What if the smartest thing you bring to data is not an answer, but a better question?

Craig Simpson has spent 15 years at IDC learning to pull signal from messy, incomplete data. He left South Africa at 18, finished two degrees by correspondence while working full time, and kept walking away from the classroom for the real world.

In this episode, he and Bob get into why AI is often very wrong, why first-party human conversations still beat anything you can scrape, and how curiosity separates a real analyst from someone staring at a spreadsheet. Then the conversation takes a turn into wildlife, drones, and using data to fight rhino poaching across Southern Africa.

It is a case for the human edge in a world racing to automate it. Listen now.

• [00:05:45] The backwards career path: leaving university at 18 to build a life abroad
• [00:07:07] Finishing two degrees by correspondence while working full time
• [00:12:49] Why anyone who claims to know exactly where a market is heading is lying
• [00:15:39] First-party data vs the AI prompt, and why one always comes up short
• [00:18:11] The trait that separates a real analyst from someone staring at numbers
• [00:21:19] Why AI is often very, very wrong, and who has to catch it
• [00:23:18] Beyond connectivity: why telcos could compete with the hyperscalers
• [00:24:23] 6G being built with AI baked in from the start
• [00:27:47] Why the future data war moves to the skies above us
• [00:28:59] How the mobile phone, and now Starlink, changed everything in Africa
• [00:30:36] A live, unplanned data test: how many Africans have a smartphone
• [00:34:22] Using data and drones to fight rhino poaching
• [00:36:00] Why shutting down all tourism is not how you save the wildlife
• [00:40:40] What triggered the massive 2010 poaching spike
• [00:43:35] The family ledger Craig has kept every day for 20-plus years

IDC (International Data Corporation)

Starlink

Pew Research

Craig Simpson is a Research Director in IDC's Data & Analytics group, based in Prague and originally from Cape Town, South Africa. He has spent more than 15 years at IDC across multiple stints in technology market research, with a current focus on telecom operators and IT services. He left university early to build his career abroad, later finishing his studies by correspondence, and he brings a first-principles, endlessly curious approach to data. Outside of work, he supports wildlife and anti-poaching efforts across Africa, using data to help balance conservation and tourism.

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Curious Data is an original production hosted by Bob Lytle. Brought to you by Centri Analytics. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.