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Don't Panic! It's Just DataDon't Panic! It's just Data Author: EM360Tech
Turn data overwhelm into data-driven success. Led by an ensemble cast of expert interviewers offering in-depth analysis and practical advice to make the most of your organization's data. Language: en Genres: Business, Management, Technology Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Is AI Analytics the Missing Link Between Business Users and Data Teams?
Episode 57
Friday, 30 January, 2026
For years, enterprises have discussed data democratisation as if it were an inevitable end goal. An assumption was made that turning on dashboards and training the business would lead to insight following naturally. But according to Barry McCardel, Co-Founder and CEO of Hex Technologies, the reality has been much more complicated.In the recent episode of the Don’t Panic, It’s Just Data podcast, McCardel joined host Kevin Petrie, VP Research and Head of Data Management at BARC, to talk about why access alone has never been enough. He also discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) is forcing the analytics community to rethink the purpose of data. The conversation dives into a familiar issue: how can organisations empower non-technical users without compromising data trust or overwhelming the technical teams responsible for it?“We’ve spent a decade pretending the problem was solved by self-service,” McCardel says. “But what we actually did was move complexity around instead of removing it.”As AI becomes part of analytics platforms, that complexity is finally being addressed. This includes long-standing beliefs about roles, ownership, and teamwork.Addressing the Myth of Data DemocratisationTracing many of the analytics issues faced by organisations in the present day, McCardel alludes to the early self-service BI, which promised that business users could explore data on their own. This was supposed to allow analysts and engineers to focus on more important tasks. In reality, the outcome often included duplicated logic, inconsistent metrics, and a widening trust gap between teams.“Access without context is chaos,” McCardel tells Petrie. “If everyone can answer questions, but everyone answers them differently, you haven’t democratized anything; you’ve just created noise.”This issue has grown more urgent as organisations expand. Different roles—data engineers, analysts, data scientists, and business stakeholders—approach data with distinct goals and skills. Traditional tools forced everyone into the same interfaces, often designed for one group while ignoring the needs of the others.Petrie notes that many companies responded by adding layers of control, but this approach had drawbacks. Stricter guidelines slowed insight generation and pushed business users back into reliance on centralised teams.McCardel argues that the main problem isn’t a lack of governance or tools but a lack of shared understanding. “We’ve treated analytics like a handoff,” he explains. “The data team builds it, the business consumes it. That model doesn’t work when questions are fluid, and decisions are continuous.”He believes AI is revealing the limits of that model and providing a path forward.Also Watch: “Data Teams Suffer from Fragmentation” | Charles Schaefer @ Big Data LDN 2025AI is the Bridge, Not the ShortcutWhile much of the industry conversation about AI in analytics focuses on automation and natural language querying, the CEO of Hex is cautious about viewing AI as a quick fix. “If AI just gives you faster wrong answers, that’s not progress,” he points out.Instead, he presents AI as...
