The 21st century’s sexiest job is the data scientist, Harvard Business Review claimed recently. Such employees are “a hybrid of data hacker, analyst, communicator and trusted adviser”, the US business school journal said, pointing out that this combination of skills is extremely rare.

Therein lies the problem for many businesses across the globe. While company managers recognise the benefits that big data can bring, they are struggling to find people with the right skills.

The rush to make use of big data shows no sign of slowing. A survey of 600 companies in the US and UK conducted last year by Accenture, the management consultancy, found that two-thirds had appointed a senior figure to lead data management and analytics in the past 18 months. Even among companies that had not made such an executive appointment, 71 per cent expected to do so in the near future.