Data science is a study where information comes from, what it represents and how it can be turned into a valuable resource in the creation of business and IT strategies. Mining large amounts of structured and unstructured data to identify patterns can help an organization rein in costs, increase efficiency recognize new market opportunities and increase the organization's competitive advantage. The data science field employs mathematics, statistics and computer science disciplines, and incorporates techniques like machine learning, predictive analytics, visualization, etc to businesses that allow them to make decisions based on historical data and future projections.

Machine learning is often incorporated in data science. Machine learning is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that essentially automates the data-processing portion of data science. Machines learning integrates advanced algorithms that learn on their own and can process massive amounts of data in a fraction of the time it would take a human.