AI Analytics for Builders
Transform from consumer of analytics to independent operator — asking sharp questions, validating answers, shipping decisions.
5 weeks · 118 lessons · Live workshops · Portfolio-ready artifacts every week
Week by Week
What you'll learn
Every section follows the same pattern: learn frameworks, practice with real scenarios, apply AI tools, ship a deliverable.
Thinking Like a Product Data Scientist
20 lessons · 174 min
Your VP Slacks you: "Checkout conversion dropped. Can you look into it?" Most people open a dashboard. You'll learn to ask the right questions first — turning vague requests into sharp, decision-forcing analysis.
You'll build: A Problem Brief with 5 ranked analytical questions that each pass a quality checklist
"What decision does this inform?"
Your AI Analytical Toolkit
19 lessons · 174 min
Support tickets spiked. You investigate the same question three ways — in Claude Code, Hex, and Querio — and learn when each tool fits. By week's end, you've run a complete analysis and published a shareable app.
You'll build: A working analytical environment + your first published end-to-end analysis
"AI is your copilot, not your autopilot"
Metrics & Root Cause Analysis
25 lessons · 210 min
Checkout conversion dropped 20%. Three teams define "active user" differently. Before you can investigate, you need to align on what you're measuring — then systematically decompose the drop to the specific segment and cause.
You'll build: A metric spec with guardrails + a root cause analysis memo
"If you can't name the segment, you don't understand it"
Experimentation & Causal Thinking
22 lessons · 188 min
Power users have 2x retention — but is that cause or correlation? You'll draw causal DAGs, design an A/B test for a checkout redesign, interpret mixed results, and learn what to do when you can't run an experiment at all.
You'll build: An experiment brief OR a causal analysis design (two equal paths)
"Correlation is cheap. Causation is valuable."
Storytelling, Influence & Prioritization
23 lessons · 202 min
Great analysis gets ignored when you bury the insight on slide 23. You'll size a $900K opportunity, stress-test your assumptions, and build a 3-slide executive readout that gets the decision made.
You'll build: A 3-slide executive readout + opportunity sizing model + final portfolio package
"Analysis is 50%. Influence is the other 50%."
What You Leave With
Your toolkit
Templates
- ➔Analysis Design Template
- ➔Metric Spec (7-component)
- ➔Root Cause Memo
- ➔Experiment Brief
- ➔3-Slide Executive Readout
AI Skills for Claude Code
- ➔Question Quality Coach
- ➔Metric Definer
- ➔Root Cause Investigator
- ➔Experiment Designer
- ➔AI Analyst System
Running Example
NovaMart — a mid-stage e-commerce company with 30K users, 50K orders, a Plus membership program, and embedded analytical stories you'll investigate all 5 weeks.
- ➔12 tables, 50,000+ rows
- ➔Real messy-data scenarios
- ➔Simpson's Paradox, Power User Fallacy, and more baked in
Your Instructors
Learn from practitioners, not professors
Shane Butler
Principal DS at Ontra
Ontra · Stripe · Nextdoor · PwC
10+ years in product data science, causal inference, and AI evaluation across B2B SaaS and consumer products.
Sravya Madipalli
Sr Manager DS at Superhuman
Superhuman · Microsoft · eBay · Nextdoor
14+ years building data science teams and teaching non-data partners to think analytically.
Hai Guan
Head of Data at Ontra
Ontra · Meta · Pinterest · LinkedIn · Nextdoor
16+ years teaching PMs, designers, and leaders to make data-informed decisions independently.
What Makes This Different
Built for people who ship, not just study
118
Async lessons across 5 weeks with live workshops every week
5
Portfolio-ready artifacts — one milestone every week you can show your team Monday
3
Instructors from Stripe, Meta, and Microsoft who've built these systems at scale
This is NOT
- ✕ A SQL or Python course
- ✕ Statistics lectures
- ✕ Prompt engineering
- ✕ Passive video watching
This IS
- ➔ Product Data Science thinking and workflows
- ➔ Decision-making and influence training
- ➔ Hands-on with real analytical scenarios
- ➔ AI as accelerator, judgment as foundation
FAQ
Common questions
Do I need to know SQL or Python? +
No. This course teaches analytical thinking and decision-making, not coding. AI handles execution — you learn the judgment that AI cannot replace.
How much time per week? +
Plan for 4-6 hours per week: ~3 hours of async lessons and ~1-2 hours of live workshops and exercises. Everything is recorded if you miss a session.
What if I fall behind? +
All content stays available after the cohort ends. You also get lifetime access to recordings and materials. Many students finish at their own pace.
Is this relevant if I already have a data team? +
Especially then. The goal is analytical independence — asking better questions, interpreting results confidently, and unblocking yourself instead of waiting in a queue.
What do I get at the end? +
Five portfolio-ready artifacts (problem brief, published analysis, metric spec, experiment brief, executive readout), a full AI analyst toolkit, and a community of peers.
Next cohort: Apr 20 - May 24, 2026
5 weeks. 3 instructors. Analytical independence.
Taught by Shane Butler, Sravya Madipalli, Hai Guan