Future-proof: Why demand for data science is on the rise

Editor’s note: Throughout the 2025–26 academic year, RED’s Future-proof series will focus on the critical role public universities play in preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow.

Talk about an embarrassment of riches.

Thousands of businesses across America are producing unprecedented mountains of data — much of it potentially useful to their bottom line. But here’s the rub: They can’t find enough people with the skills to sift through all that information and turn it into actionable intelligence.

This is where Metropolitan State University of Denver’s latest master’s program comes in. The Master of Science in Business Intelligence will teach students how to turn raw data into useful insights that can help businesses make better decisions. They will learn how to collect data, interpret it and then explain what it all means.

“This isn’t just about crunching numbers — the program really focuses on teaching students how to connect data to business strategy,” said Viktor Kiss, Ph.D., associate professor of Business Analytics at MSU Denver.

One such business strategist is MacKenzie Campbell, who graduated from MSU Denver with a Bachelor of Science in Business Intelligence in 2019 and has enjoyed success in a series of analyst roles ever since.

“Every company is now striving to weave a story from the information it gathers, in order to glean some ‘moral’ that will help optimize their business,” Campbell said. “And they’ve realized that you can only do that by having robust data analysis talent in the organization.”

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According to Kiss, there’s “a clear skills gap out there” when it comes to working with and interpreting data, which he hopes students in the new program can help to fill.

The key factor is market demand,” Kiss said. “Virtually all businesses today — not just the larger companies anymore — need these experts to stay competitive in a fast-changing workplace.”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects data analysis-related jobs to grow at a substantially faster rate than most other occupations in coming years. Those jobs can pay very well. The median salary for data scientists in 2024, for example, was $112,590, more than double the $46,310 median annual wage.

“These very statistics are what drove me in finishing my degree,” Campbell said. “I wanted a career path that made the expense of school worth it but also aligned with both my interests and skill sets, and this degree answered that call.”

That means those with the right, in-demand job titles — such as data analyst, business intelligence analyst or market research analyst — can largely pick and choose their preferred career option.

For Campbell, one of the enduring highlights of studying and working in business intelligence has been how it blends organizational principles with creativity.

“While there’s only one way to derive a formula in calculus class, there are a thousand ways to solve a coding problem,” she explained. “With business intelligence, you can approach problems from several different angles and there’s room for a kind of creative elegance that some ‘stricter’ areas of study would not allow.”

In a fast-developing world, pursuing a career in business intelligence holds another advantage: It’s a robust industry, where AI seems more likely to support people than push them out of a job.

While business intelligence professionals do rely heavily on large language models and advanced generative AI, that’s only to automate time-consuming tasks and the more frustrating aspects of problem analysis. It remains a helpful tool, rather than a career threat.

Campbell, who often uses such tools, says the advent of LLMs and generative AI has positively shifted the focus of her work in recent years.

“These days, I’m able to spend more time exploring the ‘human’ side of intelligence analysis, and that’s a big advantage,” she said. “Having the support of AI technology has allowed me to really flex my own mental muscles in areas that benefit from a real, personal touch, such as problem-solving, asking better questions and connecting more data points.”

While Campbell is still constantly improving and learning new tricks, she hasn’t forgotten where her journey started.

“Getting a degree in such a sought-after field gave me the right skills to solve hard problems for clients in several places, using creativity and technology every day,” she said.

“When I graduated from MSU Denver, they handed me a key that has opened many doors in my career, and for that I’m really grateful.”