Everything we do today creates data. From every click to every swipe. And when the pandemic forced us into sheltering in place, it also exponentially accelerated those clicks and swipes…and Zooms…and Uber Eats and Door Dash orders…. And you get the point. Many of the cash-based face-to-face transactions we’d make going into stores have turned into digital transactions and interactions. And all of this data can provide companies with important insights that can help guide companies during times of crisis into making the right calls on make-or-break decisions.

To get some real insight into how all the data coming from all these digital interactions can be (and is being) used to help small and midsize businesses during times of crisis like we have faced the last year, I recently had an informative LinkedIn Live conversation with Jay Upchurch; CIO of SAS, a leading analytics platform provider. We spoke at length on a number of issues, including how the role of data and analytics have changed during the pandemic, the opportunity presented by AI to help SMBs not only survive but also thrive in times of crisis like what we’re still facing a year into Covid-19, and more