Unlocking Potential: Removing Barriers to Drive Profitability, Satisfaction, and Innovation

The term “unlocking” can take on different meanings based on the context in which it is used. In our context, it refers to removing barriers and obstacles that prevent the development and growth of data science in Saudi Arabia, thereby unlocking its potential. Another interpretation of the term is to remove the lock from a door, which in our case refers to removing market restrictions for companies to boost the top three business values: profitability, customer satisfaction, and innovation.

Barriers and obstacles

Skill gap and talent shortage: Data science requires a specific set of skills that are not yet widely available in many parts of the world, including Saudi Arabia. Finding and hiring qualified data scientists can be challenging, particularly in areas where there is high demand for this type of talent.

Set clear objectives: Before embarking on a data science initiative, it’s important to define clear objectives and goals. This will help establish a framework for measuring the success of the initiative and for identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to measure value.

Challenge with identifying high value use cases: There is no shortage of initiatives that can generate significant value for organisations and even for the broader society. Yet, it is often very hard to identify such opportunities. This is because they are not often found in the most obvious of places.

Obstacles for determining costs: It is often hard to segregate costs that are directly linked to a data science use case. This can be for a variety of reasons including difficulties for attributing technology delivery costs and the frequent error of omission regarding operational costs. Another often overlooked challenge is considerations for opportunity costs amongst other considerations that are underpinned by prioritisation concerns.

Difficulty in measuring ROI: Since identifying high value cases and determining costs can be challenging, it is additionally difficult to measure the return on investment (ROI) of data science initiatives can be challenging, particularly for those who are not familiar with the field. It is also often challenging for stakeholders to predict the potential value an initiative is likely to deliver. Beyond this, it is also important to ensure adequate monitoring of the point of diminishing marginal returns.

Difficulty in measuring ROI can make it harder to justify investments in data science and hinder its adoption. However, 80% of the difficulty in measuring ROI can be overcome by setting clear and specific objectives for the data science initiative.

In order to unlock, you need key drivers

To improve profitability, one important key driver is to optimize pricing strategies. In fact, by analyzing customer data and market trends, data science can help companies develop optimized pricing strategies that maximize revenue and profit margins. This can involve dynamic pricing, price optimization, and personalized pricing based on customer behaviors.

For customer satisfaction, again many key drivers are there, but there is one that particularly attracts my attention for Saudi Arabia market: personalized experiences. Consumer expectation keeps increasing exponentially in Saudi Arabia, and so, by using machine learning algorithms to analyze customer data, companies can personalize their products, services, and experiences to meet the individual needs and preferences of customers. This can lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Innovation refers to the creation or development of something new or improved that provides value to people or organizations. One key driver is the identification of new opportunities. By analyzing data from various sources, including customer feedback, market trends, and internal processes, data science can help companies identify new opportunities for innovation. This can lead to the development of new products, services, and business models that can drive growth and increase revenue.

Needs keep growing… 

The Saudi Arabia Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Market, which includes Data Science, is expected to register a CAGR of 31.6% during the forecast period (cf picture).

Industries in Saudi Arabia are evolving rapidly primarily due to the growing development of data-based AI solutions and advancements in machine learning, boosting the overall market’s growth opportunities.

Furthermore, the expansion of the Internet of Things infrastructure, expanding enterprise networks, increasing data complexity, and advancements in data analytics solutions are what will keep driving the Saudi Arabia Big Data Analytics Market.

Need to know more… 

Driven by Vision 2030, we make efforts every single day and for each single customer, to overcome these challenges and to make data science more accessible and profitable in Saudi Arabia.

If you are looking to leverage the power of data science to drive growth, profitability, and innovation, look no further than abiliti. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve your business goals.

By Abdelkader Saou | AI & Analytics | May 17, 2023