The path to entering the field of business intelligence (BI) is both vast and challenging to navigate. Throughout our experience in various BI roles, we have encountered individuals with diverse skill sets and backgrounds. This spectrum ranges from highly skilled machine learning (ML) and AI engineers holding PhDs in statistics and mathematics to graduate students transitioning from academia to pursue careers as business analysts. Through this book, we aim to convey to you that there is no single predefined path to follow. Numerous different routes can lead to the same destination, depending on your area of expertise, level of interest in various subject areas, and proficiency in both technical and soft skills.

We have two main objectives in this book. The first is to help business professionals understand the foundations of BI in a way that is tool and technology-agnostic. Our second objective is to show the process of starting and advancing in BI. Furthermore, we aim to provide insight into the broader realms beyond BI, encompassing data exploration, business analytics, and data science.