated at speed and scale.

That’s not a reason to panic. It’s a reason to adapt.

Because the tasks being automated weren’t the most valuable parts of our work. They were just the most visible. The real value now lies in what remains hidden: our ability to interpret, influence, and decide. And that’s exactly where most analytics professionals are underdeveloped.

You’ve probably felt this shift. Projects are moving faster, but the impact feels more elusive. The hiring conversations are different too. Managers aren’t just hunting for tool experts anymore, the ones I am talking to are quietly searching for people who can connect the dots between data, money, risk, and strategic outcomes.

That’s the gap this series is here to close.

Where analytics careers really stall

We have covered this a few times before in this newsletter. Most analytics careers don’t stall due to a lack of skill. They stall because the work lacks visibility.

You put together clean, well-structured dashboards. But no one takes action.
You fix data problems no one notices.
You watch your insights get relayed second-hand in meetings you weren’t invited to.

And meanwhile, someone else less technical, maybe even less experienced manages to get the credit, the airtime, and the promotion.

This isn’t about being bitter. It’s about being honest.

Impact alone isn’t enough. Impact has to be seen. And seen by the right people, in the right way.

The analysts who move fastest in their careers aren’t always the most technical or the most clever. They’re the ones who can show (with clarity and confidence) how their work drives results.

That’s not a gap AI can close for you. But it’s a gap you can close for yourself.

I still talk to people every other day that are missing this nuance.

The shift that’s happening

The new baseline for execution is being set by AI. But human-level leadership? That’s still scarce.

AI can match patterns. But it can’t make political trade-offs.
It can mimic workflows. But it can’t apply actual nuanced judgment.
It can summarise data. But it can’t persuade people.

The future of this profession doesn’t belong to the fastest coder or the most advanced modeller. It belongs to those who can guide real decisions, not just report on what already happened.

The analysts who’ll thrive from here are the ones who:

• Ask better questions

• Frame their work in business language

• Influence decisions without waiting for permission

• Quantify how their analysis changed business performance

That is why this series is built to teach you how to build the kind of skills that make you hard to ignore and impossible to automate. One week at a time.

Simple. Follow the recipe.

The 8 skills that will redefine your career

Over the next eight weeks, we’ll explore the capabilities that separate analysts who report from analysts who lead.

1. Advanced Analytics Capability – Move beyond dashboards to measurable impact.

2. AI Literacy & Applied GenAI – Partner with automation instead of competing against it.

3. Business Acumen for Analysts – Connect every dataset to revenue, risk, and customer value.

4. Executive Communication – Make your insights board-ready and impossible to ignore.

5. Decision Leadership – Guide teams through ambiguity when data alone isn’t enough.

6. Data Storytelling & Persuasion – Turn numbers into narratives that drive action.

7. Ethical & Responsible AI Practice – Build trust into every model and process.

8. Career Antifragility – Design a career that strengthens through disruption.

Each issue will include:

• A short, actionable playbook you can apply immediately

• Examples of what “visible value” looks like on your CV and in stakeholder meetings

• A 30-day experiment to test and build the skill inside your current job

This isn’t theory. It’s not hype. It’s the real stuff.

The practical levers of credibility, influence, and advancement.

Why this matters now

Most career advice for analysts still operates on the assumption that technical skills are scarce.

They’re not. Not anymore.

Every business has access to the tools. Most have access to people who can use them. Templates, notebooks, and AI copilots have flattened the technical playing field. What remains scarce, what’s still hard to find, are people who can make sense of it all.

That’s the opportunity in front of you.

If you can bridge the technical and the strategic.. If you can speak both languages fluently.. you become a rare kind of asset: a decision partner.

These 8 skills aren’t just nice to have. They’re multipliers. Stack them, and the compounding effect changes your entire trajectory.

• Advanced analytics makes your work measurable

• AI literacy keeps you efficient

• Business acumen makes your work commercially relevant

• Executive communication makes it land with leaders

• Decision leadership helps you scale your impact

• Storytelling makes your insights unforgettable

• Ethical practice makes it trusted

• Antifragility makes it last

This isn’t a skills list. It’s a system. For visibility. For influence. For long-term relevance.

