Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
The technical aspects of data work – including data science and AI – evolve at an exponential rate, which makes technical expertise inherently subject to becoming obsolete. Curiously, the other skills needed to make data work truly impactful – the awareness of context, the ability to empathize with respondents and stakeholders, the ability to find meaning in statistical patterns – center more on the so-called soft skills. Paradoxically, because these soft skills are always relevant even when the underlying technical aspects change, they have become known as "durable skills." Join Barton Poulson, PhD, as he discusses the critical complementarity of durable/soft skills to quality data work.
The technical aspects of data work – including data science and AI – evolve at an exponential rate, which makes technical expertise inherently subject to becoming obsolete. Curiously, the other skills needed to make data work truly impactful – the awareness of context, the ability to empathize with respondents and stakeholders, the ability to find meaning in statistical patterns – center more on the so-called soft skills. Paradoxically, because these soft skills are always relevant even when the underlying technical aspects change, they have become known as "durable skills." Join Barton Poulson, PhD, as he discusses the critical complementarity of durable/soft skills to quality data work.
