By Jo Barker
Organizations often want better data when what they need is better decisions. Turning information into action is where organizations can create real business value.
Dashboards, reports, and performance metrics have become standard across many organizations, but information alone doesn’t drive lasting results. Progress comes from understanding what the data reveals, identifying the decisions that matter most, and using insights to improve operations.
Sam R. Davis, SVP and Chief Data Officer at AmeriLife, believes organizations benefit from making one important distinction early. “The first step I like to take is to separate reporting from analytics,” Sam said. “Reporting is our ability to measure and communicate facts. Analytics is taking that data and saying we want to make better decisions.”
Reliable reporting lays the foundation for better decisions
Creating reliable reporting gives organizations confidence they’re measuring the right things. But analytics builds on that foundation by helping leaders evaluate options, solve problems, and improve outcomes.
Separating those responsibilities creates greater clarity across the organization and allows leaders to trust the numbers while analysts focus on uncovering opportunities that drive measurable business impact. Strong decisions depend on that kind of close collaboration between business teams and data teams.
“We’ll have experts who know how to run the business, and experts who know how to manage, organize, and glean insights from data,” Sam said. “That needs to be paired and matched in a highly fluent and efficient way.”
Shared knowledge and increased collaboration create stronger insights, helping organizations make better decisions than either group could achieve independently.
Meaningful metrics move the business forward
Organizations can spend enormous amounts of time measuring activity without improving performance.
Sam encourages teams to begin with the business decision they’re trying to improve rather than collecting data simply because it’s available.
“I want to avoid producing interesting data,” he said. “Impact is what our focus is on. Where can we make a better decision?”
Clear business objectives make it easier to identify the metrics that truly matter while avoiding “vanity metrics” that look impressive but rarely influence outcomes.
AI helps people make better decisions
Artificial intelligence is changing how professionals research information, summarize complex topics, analyze data, and complete routine work. Sam encourages organizations to embrace those capabilities while keeping their attention on the business problem they’re trying to solve.
“AI is incredibly powerful, and this is the worst it will ever be,” Sam said. “For the rest of our lives, AI will be more powerful, faster, and do more incredible things.”
Sam offers a simple way to think about AI: imagine having thousands of capable assistants available to help solve business problems. Viewing AI through that lens shifts the focus from technology to workflows, decisions, and business outcomes.
Curiosity unlocks better results
Success with AI begins long before someone writes a prompt. A curious mindset creates better outcomes because strong questions lead to stronger answers. “Even if you don’t know how to solve the problem, if you can just describe it, you can ask AI how to solve the problem,” Sam said.
Business leaders don’t need every answer before getting started. Start with the decision that needs to be improved. Build confidence in the data supporting that decision. Then explore where AI can eliminate manual work, strengthen analysis, and create more capacity for higher-value thinking.
Every decision begins with a question. Make sure you’re measuring the right things, asking the right questions, and using AI to solve meaningful business problems. Better decisions require discipline, and organizations that build that discipline will be better prepared for whatever comes next.
Want to learn more about improving your data and decision-making through AI? Check out the full video interview with Sam, “From Data to Impact: Driving Growth Through Analytics & AI,” on the Marketing Masterminds Podcast.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between reporting and analytics in making better business decisions?
Reporting and analytics serve distinct purposes, and organizations that treat them as interchangeable often find that their data efforts produce little lasting impact. Separating these two responsibilities creates clarity across teams and ensures that both functions are given the focus they deserve.
How can organizations avoid wasting time on data that doesn’t improve business decisions?
The most disciplined data strategies begin with the decision that needs improvement, rather than with the data that happens to be available. Many organizations invest significant time tracking metrics that look meaningful on a dashboard but have no direct connection to the outcomes that drive business performance. Working backward from a specific business objective to the metrics that genuinely inform it keeps teams oriented around impact and helps them avoid the trap of producing interesting data for its own sake.
How does AI support better business decisions without replacing human judgment?
Rather than replacing human judgment, AI expands what teams can accomplish by surfacing relevant information faster and automating tasks that add little strategic value. Business context, institutional knowledge, and a clear sense of organizational priorities still need to come from the people leading the work, and those elements are what give AI output its direction and relevance.
Why does a curious mindset matter when using AI to make better business decisions?
The quality of what AI returns is largely shaped by the quality of the question being asked, which means that developing comfort by asking specific, well-framed questions is one of the most practical skills a business professional can build. Just describing the problem clearly and honestly is often enough to get useful directions from AI. That kind of open-ended inquiry tends to surface better options than starting with a predetermined solution. Organizations that encourage this mindset across their teams tend to get far more value from their data and AI investments.
What does it take for data and business teams to collaborate effectively to make better business decisions?
Effective collaboration between data and business professionals requires both groups to develop sufficient fluency in each other’s domain to communicate clearly and work toward shared goals. Business leaders who can ask informed questions of their data teams and data professionals who understand the business well enough to make their findings actionable create the conditions for insights that actually move the organization forward.
