9 data management and security jobs of the future

9 data management and security jobs that will protect information

Data trash engineers, algorithm bias auditors, virtual identity defenders and cyber calamity forecasters are among the jobs that will play critical roles in the new digital workforce.

New skills and job roles that organizations will need

As organizations rapidly embrace digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and virtual and augmented reality, these emerging technologies will require many new job roles. In the new report, "21 More Jobs of the Future: A Guide to Getting and Staying Employed Through 2029," researchers from the Cognizant Center for the Future of Work follow-up their predictions from one year ago with a new set of jobs on the horizon. The report was authored by Vice President Ben Pring, Associate Vice President Robert H. Brown, Associate Vice President Euan Davis, Senior Director Manish Bahl, Senior Manager Michael Cook, Research Analyst Caroline Styr and Sennior Consultant Desmond Dickerson.

Data trash engineer

“The theory behind junk data is often wrong, and we need to fix it,” the authors write. “Data that has not been used by anyone in the past 12 months, has no foreseeable use as initially imagined, and isn’t necessary for regulatory purposes, can still be turned into insights. Just like food waste is a carbon that can be used to produce green energy, data waste is still meaningful if cleaned.”

“In this role, you’ll apply analytical rigor and statistical methods to data trash in order to guide decision-making, product development and strategic initiatives. This will be done by creating a ‘data trash nutrition labeling’ system that will rate the quality of waste datasets and manage the ‘data-growth-data-trash’ ratio.”

Cyber attack agent

“The National Cyber Security Center is seeking a new type of cyber agent, one that not only can defend our national infrastructure but also, if necessary, undertake an offensive against our nation’s adversaries,” the authors say. “To be considered for this critical role, you must display an excellent track record of cyber hacking, ‘grey-hat-focused’ software development or distributed denial of service attack experience. Cyber attack agents will need to operate as an effective and highly nimble team, collaborating closely with each other, as well as with the NCSC’s cybersecurity teams.”

Voice UX designer

“As a voice UX designer, you’ll create a set of diagnostic tools, algorithms, linguistic imprint protocols and refinement regimens to help individuals carefully curate their ‘perfect voice’ assistant,” the authors write. “Just as everyone’s social media page or avatar is unique to them, (this technology) will capture, imprint, dynamically optimize and promulgate highly personalized voice assistants for every customer that uses it.”

“Ideal candidates will be passionate about advancing human-digital ‘conversation’ strategies. The critical requirement for the voice UX designer is to hone the accents, inflections, turns-of-phrase, jargon and lingo of current voice-as-a-platform systems to become uniquely individualized to craft the voice that’s most engaging, pleasant, conversational, comfortable and understandable to (and understanding of) each person’s individual tastes.”

Smart home design managers

“We’re building a team of smart home design managers, who will work with architects, engineers and customers to design connected homes that cocoon inhabitants in a fully and seamlessly connected environment, using the latest integrated technology in an aesthetically and environmentally friendly manner,” the authors say. “Smart home design managers will be an integral part of our architectural team that assists in making smart living a seamless and attractive way of life for our customers. Smart home design managers will stay up to date on the latest technological trends in the industry and will find novel ways of integrating this technology for maximum impact, with a blend of both traditional and contemporary style projects.”

Algorithm bias auditor

“Given the increasing prominence of artificial intelligence—from product development, to sales analysis, to recruitment, to contract review—it is vital that we ensure the algorithms at the heart of AI are fair, legal and representative of the values of the organization,” the authors explain. “Algorithms are the key to commercial competitive advantage, and algorithms must be 100 percent ethical.”

“The head of ABA will lead a team that conducts a methodical and rigorous investigation into every algorithm across every business unit within the organization. The ABA team will work with development teams (from the technical and business functions) for new AI-based applications and will review existing systems. The head of ABA will establish an inventory system that logs and tracks each significant algorithm, its objectives, its input and output, related human value judgments and consequences.”

Cyber calamity forecaster

“The cyber calamity forecaster’s primary task will be to monitor, detect and forecast cyber threats, and predict their impact,” the authors explain. “The forecaster will distinguish between highly improbable and wildly impossible cyber outliers, as well as accurately map cyber uncertainties and make predictions to prepare for their occurrence.”

“The cyber calamity forecaster will reveal overlooked possibilities and expose unexamined assumptions about the cyber world. The ideal candidate will provide analytical, advisory and technical expertise and analysis related to global cyber activities by assessing the current and predicted cyber environments in order to issue cyber products, alert bulletins and forecasts.”

Virtual identity defender

“It’s not fake news to say that we’re drowning in fake news,” the authors note. “In fact, it would be fair (and balanced) to say we’re now living in a ‘post-truth’ world. New technologies are fast emerging that create the possibility to literally put words into somebody’s mouth. This capability—broadly labeled as ‘deep fakes’—is opening a number of scenarios that range from the amusing to the apocalyptic.”

A virtual identity defender "should have demonstrable experience with leading development teams in complex technical areas and a proven track record working with recognizable brand name companies. You should be able to speak ‘tech’ and ‘business’ and be comfortable toggling and translating between the two.”

Head of machine personality design

“By imbuing an intelligent product/service/bot with a personality, we can establish a rapport with consumers in an increasingly transactional world,” the authors say. “The role requires a deep knowledge of branding, sociology, philosophy, process design and machine learning to ensure that an automated interface engages and delights users and leaves them wanting more.”

“A key part of the job is ‘discovery,’ capturing the desires of the client and reconciling that with the aims of the customer experience. You’ll run the testing and analysis, and develop the final personality design brief to be handed over to the interactive robotics team for a personality print. The right candidate will bring inventiveness, along with the ability to discover useful, valuable and quirky ideas that can be incorporated into the personality design. You’ll also need a strong background in process engineering and voice analytics.”

Machine risk officer

“The machine risk officer will manage the potential risks that may occur if intelligent machines fail,” the authors say. “This role will also work to establish human-machine trust and protect the company’s brand, reputation and finances by proactively addressing machine ethics issues.”

“The role of machine risk officer will be essential to developing new trust mechanisms and imagining new risk-benefit approaches for working with intelligent machines. The employee in this position will define roles and responsibilities between humans and machines and set the rules for how human counterparts should handle machine-caused wrongdoing.”