(US and Canada) Rahul Goyal, Senior Director of Enterprise Data and Analytics at Optum, and President and CEO, Yubi Health, speaks with Ernie Ostic, SVP of Products, Manta, about successful AI implementation, data science skills trends, and data lineage.

Goyal says AI is not a single technology but many technologies that collect data, give meaning to data and provide predictive and prescriptive insights. He explains that artificial intelligence, like human intelligence, absorbs, processes, and aggregates different data points and then applies them to various situations.

Regarding skills required for data science, he says, a statistical background and the ability to apply data and build models are generally expected. But a solid business and data understanding is necessary.

Optum’s business foundation is data, and the company has a lot of it, Goyal continues.  He emphasizes that as more data comes in, clear, quality lineage is critical. He says that people must understand how to use the tools available in today’s market to drive quality data and its lineage.