I started my journey in analytics as a business analyst at a Fortune 100 company, focused on Supply Chain operations and strategy & transformation work. I learned all of my analytics experience on the job, between some structured training, LinkedIn Learning, and peer guidance. I regularly encountered silos in data, and most concerningly, between the analysts that interpreted that data to drive decision-making.
When I joined Solid with a vision to build a global analyst community, the goal was simple yet ambitious: to create a space where analysts could connect, grow, and innovate together. But why would we build a community?
Few people see analysts as the heroes of the digital era, but analytics is everywhere. It’s woven into finance, healthcare, operations, sports, marketing. Yet for all the influence analysts wield, there’s a painful truth: analysts often operate in isolation and aren’t given the credit they are due.
There are a lot of analysts out there. In the US alone, there are over 93,000 data analysts today, according to Zippia, with almost 170,000 job postings open currently and another 100,000 additional roles expected to be needed in the next decade.
Despite the growth and importance of analysts, they are confined by company walls, legacy tools, and siloed specialization. For example:
These silos keep knowledge and creativity locked up, and in an era craving cross-pollination, we’ve been missing a true meeting ground dedicated to empowering and elevating the analyst profession.
Many analytics companies also operate in silos, and because of that, there’s an overload of analytics tools and confusion from analysts on which ones are the best for what application. Solid wanted to change that, and by sponsoring an analysts’ community, they can help change analytics for the better.
In the early stages, our focus was on engaging with existing communities to learn and understand the landscape. We started with Reddit and LinkedIn, not only to tap into established analyst circles but to gather insights and see where we could truly add value.
Creating the GOATs (Global Organization for Analyst Transformations) LinkedIn Group was one of the first major steps. We wanted to offer a professional yet approachable space where analysts of all levels could exchange ideas, seek advice, and find inspiration. Engagement grew steadily, thanks to conversations that ranged from career insights to navigating tools like SQL, Python, and Tableau.
We also leaned into content creation, writing articles about career growth, skills development, and embracing challenges (like in the post "Do the Scary Things"). These resonated with the community, reinforcing our belief that analysts are hungry for both knowledge and connection.
The past few months have been a whirlwind of progress:
Most importantly, we've built a culture that values curiosity, courage, and community feedback. Whether it's through content engagement, contests, or discussions, every interaction has shaped our direction.
Now, we're entering an exciting phase: launching the GOATs Platform. This will be more than just a forum; it will be an ecosystem designed for analysts by analysts.
Our core pillars for the platform are:
We're leveraging Discourse as the backbone of the Community portion of the platform & MediaWiki to power the Wiki. These open source platforms are safe, secure and offer great customization tools that helped speed up development immensely.
The data world is exploding with possibilities. AI, automation, and the democratization of advanced analytics tools are redefining the analytics space at a rapid pace. Many analysts are concerned about how this will impact their jobs. Will it replace them?
The reality is that while AI tools are promising in what they can do for repetitive and pattern-rich tasks, they lack the ability to formulate strategy without human direction. They struggle to interpret the nuanced context of specific organizations or complex problem sets, making human oversight essential for meaningful, tailored solutions.
Ultimately, AI is a powerful tool, but it requires skilled guidance to unlock its full potential and align its capabilities with broader organizational objectives. Still, many leaders want to see “more AI usage” at their organizations, and having analysts that are strategic thinkers and can utilize those tools to drive better data-driven decisions. This is the sort of thing that analysts can take the lead on when they have a community to discuss these topics thoroughly.
The public and private sectors both realize data can drive better, smarter decisions. Ironically, the explosion of data has also made it easier for analysts to get overlooked or to remain hyper-specialized. We believe the moment is now to bring together a wide range of voices, skill sets, and industries in one place.
At its core, this community isn't just about professional development, it’s about creating a space where analysts feel seen, supported, and inspired. A place where beginners can learn without fear, experts can share without ego, and everyone can find the courage that leads to real growth.
By creating this community, we’ll not only future-proof our own careers and enterprises, we’ll shape the future of business, technology, and beyond by shifting mindsets around the potential of analysts and building a self-sustaining ecosystem where these professionals come first, always thinking about what comes next.
If you've been a part of this movement so far, thank you. Your engagement, insights, and support have been invaluable. If you're new, welcome! There's so much more ahead, and we can't wait for you to be a part of it.
We’re pouring everything we have into this community because we believe wholeheartedly in the power of analytics to solve humanity’s greatest challenges. But no single platform, no matter how robust, can succeed without you.
We need analysts who hunger for connection, growth, and fresh perspectives. We need analytics leaders who can mentor analysts, share their journeys, and provide thought leadership. Anybody interested in or already in an analytics role is welcome.
So here’s our invitation:
