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The Next Step’s Substack
The Next Step’s Substack
AI Doesn’t Replace Data Analysts. It Upgrades Their Role.
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AI Doesn’t Replace Data Analysts. It Upgrades Their Role.

How to Stay Competitive When AI Can Generate Answers in Real Time.

Weiwei Hu's avatar
Weiwei Hu
Jul 16, 2025
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The Next Step’s Substack
The Next Step’s Substack
AI Doesn’t Replace Data Analysts. It Upgrades Their Role.
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In the previous article on Rethinking Data Analytics in the Age of AI, I explored how AI can accelerate the traditional data analytics workflow from raw data to insights, and ultimately, to actions and impact. I covered how AI tools are reducing the time it takes to clean, explore, and communicate findings and results. But efficient analytics workflows alone won’t tell the full story.

What’s changing for analytics isn’t just the speed of analysis, it’s also the role of analytics teams. In this article, I shift the focus to the value of data analysts when AI can produce deliverables in almost real-time. Data analysts are not getting replaced by AI. Their value is moving toward more strategic work: asking better questions, providing business context, validating results, and guiding strategic decisions.


1. Where AI Is Already Changing Analytics Teams

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