The Age of Action: How Gen 3 Business Intelligence is Changing Decision-Making
In the evolving world of data analytics, the business intelligence (BI) industry has long promised to empower workers to make smarter, data-driven decisions. However, despite the progress over recent decades, many companies have struggled to realize this vision fully. Now, we are on the verge of a new era in BI—what some are calling the “Age of Action”—that promises to finally deliver on the promise of seamless, data-informed decision-making for all workers. This new generation of BI will bring analytics to us, making data insights an intuitive part of our daily workflows.
A Brief History of BI
The first generation of BI (“Gen One”) was focused on on-premises systems and was largely driven by IT departments. This phase, though transformative for the few enterprises that could afford it, was costly and required heavy technical expertise.
Then came the second generation of BI (“Gen Two”), which focused on self-service analytics, offering data tools to non-technical business users. While this democratized data to some extent, the reliance on dashboards and asking business users to also become analysts posed a new set of challenges. Despite more organizations adopting these tools, many struggled with the growing complexity and volume of data, resulting in limited adoption rates. In fact, only 24% of firms have achieved a fully data-driven culture, a decline from previous years.
Gen Three BI: The Age of Action
The third generation of BI is all about delivering personalized, actionable insights directly within the apps and workflows that business users are already familiar with. Instead of forcing employees to leave their daily tools and navigate complex dashboards, Gen Three BI integrates these insights seamlessly into their daily tasks, eliminating friction and making analytics truly accessible.
Gartner predicts that dashboards will be replaced by automated, conversational, and mobile insights, which are dynamically generated and customized to the needs of individual users. This means that instead of requiring data experts to decipher insights, any employee can receive tailored analytics right where they need it, from CRM platforms to workplace collaboration tools.
How AI Is Driving the Future of BI
Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a crucial role in this new generation of BI. Advances in AI allow companies to scan massive datasets quickly, answer complex questions, and track data changes in real time—all without requiring input from technical experts. Combined with cloud technology and data visualization tools, AI is now enabling businesses to embed real-time insights directly into the applications that employees use every day.
This level of integration means that BI technology becomes almost invisible. Business users can seamlessly receive and act on data insights without even realizing they’re interacting with an analytics tool. This shift is poised to transform decision-making in the workplace, much like how consumers now make countless decisions informed by data on their mobile devices.
The End Goal: Seamless Data-Driven Decisions
As businesses move into the Age of Action, the ultimate goal is for analytics to drive decisions at every level. Whether it’s predicting no-shows in hospital scheduling, as GE has done, or integrating safety insights into frontline employee workflows, as Air Canada has done, the power of Gen Three BI lies in its ability to place personalized, actionable data into the hands of all employees.
Nonprofit software company Tessitura Network has even used this approach to help more than 650 performing arts organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering real-time data to improve fundraising, manage canceled events, and analyze capacity. These examples highlight how businesses across industries can leverage this next generation of BI to improve both employee and customer-facing processes.
Conclusion: Are You Ready for the Age of Action?
As BI continues to evolve, the question for founders and business leaders is not whether to adopt these new tools, but how to integrate them into the fabric of their organizations. Gen Three BI is not about creating more dashboards or giving more users access to data—it’s about embedding actionable insights directly into your workflow, enabling better decisions without disrupting daily tasks.
The Age of Action is here, and companies that fail to adapt may struggle to keep up with those that embrace this new wave of business intelligence. The challenge now is to assess where your organization stands in its BI journey and take steps toward adopting these next-generation tools.