This is the Most Critical Skill for Data Analysts

94% of companies view data and analytics as vital to their business growth. For MBAs, data analytics roles can offer a promising career. But what does it take to be a data analyst? And what separates the top tier analysts from the rest?

Fortune recently spoke to experts on what key traits successful data analysts have and why the role is ripe for growth.

SOFT SKILLS ARE KEY

Data analysis may have a lot to do with numbers, but soft skills serve as a necessity for succeeding in the role. Part of that has to do with communicating ideas effectively, experts say.

“You can run the smartest, most sophisticated modeling that people have ever seen, but if you can’t translate that back to your stakeholders, your analysis isn’t very useful,” Joe Ste.Marie, a director at Bully Pulpit Interactive, a Washington, D.C.-based communications agency, tells Fortune. “I’ve spent a lot of time learning the hard way that being useful is way more important than being right.”

Additionally, experts say, having a strong sense of curiosity can be a huge asset in the role.

“You need to be the type of person that is always asking why,” Dave Belgard, a manager of software engineering for support, triage, and training at Comcast, tells Fortune. “Many people simply accept how things are done; an inquisitive person wants to know why they are done that way.”

THE MOST CRITICAL HARD SKILL?

Experts say the top must-have technical skill for data analysts is knowledge in Structured Query Language (SQL), the industry-standard database language.

“The technical skills can truly be as simple as knowing how to build a pivot table in Excel or do basic aggregation in SQL, or as complicated as knowing how to run multilevel regressions,” Ste.Marie tells Fortune. “If there’s one hard skill that’s just critical, it’s SQL. After all these years, it’s still one of the easiest ways to answer 80% of questions.”

The future for data analysts looks bright. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, data analyst jobs are expected to see a 20% growth from by 2028.

“We’re sitting in a really huge moment of transformation for the data space,” Ste.Marie tells Fortune.

Sources: Fortune, MicroStrategy