Pioneer Management Consulting, a Minneapolis-based consultancy, has launched a data analytics practice. The firm has hired Josh Peterson to lead the new practice.
Founded in 2008, Pioneer delivers business strategy, operations, and organizational change services to a range of industry clients. Over the past 12 years, the company has advised numerous C-suite leaders on strategy and operations, supporting large-scale transformations and multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects.
The company has now expanded its service line with a new data analytics practice, which will support Pioneer’s clients with actionable insights that drive profitable decisions. The practice will help clients broaden a “data analytics culture”, deepen talent capabilities through data literacy and data storytelling, and ultimately deliver insights that lead to stronger performance.
The data analytics practice will be led by Josh Peterson, who brings a decade of experience in sales, operations, data analytics, and project management.
“Leaders are hungry to find new insights from their data, but oftentimes face uphill battles when it comes to tapping into the potential of data analytics,” said Molly Koenen, a partner at Pioneer. “Josh will partner with business leaders and data teams to cut through those complexities with stronger decision-making capabilities.”
Peterson previously spent a year running his consulting firm Hawk Advising, which offered fractional chief operating officer services – including operations leadership, program management, and market growth advice. Prior to that, he was VP of operations at Peragon Enterprises, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of truck bed covers.
He previously spent four years at agriculture giant Cargill, where he was a commodities trading analyst, supporting global merchant/trading teams via the application of advanced analytics to forecast US crop production. Before that, he spent three years at North Arrow Group, a consulting firm focusing on enterprise risk security management, where he was a principal consultant.
Before entering the business world, Peterson served in the military, where he was a Captain in the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM), directing intelligence support for counter-terrorism projects.
Peterson holds an MBA from the University of West Florida and a BS in business management from the United States Air Force Academy.
“We see a huge appetite for analytics-driven insights to answer the ‘so what?’ and ‘now what?’ questions for leaders,” Peterson said. “We are realizing the growing challenge that organizations face as they try to find an edge in today’s market. Leaders are seeing the importance of building a data analytics culture that fuels profitable decisions. These new services are designed to do just that.”