Some 72 percent of those surveyed said they hoped to acquire data analysis skills within the next two years, and 65 percent agreed that data management is more vital than other skills including web development, graphics design and search engine optimization.

McKinsey has predicted that as of this year, the demand for data scientists will be 60 percent larger than the supply. That’s a pretty dire scenario, right? The good news is that all this talk of data scientist shortages and marketing skills gaps overlooks the improvements made in technology which simplifies data processing and automates many of the data analysis tasks traditionally reserved for fully fledged data experts. 

Such technology will fuel the rise of what some are calling the “citizen data scientist.”