What Does a Data Scientist Do? Key Roles and Career Paths

At Agoda, data scientists play a key role in harnessing large datasets to drive strategic business decisions, solve complex problems, and enhance customer experiences. So, what does a data scientist do? This versatile role combines data analysis, programming, and business intelligence to transform raw data into actionable insights. In this article, we’ll explore the key responsibilities of a data scientist and the exciting career paths available in this fast-growing field.

Key Roles and Responsibilities of a Data Scientist

Aviel Makmal, Data Science Manager at Agoda, emphasizes that successful data scientists are both scientific and business-oriented: “You must understand scientifically what you’re trying to achieve and if your method is impactful. Being business-oriented means understanding the problem and its main KPI; stakeholders care less about precision/recall and more about the true outcome and tradeoffs.”

This dual focus defines the work of Agoda’s data scientists as they transform raw data into strategic decisions, solve complex challenges, and enhance customer experiences across our global platform. Below are the primary responsibilities of a data scientist at Agoda:

Data Collection and Cleaning

Data scientists handle vast amounts of data from various sources, including customer interactions, booking patterns, and user-generated content. However, raw data can often be messy or incomplete. One of the core responsibilities of a data scientist is to clean, preprocess, and structure this data for analysis. Using techniques like data wrangling and deduplication, they create reliable datasets that power machine learning models and analytics.

Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)

Before diving into model-building, data scientists conduct Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA). This crucial step involves using statistical methods and visualization tools like Python’s Matplotlib or Seaborn to uncover patterns, trends, or anomalies in the data. As a result, EDA provides critical insights into the problem space, allowing for more informed decision-making and helping to shape the direction of machine learning models.

Machine Learning and Predictive Modeling

A major responsibility of our data scientists is developing machine learning models to generate accurate predictions. Whether it’s forecasting customer behaviors, identifying pricing trends, or optimizing operational efficiencies, these models allow Agoda to make proactive, data-driven decisions. By fine-tuning algorithms—such as linear regression, clustering, or neural networks—data scientists help improve everything from customer recommendations to our pricing strategies.

Data Visualization and Interpretation

Communicating insights effectively is just as important as deriving them. Data scientists at Agoda simplify complex insights for non-technical teams through data visualization and storytelling. Using tools like Tableau, Power BI, and Python libraries, they create dashboards and reports that guide teams across marketing, product development, and operations in making strategic decisions.

Collaboration Across Teams

Collaboration is a key aspect of data science. Our data scientists work closely with software engineers, data engineers, business analysts, and other stakeholders to ensure that insights and models are scalable and can integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure. This cross-functional teamwork helps translate insights into real-world actions that benefit our customers and the business. Moreover, this collaboration ensures that data-driven solutions are effectively implemented across the organization.

Career Paths in Data Science

Data science offers a variety of specialized career paths, each with its own focus and opportunities for growth:

• Data Scientist: A generalist role that covers a broad range of responsibilities, including data collection, modeling, and reporting.
• Machine Learning Engineer: A more technical role, focusing on building and deploying machine learning models at scale.
• Data Analyst: Primarily focuses on interpreting data and reporting insights to answer specific business questions.
• Data Engineer: Specializes in building the infrastructure and pipelines that store, clean, and make data accessible for analysis.
• Business Intelligence (BI) Developer: Designs and maintains tools that help businesses make data-driven decisions through reporting and dashboards.

Why Data Science is in Demand

The demand for data scientists continues to rise as businesses increasingly rely on data to drive strategy and improve processes. With the rapid advancements in AI and machine learning, skilled professionals are needed to build and maintain models that power intelligent decision-making. Furthermore, as big data becomes more prevalent, companies require specialized talent to not only collect data but also extract actionable insights from it. Consequently, professionals with strong analytical and technical skills are in high demand across industries.

The Role of Data Scientists at Agoda

In the travel industry, data science plays a crucial role in personalizing customer experiences, optimizing pricing strategies, and predicting demand. At Agoda, we rely on data scientists to analyze vast amounts of data and apply machine learning techniques to enhance the traveler’s journey.

For instance, data scientists help recommend personalized accommodations, predict price trends, and streamline the booking process. As a result, we are able to deliver a seamless and personalized experience to our customers.

Our data scientists also face dynamic challenges, ranging from real-time analytics to large-scale experimentation. By leveraging data and cutting-edge technology, we continue to innovate and improve how we serve millions of travelers worldwide.

For those passionate about solving complex problems through data, now is an exciting time to explore a career in data science. Ready to embark on your data science journey? Explore our open positions today!