Data Science for Business: What You Need to Know About Data Mining and Data-Analytic Thinking Authors: Foster Provost & Tom Fawcett

Data Science for Business by Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett is a foundational resource for anyone looking to harness the power of data-driven strategy. Unlike most technical manuals, this book focuses on cultivating data-analytic thinking—the mindset and understanding needed to guide successful business decisions using data mining and analytics.

Through real-world examples, intuitive frameworks, and conceptual clarity, the authors explain not just how data science works, but why it matters. Readers are introduced to fundamental ideas such as classification, prediction, clustering, overfitting, model evaluation, and performance metrics—all with direct applications in business settings.

Key highlights:

Strategic Thinking: Understand how to frame business problems as data challenges and match analytics methods to goals.

Practical Insights: Learn when and how to use data mining techniques for competitive advantage.

Case Studies & Examples: Ground concepts in real business problems involving marketing, customer segmentation, fraud detection, and more.

Ethical Perspectives: Navigate the ethical implications of using personal and behavioral data.

Tool-Agnostic Frameworks: Focus on methods over software, making it suitable for any platform or team size.

Backed by industry endorsements—including praise from Craig Vaughan, Global VP at SAP—this book is ideal for business managers, analysts, product leaders, and students aiming to deepen their analytical skills in an increasingly data-centric world.