The Little Book of Data: Understanding the Powerful Analytics that Fuel AI, Make or Break Careers, and Could Just End Up Saving the World

A 2025 HarperCollins Leadership title that demystifies data and AI for non-technical professionals, showing how real people use data to solve big problems and how readers can develop practical “data superpowers” of their own.

The Little Book of Data: Understanding the Powerful Analytics that Fuel AI, Make or Break Careers, and Could Just End Up Saving the World argues that data is not mainly about number-crunching but about ideas—and when used ethically, it is one of the most powerful problem-solving tools of our time. Justin Evans addresses “data denial,” where otherwise savvy people avoid or mistrust data because they think it’s too complicated or inherently suspect, and contends that as data and AI move to the center of professional and civic life, every leader and citizen needs basic fluency in how data works. Each chapter illustrates a core principle of solving problems with data through vivid, story-driven case studies, profiling experts who tackle issues ranging from a “loneliness score” that measures social isolation to epidemiologists finding disease “hotspots,” with examples spanning adtech, climate tech, genomics, railroads, bond ratings, and even meat grading.

Along the way, Evans weaves in lessons from his own career and offers practical thought-starters to help readers apply the same ideas inside their own organizations. The book aims to give readers enough confidence and literacy to recognize both the opportunities and dangers of data-driven decisions and to participate meaningfully in data conversations at work and in society, not as statisticians but as “data people” who can harness data to advance their missions responsibly.