But DJ Patil, Chief Data Scientist and Director of Product Analytics at LinkedIn, thinks differently.

FORBES: LinkedIn's Social Maneuvering - Product Launches, Acquisitions and Expansions

Mingsheng Hong is Chief Data Scientist at Hadapt, a Boston-based startup that offers an analytical platform that integrates structured and unstructured data in one cloud-optimized system.

FORBES: The Data Science Interview: Mingsheng Hong, Hadapt

We continue our series on the emerging role of the data scientist, by talking to Pat Hanrahan, chief scientist and co-founder of Tableau Software.

FORBES: Tableau Software's Pat Hanrahan on "What Is a Data Scientist?"