What is Business Intelligence (BI) or Business Intelligence?

Data is omnipresent and is now a strategic resource. Businesses, aware of their value, are constantly seeking to take advantage of it to guide their choices and refine their strategies. It is precisely in this context that artificial intelligence (AI) and Business Intelligence (BI) find their full use. When combined, these two technologies offer organizations a unique ability to analyze their information, anticipate market changes, and make informed decisions.

But What exactly do we mean by Business Intelligence and what concrete benefits does it bring to businesses that adopt it? Why does it make sense to integrate AI into a Business Intelligence solution? And finally, what role can a Business Intelligence consultant play in this process? Here are the questions we are going to answer, before seeing how Eulidia helps companies integrate AI into the heart of their Business Intelligence tools.

What is Business Intelligence (BI) or Business Intelligence?

Business Intelligence refers to the set of methods, technologies, and practices aimed at collecting, structuring, and analyzing vast amounts of data. Its aim: to transform this raw data into clear and usable indicators, in order to provide decision-makers with a precise and relevant vision of their activity.

The essential components of Business Intelligence

Every Business Intelligence project starts with an essential step: Clarifying business expectations. Does it want to rely on BI to improve its strategic decisions, streamline its internal processes or even refine its customer knowledge? The answer to these questions forms the basis of the road map for developing the solution. At the same time, it is essential to define the scope of the project: what services, activities or processes will be affected by the BI solution? Once this framework is in place, it becomes possible to move forward with well-defined specifications.

Data collection

The value of a BI solution lies in the quality and variety of the data obtained. These come from multiple internal and external sources : CRM, ERP, online sales platforms, logistics systems, API interfaces or even data from the web.

Data storage

Once collected, data must be organized and secured in an appropriate environment. The aim is to transform a multitude of heterogeneous sources into a unified vision. To do this, we use data warehouses for structured information, or data lakes when it comes to semi-structured or unstructured data. The choice of support (SQL, NoSQL, cloud, or internal infrastructures) will depend on the needs of the business. However, it must always guarantee the scalability and security of the data, and guarantee its regulatory compliance (in particular with the GDPR).

note : this storage stage is also an opportunity to ensure that the data is reliable. It may be necessary to clean them up, correct inconsistencies and remove duplicates in order to have an up-to-date and usable base. This storage base makes it possible to exploit historical data while ensuring their availability for future analyses.

Data analysis

Exploiting data is a central step to highlight trends that are sometimes invisible at first glance and to reveal strategic opportunities. It allows organizations toguide their choices more rationally and anticipate market developments. Analysis solutions can range from predictive modeling to traditional statistical analysis, depending on the needs.

Among the most used tools, OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) occupies a particular place. It offers the possibility of manipulating very large volumes of information by restructuring databases to make them usable.

Data visualization

The other pillar of decision-making intelligence lies in visualizing. Transform a mass of numbers into clear graphical representations, easily interpretable, makes it possible to quickly identify anomalies and trends.

In this perspective, solutions such as Power BI, Table or Qlik offer users the ability to create dynamic dashboards based on collected data. These must accurately reflect the most important performance indicators (KPIs) for the organization. The choice of visual support — whether graphs, interactive maps, or diagrams — depends on the nature of the data and the message to be conveyed.

Well done, this visual transcription step makes the analysis not only more understandable, but also much more powerful for decision-making.

What is the difference between BI and AI?

In today's businesses, data plays a central role. They are a real strategic resource. It is in this context that we often hear about Business Intelligence (BI) And ofArtificial intelligence (AI). However, although their uses may sometimes seem similar, these two technologies actually respond to distinct logics.

• La IB serves above all to analyze what has already happened and to give a clear vision of the present. It turns data into dashboards and indicators that help business leaders understand their performance and adjust their strategy.
• THEAI, for its part, goes further: it learns from what exists, detects trends invisible to the naked eye, and even proposes new projections or solutions.

Comparison table: BI vs generative AI

How does AI transform BI (Business Intelligence)?

Until recently, Business Intelligence relied mainly on IT teams and analysts, responsible for producing reports and dashboards to guide decisions. Much of their time was spent on time-consuming tasks: cleaning, structuring, and making data usable.

Automation and valorization of unstructured data

With AI, this tedious step is largely automated. It is carried out more quickly, with more reliability, and thus frees analysts for missions with high added value: interpretation, perspective and decision-making support.
Another major advance: the exploitation of so-called data unstructured (texts, videos, social networks, customer reviews, geolocation, etc.). Long considered unusable, they are now becoming a valuable resource for personalizing the customer experience, enriching recommendations or better understanding a market.

Another major evolution: the automatic generation of reports

Thanks to the AI functionalities integrated into tools like Power BI (Copilot), Tableau (Tableau AI, Pulse, Agent), or Looker Studio (via Vertex AI), it is now possible to generate reports, analyses, and recommendations directly from natural language queries. No need to systematically ask a data analyst: users quickly obtain usable results.

Augmented decision making thanks to AI

Finally, AI is pushing the boundaries of Business Intelligence beyond the lessons of the past. Thanks to predictive and prescriptive analysis, it anticipates trends, detects weak signals and proposes concrete action scenarios. Businesses therefore no longer only react to events: they can predict, limit risks and seize opportunities more quickly.

In short, AI makes BI more agile and efficient, by making it possible to exploit massive volumes of data for better informed strategic decisions.

Why use a Business Intelligence consultant in 2025?

