Interview With Steve King of Black Swan Data

A few weeks ago we published an interview with James King of Delineate where we discussed the current boom in the next generation of AI-based solutions providers:

“For years we have predicted the convergence of the market research and data analytics sectors and assumed that would give rise to new business models for a slew of emerging suppliers. That prediction came true a while back with companies like AbsolutData, Signal, and Black Swan (just to name a few) moving purposefully into the traditional MR space with offerings that leverage a “data agnostic” approach to advanced analytics using AI and ML predictive technology coupled with a consultative layer to help buyers take action on those predictions.

“This approach is fundamentally different from the traditional MR focus on data collection methodology and descriptive/prescriptive analytics; in this new world data is only viewed as useful in that it helps to drive answers to the business question, and the provenance of that data is secondary to its usefulness. Attitudinal data plays a role, but it very well may be secondary (or even tertiary) to behavioral, intrinsic, social, or sales data.”

James used to work with the team at Black Swan, so it is a good segue into today’s interview with Steve King, CEO of Black Swan Data. Black Swan has built a new solution that leverages multiple data sources, especially social, to predict trends with actionable recommendations far in advance of traditional approaches. Although very much productized in a variety of business-issue specific tools, they also offer customized consulting and bespoke applications, giving them the flexibility to address a variety of client needs.

Not only are companies like Black Swan (like Delineate and others in this arena) growing by leaps and bounds right now, but they are also examples of great entrepreneurs leveraging diverse backgrounds to solve problems in the insights and analytics space. Steve is a lot of fun (we laughed a lot during this interview), but he was also a DJ in a prior life, and that “mixmaster” mentality is very much evident in the inspiration for Black Swan Data. A good DJ knows what to sample and mix to get the desired effect, and AI solutions like his company do something very similar when it comes to selecting the data needed to produce the desired insights. It really is a pretty neat analogy, and Steve is the embodiment of that idea brought to life!

I think you’ll enjoy the interview because it is a fun conversation and Steve’s energy is infectious, but also because the work Black Swan Data and their competitors are doing is changing the industry in fundamental ways that will have long-term implications for us all.

 

 

 

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash