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It’s funny how events in our lives lead us down a certain path. Those that adhere to the mysteries of destiny and faith would claim inevitability in circumstances prevailing. I’m more in the middle of this spectrum – grateful for the opportunities that may surface, though equally driven to make the most out of any situation.
One such turn of events occurred about 20 years ago, near the end of my graduate degree. Ongoing wear of my knees from sporting activity finally led to a complete tear of my anterior cruciate ligament during a game of cricket, that quintessential English game. A painful affair mentally and physically, and one that banished my prospects of playing the game at a more serious level.
Reconstructive surgery was followed by 3 months of rehabilitation in a cast over a hot, sweltering summer, leading to boredom, frustration, and FOMO (‘Fear of missing out’ to the non-Gen Zs out there). It was during this time that I stumbled across an old book I purchased from a flea market, titled ‘Mark Wilson’s Complete Magic Course’ – which still sits on my shelf today. A few pages in, and I was completely hooked…..the book provided a perfect introduction to practical magic effects that many could perform with enough dedication to the cause. Time was on my hands, and I had no shortage of commitment.
Little did I know that what started off as a fad would soon become a part-time profession that has shaped many wonderful experiences in my life. Roll forward 20 years, and the memories of performing magic remain strong….from venues including the Monaco Grand Prix to the Apollo Theatre in London, weddings in Thailand, and even downtown Havana, Cuba.
From formal occasions...
The craving for magic remains strong, as does the passion for transforming organizations through data and analytics innovation, which I have the privilege to lead at Alteryx. Arthur C Clarke, the British science fiction author, provided the most compelling quote that brings together my two passions when he famously stated, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
This got me thinking…..with the light-speed evolution of AI and data science, what has Alteryx learned from magicians, and how can it continue to astonish customers?
Let me share three basic principles of magic that provide some context.
Principle 1: Move with purpose!
Magicians attract a different sort of attention compared to other artists, given our very human nature to ensure we have not been ‘misdirected’ by the performer. To that effect, every word, motion, and action of the magician must have a clear purpose that is part of a journey leading to an astonishing reveal. Incoherence forms the basis of mistrust and dilutes the effect. With similar thinking in mind, the Alteryx low-code analytic platform has a breadth of tools that have been created with an immutable purpose in mind for users, which, when assembled appropriately in data workflows, can deliver amazing results.
For example, take the Directory Tool, one building block used to return a list of all files in a specified directory, including file metadata such as file size, creation date, and modified date. When attempting to pull the most recent files with a specified format across multiple sub-directories and folders, a user would have to undertake several manual steps, such as sorting files in directories or going into each one individually to confirm version dates. This is exacerbated by a high volume of data files which have a high frequency of change. Alteryx removes the manual ‘performance noise’ by allowing the user to configure the Directory Tool with predefined criteria, view the outputs of the fields, and open the exact files needed the first time. This automated step change allows users not to be ‘misdirected’ by unwieldy steps that deliver the magical effect.
Much like magicians removing unwanted actions from their performance, Alteryx promotes attention to detail and operational excellence in data workflow design through different channels. These include in-built help functionality, guidance from an active online community of 500k users as well as formal training, enablement, and certifications – all endorsing efficiency and transparency of the data journey to create the best magical outcome.
Principle 2: Create wonder through storytelling.
Storytelling is a somewhat forgotten art, a bit like calligraphy with the advent of the digital age. Successful storytelling has formed the basis by which all ideas in history have been shaped and exchanged – be those political, religious, or philosophical. For magicians, telling stories is the glue by which a collection of magical effects transforms into routines and shows. A story allows the audience to relate and understand what they have observed, providing relevance to the magic, and effective communication creates a journey that becomes etched in memory. Similar to magicians, Alteryx has simplified the communication of information and focused on the stories behind the data.
Take, for example, Alteryx AiDIN, the AI engine that infuses machine learning and generative AI across the Alteryx Analytics Cloud platform. With Alteryx Auto Insights, users can create their own ‘Missions’ (akin to stories) with automated root cause analysis so that an explanation can be provided around the movement of numbers against a reference point, such as month-on-month movements or expected vs actual results. This is tremendously powerful, given the pain that management goes through when attempting to identify and prioritize drivers behind the numbers, with hours spent on data mining and analysis.
The newly released and aptly named Magic Documents in Auto-Insights goes one step further, leveraging ChatGPT to create an AI-generated summary of the analysis and findings noted in Missions defined by users. Magic Documents will draft communications for users as an email, message, or presentation, removing the burden of extensive management or performance reporting and freeing up capacity to focus on the data insights. Alteryx's product roadmap is committed to converting data and analytics into magical stories.
Principle 3: Never lose focus on the audience experience.
I frequently attend magic conventions, where performers from all walks of life assemble to share ideas, astonish, and attempt to ‘out-magic’ one another. These conventions can span weekends, the largest one attracting several thousand budding and professional magicians. This is a fascinating experience on a number of fronts, with many similarities to data and analytics conventions. Data scientists, much like magicians, can get absorbed in the ‘cool’ features of new product releases or the latest bit of wizardry that a new technology delivers. Developers and coders take much pride in their abilities, similar to magicians who are keen to inform others of all the secret ‘moves’ and techniques they have learned.
One element that should never be forgotten is keeping the audience front of mind, whose judgment is based on the experience that they receive – not the intricacies of the process or the number of devious ‘moves’ a magician may have executed. If a moment of astonishment can be delivered with less complexity and ‘moves’ in the process, then why is the path of least resistance not followed by default? One reason may be ego – the need to justify one’s worth. The other reason is typically the lack of knowledge of the simpler methods available. Alteryx provides the path of least resistance by removing the intricacies of complex scripts and simplifying data science with low-code standardized tools.
Take Alteryx’s core products, Designer and Designer Cloud. Many users would be well versed with the enhanced customer experience – elevated, for example, by tool and data transformation suggestions aiding workflow development, interactive data profiling, and natural language processing. In addition, Alteryx now leverages Open AI’s ChatGPT to provide a concise Workflow Summary with commentary on every workflow’s purpose, inputs, outputs, and key logic steps developed by a user. Consider the benefits of well-documented workflows from the perspectives of audit, IT, and other workflow users who strive for assurance, control, and certainty. Much like magic, Alteryx has no boundaries on the audience it can attract.
Some parting thoughts
Analogous to memorable magicians, Alteryx can produce magical results when information is organized seamlessly to uncover hidden insights. Alteryx has purpose-built data tools and maintains focus on driving the best customer experience, continuing to do so as new analytics capabilities are released. The one important difference is that Alteryx gives users the power to become magicians themselves and create their own moments of astonishment with data and analytics. The possibilities are only limited by the imagination of the users…
