Role of Business Analyst in AI/ML projects: Challenges and Preparedness
Business Analysis a job that is more art more than science. Since business analysis comes at the earliest part of requirements development and delivery life cycle, a Business Analyst(BA)’s job hold paramount importance because of the very reason that imperfections in requirements at the early stages costs the projects at every stage resulting in frequent re-work.
Having said that, a Business Analyst’s role has evolved in the past. With new advents of technology adoption, the role of Business Analyst is evolving. The new disruptive technology that is taking the world for a sweep is: Artificial Intelligence(AI) / Machine Learning (ML). Though these two terminologies are used sometimes interchangeably, there are beliefs that ML is one of the branches of AI. Let’s rest it there. We understand the concept.
I would like to draw your attention to a Business Analyst’s role in AI/ML environment or project opportunities. If you are reading this already, you anticipate and appreciate the fact that there is certain level of adaptability that is required in a BA’s role going forward for such projects, assignments. Let’s see what factors Business Analysts must keep in mind for getting ready for the tsunami that is forthcoming- AI/ML projects.
Understanding of AI/ML: Before going into any BA role, one must understand the project objectives well. A typical AI/ML objective can sound a bit unfamiliar to you. For example: “We need to predict the future price of house in a particular city and give our customers insight about the same through AI/ML.” If you come across such a project objective, how do you think you should approach requirement gathering and then documentation in form of requirements document? There is a certain amount of basic understanding of AI/ML applicability to various problem-solving situations is required for sure.
Understanding of the domain: AI/ML find applicability across large sets domains like healthcare, banking and financial services, retail, telecom, supply chain etc. Having a thorough knowledge on the domain that one works in as BA, will help them assimilate the impact of the new technology so that they can align themselves to the challenges posed while executing the role.
It may be an experimentation: Many companies are going for experimentation and PoC (Proof of Concept) before actually going in for a AI/ML related project. So, your approach has to be accordingly modified to achieve the end objective. If the purpose is experimentation, then the approach should be focusing on end objective quantification e.g. What level of accuracy would be acceptable? What are the threshold values beyond which the project can be declared as a failure?, etc.
Functional vs Non-Functional Requirements: As a BA, one may face challenges in terms of documenting the non-functional requirements for such projects because there may be external factors, technological factors that can affect the desired objective. What call needs to be taken for such scenarios need to be elicited and documented under non-functional requirements section.
The success lies for a Business Analyst in the fact that one has to wear multiple hats while working for AI/ML projects- probably that of Business Analyst, Domain Expert and Business Architect. The workforce worldwide is gearing up to such challenges in future. Tech companies are already gearing up to up-skill their BA task-force towards meeting the challenges that lie ahead. The right blend of business analysis, domain expertise and technical exposure will be the key success factor. The same has been illustrated in the figure below:
Realization of the fact that it needs special thinking and approach to adapt to the changing world of disruptive technologies, is the first and firm step towards the new world order. If you have not yet come across any AI/ML opportunity as a BA, then now is the right time to equip yourself as a BA who can perform in AI/ML projects and lead towards successful end result. When there comes an actual project your way, you should be mentally prepared enough to take up the challenge and come out with flying colours.
All the best for future!