In 2025, the position of Business Intelligence consultant — also called decision consultant or Business Intelligence analyst — becomes essential for companies in search of performance. Its main objective is to design and implement decision support tools that allow managers to manage their business with greater precision. To achieve this, he always starts by analyzing the concrete needs of the company, both on a business and technical level, in order to propose solutions that really meet the challenges in the field.

Human contribution in the face of the rise of AI

Even if AI is becoming increasingly important, the added value of a BI consultant lies in their ability to Give a human and strategic reading of data. Beyond technical mastery, it includes the dynamics of business growth: market evolution, competition, resource allocation, profitability or commercial development.
By drawing on the latest technologies — AI, predictive analytics, automation — it becomes a true thinking partner for leaders, helping them to take a step back and strengthen their strategic vision.

An expert to guide strategic decisions

Artificial intelligence now makes it possible to analyze part of the data independently. However, the intervention of a business intelligence consultant remains crucial in many cases:

• Very competitive markets : in 2025, globalization and the constant emergence of new players require careful monitoring and in-depth analyses, which a Business Intelligence consultant is best placed to carry out.
• Growth at half-mast : when a company is flat out, thanks to its objectivity, this business consultant helps to identify bottlenecks and to propose concrete ways of improvement.
• New or complex situations : faced with unusual challenges, the methodical approach of a business intelligence consultant makes it possible to find realistic and adapted solutions.
• Strategic reorientation : when it comes to profoundly transforming the existing model or adapting the company to new trends, the BI consultant can take care of supporting this change step by step.

The role of a Business Intelligence expert therefore goes far beyond technical advice: he designs tailor-made strategies, truly aligned with the reality and culture of each organization.

360° support, from implementation to training

The BI consultant does more than just deploy a technical solution. He is building a tailor-made action plan, fully aligned with the goals and culture of the company. His interventions can range from the design of a global BI project to the concrete deployment of a Business Intelligence platform (integration of business software, databases and existing files), up to team training to ensure a successful adoption.

In short, more than a tool supplier, the business intelligence consultant becomes a strategic partner, capable of transforming data into real levers of performance and innovation.

AI and BI: a powerful alliance for decision making

Today, businesses need to be fast and rely on reliable data. The combination of AI and BI is profoundly changing the way we analyze and act.

Anticipating rather than noticing: the advantage of automated predictions

Thanks to AI, predictive analytics is becoming more powerful and accurate. Businesses are no longer content to observe the past: they anticipate the future. AI intervenes at several levels:

1. Data exploration : its algorithms are capable of analyzing huge volumes of information to detect patterns invisible to the human eye.
2. Model training : based on historical data, machine learning builds models that can predict future results.
3. Instant predictions : connected to real-time data flows, AI provides forecasts that can be immediately actionable.

Identify anomalies and understand human language

AI also excels in detecting anomalies: fraud, future failures, latent risks... as many weak alerts as humans can miss.
At the same time, thanks to automatic natural language processing (NLP), it makes it possible to better understand customers and exchanges. It thus makes it possible to improve the customer experience by perfecting chatbots, to monitor satisfaction through the analysis of feelings or to refine human-machine communication.

Better value teams

Beyond market and data analysis, AI also helps to better assess internal performance. By combining sales, production and customer feedback data, it provides a more accurate and equitable vision of the work of employees. At the key? Fairer recognition, the identification of talents and concrete ways to strengthen collective effectiveness.

Eulidia support: an asset for the success of your AI + BI project

Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into a business intelligence environment is more than just adding a new technological layer. It is a real change of perspective that requires method, listening and an ability to adapt continuously. At Eulidia, we have chosen to put tailor-made support at the heart of our approach, so that each project is built with coherence, relevance and efficiency.

An agile approach to combine AI and BI expertise

Our way of working is based on agility: we move forward in stages, co-building solutions with your teams. Thanks to this mode of collaboration, we develop your Data solutions together while strengthening your internal skills. Projects thus progress naturally, at the rate of enriching your data and deploying concrete use cases with high added value.

Agility at Eulidia is not just about applying a method. We prefer short cycles that allow us to quickly test, adjust if necessary and deliver useful functionalities on a regular basis. The objective is simple: to generate value from the early stages of the project, while maintaining the flexibility to integrate your needs as they evolve.

The benefits of this agile approach:

• Flexibility and responsiveness : this method facilitates rapid adjustment to the unexpected or to new priorities, without starting from scratch.
• Fast delivery of results : thanks to regular increments, you very quickly have concrete and usable deliverables.
• Continuous involvement of the teams in the project : your employees are fully involved in the project, which guarantees the alignment between the solution delivered and their expectations.
• Control of costs and deadlines : step-by-step progress allows you to maintain control over the budget and deadlines, while remaining open to adjustments.

From PoC to industrialization: tailor-made support

Integrating AI into a BI environment often starts with an exploratory step: Proof of Concept (PoC). This prototype makes it possible to verify the feasibility and relevance of a use case, without major investments. It is a concrete way to demonstrate the value of the chosen solution before considering its large-scale deployment.

Once this value is confirmed, the PoC is transformed into an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), a more successful version, tested in real conditions. It is at this moment that the project leaves the experimental field to enter into a logic of industrialization. This stage is more demanding in terms of reliability, performance and integration into the existing information system.

At Eulidia, we know that this phase is crucial. That is why we offer a dedicated support during this key phase, by adapting our interventions to your technical, organizational and human challenges. Our objective is to secure this rise in power while maintaining the momentum of innovation and collaboration initiated from the start.

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