We work in systems. Dont leave things to chance.

What you’ll be able to do by the end

If you follow along each week and put the ideas into practice, you’ll finish with a toolkit that lets you:

• Translate technical outputs into business outcomes

• Lead conversations with confidence not just answer questions

• Use AI intelligently without letting it define your value

• Quantify the commercial impact of your work

• Build a proof-driven portfolio of influence and leadership

At that point, you’re no longer competing for attention. You’re commanding it.

That’s the difference between being seen as a service function and being treated as a strategic partner.

The divide that’s coming

Whether we admit it or not, analytics is splitting.

On one side: the automation layer. Dashboards that update themselves. Reports that draft themselves. Work that’s fast, efficient, and completely forgettable.

On the other: the human layer. Analysts who guide decisions. Who influence investment. Who turn complexity into clarity.

Only one of those layers gets promoted, retained, and paid more.

Automation will always be cheaper.
The human layer will always be rarer.

The choice in front of you is simple: which side will you build your career on?

What’s coming next

Next Sunday, we kick things off with Skill 1: Advanced Analytics Capability.

You’ll learn a method to turn any piece of analysis into business impact. I’ll walk you through how to phrase it in your CV, how to communicate it in meetings, and how to turn that into visible proof of leadership.

Because until you can show how your work moves a number that matters, everything else is noise.

What I promise

Each week, you’ll get one sharp, practical, career-shaping essay. No recycled Medium posts. No productivity clichés. Just real insight, designed for real progress.

And just like from my coaching clientele .. what I expect from you:
Read it. Try it. Track what happens.

If you follow through, you’ll finish the series with eight specific, provable reasons your career is built to thrive. (no matter how AI evolves)

And a kickass CV.

TADAA: The Analytics Decline Accelerates Alarmingly

Welcome to this week's special report on Career Annihilating Events. We're tracking the most significant job-killing news from the past seven days where AI is replacing the white-collar workforce. Here are the three most devastating stories that broke between November 2-9, 2025.

#1 MOST CAREER ANNIHILATING: IBM Confirms Thousands Laid Off in AI, Consulting, and Engineering Roles (November 3, 2025)

IBM has announced the layoffs of thousands of employees in November, targeting architects, engineers, and consulting talent engaged with artificial intelligence and marketing services. IBM’s filing and executive statements reveal these cuts are driven by “efficiency gains and client shifts to automated solutions,” with AI and automation removing layers previously needed for project delivery, documentation, and analytics. This is a significant blow for high-skilled, analytics-adjacent roles in one of the sector’s historic safe havens.​

Source: CRN

#2 MODERATELY CAREER ANNIHILATING: Over One-Third of Companies Plan to Replace Entry Roles with AI (November 5, 2025)

According to a new HR Dive survey published November 5, more than 4 in 10 employers plan to replace entry-level and operations staff with AI—most notably in back-office, analytics, and administrative functions. Of those, 58% cited direct plans to automate analytics, operations, and support roles, marking a broader negative trend across the entire data and analytics sector. The published stats are based on live business leader polling, indicating that this transition is actively happening now as firms look to trim costs and increase AI-driven productivity.​

Source: HR Dive

#3 SOMEWHAT CAREER ANNIHILATING: Klarna’s CEO Claims 40% Workforce Reduction Mostly Due to AI (November 4, 2025)

Klarna, the global payments and analytics fintech, has cut its workforce by roughly 40% over the past twelve months according to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, who cited AI advancements as the primary driver. Klarna’s CEO states, “AI has replaced the work done by our back-office and analytics contractors,” and confirms that “algorithmic processing is now performing more financial analysis and customer service than a team of hundreds.” This admission highlights a direct link between real-world AI deployments and significant white-collar job losses.​

Source: CNBC

Your invitation

You don’t need to worry about AI replacing you. You need to make sure it can’t.

AI can execute. Only you can lead.

If you're ready to become the kind of analyst who shapes decisions instead of waiting for direction then you're in the right place.

One new skill. Every Sunday.
Let’s climb. One step at a time.

Best,

Tom.

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