To survive digital transformation, businesses must be versatile, agile, and tech-savvy, says Coralie Petermann (pictured below), director of data science, Sublime Skinz, in this Q&A with ExchangeWire. As a consequence, data science is becoming increasingly important in organisations.

ExchangeWire: How do you think the General Data Protection Regulation is going to affect your job as a Data Scientist?

Coralie Petermann, Director of Data Science, Sublime Skinz

Coralie Petermann: The GDPR will put the way global companies use consumer data under a brighter spotlight than ever before – and to pass scrutiny, data expertise will be vital. In fact, the regulation itself acknowledges most companies need a dedicated in-house or external resource to follow its rules: the data protection officer. While no specific job role has yet been created, we know it can’t be technical-based, and the individual must have a good knowledge of GDPR; a title such as ‘Legal Counsel’ will be more accurate. The new GDPR role will also impact the data scientist’s job on a daily basis, as both will interact to ensure all their algorithms and datasets are compliant.

As companies make complex processing and software adjustments, they’ll need specialists on hand to ensure systems meet GDPR standards, while still maintaining their business utility. In the marketing sector, for example, data knowledge will be essential to adjust behaviour tracking procedures and retargeting algorithms so they align with robust privacy regulations. Companies will either hire people who have been previously trained, or plan training sessions for their employees to raise awareness around personal data protection and security. It won’t only be technical departments affected, but HR departments too, as they are also responsible for their employee’s PII (Personally Identifiable Information).

How do you see new technologies changing job roles across different industries?

Technological evolution is transforming almost every industry and role. As sophisticated tools have enhanced interconnectivity, tech knowhow has become a fundamental requirement for most employees, no matter what they do.

This shift is especially prominent in marketing, where rising consumer adoption of smart devices has created an abundance of new touchpoints, concepts, and data. To succeed in this high-tech landscape, marketing managers need a versatile skill set that ranges from simple analysis (interpreting data and determining how messages should be delivered for optimal relevance) to automating activities using artificially intelligent platforms. Nowadays, we all need to be tech-proficient, at least to a basic level.

The presence of women in tech has traditionally been limited, how do you see this changing?

Underrepresentation of women in tech has always been a problem, but there are positive signs this is changing. Around the world, movements are cropping up that not only aim to boost awareness of the issue, but also do something about it. For example, programmes such as the Europe-wide Inspiring Fifty are celebrating inspiring female tech figures, and initiatives everywhere from the UK to Hawaii are working to improve the gender balance in science, tech, engineering, and maths. Even better news is that these efforts are having a tangible impact. Last year, 61,430 more women took on STEM roles in the UK and over 40% of U.S. statistics graduates are now female – we are undoubtedly moving in the right direction.

It must, however, be noted that the gender gap still exists, with just 24% of computer scientist and 11% of Silicon Valley executive roles held by women. There is still some way to go before we reach tech gender equality, and this means the industry must continuously and collectively strive to close the gap. At Sublime Skinz, for instance, 50% of the team are female and we are focused on echoing this across departments.

What core tech skills do you think businesses need to develop to be successful?

To survive digital transformation, businesses must be versatile, agile, and tech-savvy. Just like their employees, they should expand their skills base, mastering mediums that engage modern consumers, such as online video and social media. Indeed, many small companies have already recognised the importance of moving beyond core products or services, and have begun to enhance their abilities in online content creation, search engine optimisation (SEO), online marketing, community management, and website monetisation.

They also need to place a strong emphasis on dexterity, which means developing a diverse talent pool. Acquiring experts in areas such as coding, machine learning, big data, and AI will help businesses future-proof their organisation by amassing internal resources they can harness to instantly update systems and strategies in line with emerging trends or tech.

As technology continues to evolve, and we see a rise in the use of AI and machine learning, are you able to recruit the right people quickly enough?

Advertising technology is constantly evolving, which means skills gaps arise and need to be filled quickly. But speed shouldn’t be prioritised over quality. When it comes to expanding the Sublime Skinz team, we prefer to spend longer searching for people who not only have the desired capabilities, but also the right mindset. For us, employees should be problem solvers and collaborators, as well as specialists in their field with deep market knowledge. This can be labour-intensive, but it delivers worthwhile results and, as each successive generation becomes more digitally adept, finding the perfect candidate for tech-centric roles will be a progressively easier task. At Sublime Skinz we already have 22 people working on the data science and tech team, four of which have a machine-learning background, and we’ll be looking to hire 15 more data scientists, and people with core tech skills this year.