Many companies are clueless about where to begin monetizing data and digitally transforming their business models. And how do metadata and artificial intelligence technologies fit in?

Deloitte Consulting LLP offers special education and coaching to help businesses suss these questions out, according to Tracy Ring (pictured), global alliance leader, analytics technologies, at Deloitte Consulting LLP.

“There’s less about benchmarking what everyone else is doing and more about really revolutionizing and going into a new angle,” Ring said. Vast partner ecosystems and increasingly configurable technologies can leave companies spoilt for choice, she stated.

During Informatica World in San Francisco, California, Ring spoke to John Furrier (@furrier) and Peter Burris (@plburris), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio. (* Disclosure below.)

To start, Deloitte often asks companies they consult with to take a look at their market and decide how, ideally, they would like to differentiate themselves from competitors.

“Deloitte has an insight studio and greenhouse and a couple of really highly collaborative spaces that we take clients to,” she said. They may plan one-, two- or three-day workshops focusing on the business outcome clients desire, which may be unprecedented; here, augmented intelligence applied to data can help, she added.

Artificial inspiration

Deloitte is very fond of something it calls the “insight-driven advantage.”

“That’s really about using all of the tools in the toolkit to make that insight-driven, data-driven, better decisions around what organizations can do,” Ring said, adding that cognitive computing is a major component of this.

In some cases, data does more than spruce up an existing idea or add ancillary insight. Some actually create whole new business ventures because of the insights that they’re driving, she explained.

Deloitte was pleased to see Informatica Corp.’s emphasis on metadata at the conference, since it provides the “whole story” on data, including lineage, which can inform insights, Ring stated.

“Metadata is, in many cases, where most organizations do see the monetization of their data,” she concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of Informatica World 2017. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Informatica World. Neither Informatica Corp. nor other sponsors have editorial influence on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE