It’s no secret that the business translator role can be crucial to success in your organization when it comes to data and analytics. The business translator serves as the bridge between the technical and business teams, and they are especially skilled at hearing business challenges or pain points and describing a solution using data. What exactly does the role look like in practice though? How do business translators drive successful analytics in different organizations? Let’s break down how their roles may change depending on what’s going on at your organization. 

The Role of the Business Translator in Project-Centric Analytics Organization 

Many organizational needs fall under a “Project-Centric” model when it comes to data and analytics. In this model, data analysis is more centralized and project-based, and analytics are not self-service. This means the business relies on data analysts or IT teams to create reports and conduct analysis, with limited user access to the data, and the business translator can play a huge role. 

Support Structured Reporting and Standard in Delivery 

For these types of projects, the business translator works hand-in-hand with data analysts and IT teams, acting as the intermediary. They support the development and delivery of more structured reporting, ensuring there is an overall standard in formatting and scheduled delivery to users. 

Since analytics are less self-service, the business translator spends less time training business users. Instead, they focus more on the overall visibility of data, setting it up, and exposing it in a way that is easily understood and meets the needs of the business. They also help assess the feasibility of achieving certain insights, clarifying any technical complexities so that stakeholders understand potential assumptions or resource requirements. 

Design Long-Term Tech Solution Strategies  

Although some of the projects business translators support in this type of approach may be short-term, it is imperative for organizations to continually evaluate whether their current technology solutions align with their long-term goals. A business translator is the ideal person to support this effort. 

Business translators can play a key role in designing and evaluating these solutions, advising on the application of technology, and often serving as the connective tissue with vendors, advocating for the needs of the business. They can also help evaluate the feasibility of different solutions, leveraging their understanding of both the business’s needs and the complexities of the technology side. This is especially in life sciences or other specialized industries where end users may not have deep data expertise. 

For AI specifically, a biopharma client was looking at a broad set of vendors for self-service biomarker analysis. The business translator, in partnership with engineering and business stakeholders, was able to understand expected effort and output quality of each, as well as in-house development.  

The Role of the Business Translator in Self-Service Data Organization  

For more self-service projects when it comes to analytics, the role of the business translator doesn’t shrink; it just changes. In these types of organizations, users are more empowered to create their own dashboards and reports based on their needs. Let’s break down what that means for the business translator. 

Business User Empowerment & Training 

In self-service organizations, empowering business users and enabling them to create their own reports for various needs is a top priority for the business translator. In our experience, the most successful organizations have business users creating 60-80% of their own reports without relying on IT. To support this goal, business translators should constantly evaluate how they can help their organization achieve this level of independence. 

The business translator should also interpret and analyze data independently. This includes demonstrating the value of the data they are likely already generating. Often, a business translator can bring fresh perspectives to reports that have been generated for years, interpreting new data in that context to help paint a more complete picture. 

Advanced Report Customization & Rationalization 

Another common role we often see the business translator playing is having cross-functional oversight of all the different reports being created. This ensures organizations don’t end up with dozens of redundant or inconsistent dashboards with the same data, just exposed in different ways. The business translator can support overall report rationalization or KPI rationalization, ensuring that organizations interpret data in a consistent and unified way. By offering proactive training and support, the business translator aims to prevent future report/KPI rationalization issues—for instance, avoiding a scenario where multiple versions of the same sales dashboard exist. 

Special Considerations for Business Translators with AI-Focused Initiatives  

With organizations bringing AI to the forefront of their transformation strategies, we know that AI-focused initiatives will also be a huge area where the business translator can provide value. What does that look like? 

Promoting AI Literacy and Understanding 

As with any emerging technology, it’s critical for organizations to understand its role and how it can best be leveraged in a successful way. The business translator can play a huge role here in educating on the current state of AI capabilities and explaining what outcomes to expect. They can help promote strong understanding of the importance of AI ethics and overall governance and help increase awareness.  

Defining AI Use Cases Across the Organization 

As the business translator is increasing education and literacy when it comes to AI, we also often see successful organizations begin to document potential use cases for AI early – often before their organization has an AI strategy embedded in their fabric. The business translator can work with different teams to understand their challenges and discuss the art of the possible when it comes to how each AI solution could help. They can also protect stakeholders from “AI vultures” or overhyped solutions, clarifying which applications are realistic and which are not. 

Going Forward 

As organizations continue their analytics journey, we know that the role of the business translator will also continue to evolve and grow. A foundation of business translators embedded in your organizations will set an organization up for success as they move down the path of advanced analytics. 

To chat more about the value business translators can bring to your organization, regardless of your analytics structure, connect with one of our analytics experts today.