There have always been demand for data roles, but data exploded in 2015 when free open source software and cloud computing made the cost of collecting, processing and communicating data so cheap that it became “retail”. Basically, everyone could suddenly afford it. Consumers, businesses, and economies are all going digital. Digital transformation, automation and AI are seeing massive adoption and are all data driven. Data roles are in high demand, have high impact, offer high salaries and are “future-proof” meaning they will always be relevant.