Top Ten Tech Influencers in Big Data & Analytics

Top Ten Tech Influencers in Big Data & Analytics

It’s time that we all accept that the infamous mom and pop saying, “Put your phone down and experience the real world”, has lost its edge. Our phones are no longer filled with mindless games that simply serve our entertainment purposes, but these days, they’re a source of new information and networking. 

If you are a user of any social network, you are well aware that news is always being shared through Facebook comments, LinkedIn messages and Twitter posts. 

In this blog post, we highlight ten members of the data community that have sparked conversations on Twitter, while also taking the time to create their own content to connect with us and share their experiences. 

Lillian Pierson (147.7K Followers)

@Strategy_Gal

Lillian Pierson is not only a stellar influencer on Twitter, but a highly ranked tech teacher on Linkedin. She started as a licensed engineer which set her on the track to becoming CEO of Data-Mania in 2013. Today, it is recorded that she has trained over 1 million workers on their data leadership capabilities which helps organizations in marking major digital transformations. Pierson is consistently updating her social media feed with various blog posts and life lessons, while spending her free time writing novels to continue helping those in the data world to expand their brand and learn the ins and outs of the market. 

Cindi Howson (25.5K Followers)

@BIScoreCard 

Cindi is an analytics and BI thought leader and expert with a flair for bridging business needs with technology.  As Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot, she advises top clients on data strategy and best practices to becoming data- driven, influences ThoughtSpot’s product strategy, and is the host of The Data Chief podcast. Cindi was previously a Gartner research Vice President, as the lead author for the data and analytics maturity model and analytics and BI Magic Quadrant, and a popular keynote speaker.  She introduced new research in data and AI for good, NLP/BI Search, and augmented analytics and brought both the BI bake offs and innovation panels to Gartner globally. She’s rated a top 12 influencer in big data and analytics by Onalytca, Solutions Review, and Humans of Data.  Prior to joining Gartner, she was founder of BI Scorecard, a resource for in-depth product reviews based on exclusive hands-on testing, contributor to Information Week, and the author of several books including: Successful Business Intelligence: Unlock the Value of BI & Big Data and SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0: The Complete Reference. She served as The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI) faculty member for more than a decade. Prior to founding BI Scorecard, Howson was a manager at Deloitte & Touche and a global BI standards leader for Dow Chemical. She has an MBA from Rice University.

 Kirk Borne (265.1K Followers)

@KirkDBorne

Ranked as number one digital influencer of 2019 going into 2020, Kirk Borne has maintained his rep throughout this tumultuous year of COVID-19 and other disasters. Since 2013, Kirk Borne has been updating his followers frequently on the happenings of the AI and Big Data universe. Borne naturally shows off his leadership abilities and influencer status by carrying out continuous conversations and explaining new technology in a way to be understood by the masses. Through his TEDx talks, he unites people to creations. 

Ben Lorica (44.4K Followers)

@BigData

The Twitter handle says it all. Gaining his traction through his status as Chief Data Scientist at O’Reilly Media, Lorica has continued to rise in the ranks of influencers through his educational podcast and his published statistical analyses that have helped various companies combat future endeavors. 

Carlie Idoine (1,755 Followers)

@CarlieIdoine

Her life motto, and Twitter bio states “All about making an impact with Business Intelligence, Analytics and Data Science”. Anyone in the field could say that after 25 years of experience, Idoine makes an impact. Having worked in different areas  dedicated to analyzing new data approaches and integrating new technologies, she has provided much needed research to help businesses become and  remain successful with their data. She continues to impress and supply through her position as Research Director for Business Analytics and Data Science for IT leaders. 

Andrew Ng (517.8K Followers)

@AndrewYNg

With 516.6K Followers, Andrew Ng can be said to be one of the top influencers of this generation. Graduating from Berkeley in 2002, Ng continued his career in machine learning at Google under the Google brain division before becoming VP at Baidu. Following this experience, he became the cofounder of Coursera, which is a new app to help teach others the AI knowledge in an attempt to democratize deep learning. Thus far, he has been able to reach the minds of 2.5 million students. Ng continues to impress, teach, and influence an entire generation following him simply through social media messaging. 

Hilary Mason (124.1K Followers)

@hmason

Who doesn’t love a comedic nerd? Hilary Mason is not only brilliant, but insanely funny, thus gaining the attention of the younger generation. Graduating from Brown University in 2000 as a data scientist, she used her talents to become the Chief Scientist at Bitly before creating her own startup, Fast Forward Labs, which was just acquired by Cloudera. Through her work with data research as well as her many Ted Talks, she has been dubbed for her creativity and her overall drive to change the way one understands data. 

Judith Hurwitz (16.9K Followers)

@Jhurwitz 

While she has always been heard in the tech community, since the start of COVID-19, Judith Hurwitz has seen a rise in her followers due to her daily research. Having been in the field for quite some time as both a student, a mentor, an author, and a specialist, Hurwitz has used her social media page as a way to offer possible solutions to the COVID-19 effects on the tech community. She routinely broadcasts herself as always open through her company of Hurwitz & Associates, LLC to offer advice in areas such as cloud computing, security, and service management. 

Ray Wang (127.8K Followers)

@Rwang0

In need of a POV on nearly any subject? Ray Wang can give you just that. Not only is he one of the leading influencers in the Big Data industry, you can also find him commenting on the littler things in life as well. His latest hit, an actual TikTok discussion, became a global sensation. He knows what sticks and what does not, making him an important one to follow. 

Craig Brown (99.5K Followers)

@DrDataScientist

Last but not least is Dr. Craig Brown! He dubs himself as a Techpreneur in his own Twitter bio in hopes to have other members of the industry come to him for advice and a passionate discussion. You can find him consistently tweeting to the general public the latest updates on the AI world, mainly focusing on sharing articles of interest and commenting on changes amongst various businesses.  With 95.5K followers, he is one to get in touch with. 

Who was on our radar in 2019? Check out this blog post to find out!