'Paradigm' shift in data analysis promises change

Statistics experts in hot demand as research into AI gathers pace in China, elsewhere

A special statistical modeling competition was going on in a well-decorated office in northwestern Beijing. The participants were a line of secretaries, human resource officers and marketing and public relations staff who knew nothing about the basics of coding and computer programming.

They were all employees of 4Paradigm, a three-year-old startup founded by Baidu Inc's former principal IT architect and backed by global venture capital powerhouse Sequoia Capital.