Predicting the way Americans are going to vote is a dangerous business. That said, a cursory look at the past 24 U.S. presidential elections (going back to 1928) might lead one to believe that the electorate tends to “randomly” (in a statistical sense) select their president.

Machine learning and predictive analytics immediately capture the imagination as people try to figure out how to use data to grow their business. “What would we do differently if we knew what was coming?” is a common question in the world of data analytics. However, there are a number of challenges with this problem framing that often reduce the success of data projects. In this article, you will learn about some of those challenges and a better approach to leveraging data.

Productionizing machine learning models is complex, and MLOps (machine learning operations) practitioners have rightly looked to software engineering processes as a blueprint, seeking to adapt traditional development and IT operations (DevOps) thinking to the particular needs of ML. This has led to the emergence of an explosion of tools to streamline and automate various parts of the ML life cycle. Collectively, this vibrant, evolving and sometimes confusing set of tools constitutes the MLOps technology stack.

Data science is a critical tool used among many customer-service sectors from technology to big brands to retail. However, only recently has there been a growing awareness that “old school” service industries – as ubiquitous as the mom-and-pop car wash – offer an unprecedented opportunity for data science to unlock tremendous value.

Basic math is hard for many people. Add chance-based decisions or probability math and you quickly cut down the number of people who won’t squirm in their seats. A good analyst can make a great impression on someone here, provided they can explain things in a way that makes sense to anyone. And building a quick decision tool can really help. Despite the reference to bricks in the title of this article, and much to the dismay of my kindergartner, this won’t be about Legos. Instead, I’m using a notional fundraiser idea that many organizations have utilized and, with proper planning, has been successful.