In August 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit conducted a survey sponsored by Alteryx of 241 global executives to gauge their perceptions of big data adoption. Fifty-three percent of respondents are board members or C-suite executives, including 66 CEOs, presidents or managing directors. Those polled are based in North America (34%), the Asia-Pacific region (27%), Western Europe (25%), the Middle East and Africa (6%), Latin America (5%) and Eastern Europe (4%). Half of executives work for companies with revenue that exceeds US$500m. Executives hail from 18 sectors and represent 14 functional roles, including general management (30%), strategy and business development (18%), finance (17%) and marketing and sales (10%). Big data and the democratisation of decisions