DDMA Digital Analytics Meetup | From Dashboard to Dialogue 

Conversational analytics promises to make data more accessible by allowing users to interact with data in natural language. Tools such as Databricks Genie are bringing that promise closer to everyday practice. But how reliable are the answers? What does it take to provide the right context? And what happens to the role of the analyst when more people can seemingly explore data themselves? 

During this DDMA Digital Analytics Meetup, organised together with Digital Power, we explore what conversational analytics can and cannot do today. Through experiments and practical cases, we look at the technology behind it, the importance of a strong semantic layer and, above all, what these developments mean for analytics professionals. 

What’s on the agenda? 
We’ll kick things off with two sessions exploring conversational analytics from both a technical and practical perspective. 

15:30 – Walk-in & welcome 
16:00 – Speaker sessions 
1. Saskia Heyster – What Databricks Genie Gets Right and Where Analysts Matter 
2. Speaker & customer case – TBA 
17:00 – Networking drinks & bites 
19:00 – End 
 
From dashboards to conversations: but what does that require? 
Making analytics conversational sounds simple: ask a question and receive an answer. In reality, there is an important layer between the question and the underlying data. 

Definitions, metrics, business logic and context need to be clear before an AI-powered analytics tool can provide useful answers. That makes the semantic layer an increasingly important part of the conversation. 

At the same time, it raises broader questions for analytics teams. If business users can increasingly query data themselves, where does the analyst add the most value? Does self-service analytics finally become a reality – or does conversational analytics create a new set of questions around interpretation, reliability and governance? Those are the questions we’ll explore together during this Meetup. 

Who should join? 
Are you a digital analyst, analytics engineer, data specialist or online marketer working with digital data? And are you curious about how AI and conversational interfaces are changing the way organisations interact with data? 

This Meetup dives into both the technology and the consequences for everyday analytics practice. Expect concrete experiments, practical lessons and plenty of room for discussion with other professionals from the digital analytics community. 
 
Networking & drinks 
After the sessions, we’ll continue the conversation over drinks and bites. A chance to discuss the cases, exchange experiences and meet fellow professionals from the digital analytics community. Join us for an afternoon of experiments, discussions and new perspectives on the next phase of digital analytics. 

Speakers

Saskia Heyster

Senior Data Analyst at Digital Power

What Databricks Genie Gets Right and Where Analysts Matte
Can conversational analytics really do the work, we currently rely on analysts for? Saskia Heyster puts this on the test. In three experiments, she compares how analysts, Databricks Genie and Genie supported by a semantic layer tackle realistic web-tracking questions. 

She looks beyond whether they simply arrive at an answer. How do different approaches compare accuracy, speed, nuance, and confidence? And how much difference does the context provided by a semantic layer actually make? 

The experiments reveal both where conversational analytics already excel and where human analysts remain essential. Rather than treating AI as either a silver bullet or a threat to the profession, Saskia explores how it is changing the work analysts do – and what data democratization might actually mean in practice.

About Saskia 
Saskia Heyster is a data analyst with experience across retail, e-commerce, hospitality, and FMCG. She specialises in turning complex data into clear, business-driven insights through analytics, machine learning, and strong collaboration. Known for her data storytelling, Saskia makes advanced analytical concepts accessible and actionable for diverse audiences. 

Speaker 2 – TBA