Over the past few years, I’ve found myself working more and more with people at the early stages of their Business Analysis careers. Some have been BAs for a while and are ready to take the next step. Others are changing careers entirely. And some are just starting out — apprentices only a year or so out of school, stepping into the world of Business Analysis for the first time.
One question comes up again and again: “So… what do Business Analysts actually do?”
It’s a fair question. The BA role is widely misunderstood, and a lot of the material online is incomplete, misleading, or — in some cases — just plain wrong. So I decided to write a couple of posts that explain how I see the BA role and where we fit in the wider world of business and technology.
Let’s start at the beginning.
What Are Business Analysts?
Business Analysts (BAs) are creative thinkers, problem solvers, and change enablers. We sit between business and technical stakeholders, translating business needs into technical solutions — and technical constraints back into business reality.
In almost every organisation, you can spot two broad groups of people:
- The business people — They understand what the organisation needs to achieve its goals. They think in terms of strategy, processes, customers, and outcomes.
- The technical people — They understand how technology works and how it can be used to deliver those outcomes. They think in terms of systems, data, and architecture.
If we imagine business people as blue, and technical people as red, then the people who sit between them — the ones who understand both worlds — are purple.
Purple people speak both languages. They understand the business context and the technology that supports it. They translate, connect, clarify, and make sense of complexity.
Business Analysts are the ultimate purple people.
Why Do Businesses Need BAs?
Because we know what’s really going on.
BAs dive deep into different parts of the organisation (often called business domains). We talk to anyone who’ll sit still long enough, ask questions, and build a picture of how things actually work — not just how senior leaders think they work.
We bring strategic value by:
- Providing insights that shape and support business strategy
- Helping decision‑makers make informed choices
- Spotting opportunities for improvement and innovation
- Understanding what customers need and how to meet those needs
In short: we help organisations make better decisions, faster, and with fewer surprises.
How Do You Recognise a BA?
You can usually tell by how they behave.
Experienced BAs develop a blend of confidence, curiosity, and critical thinking that makes them trusted advisors to their stakeholders and role models to their peers.
Here are some of the traits you’ll often see.
Confidence
They are:
- Comfortable starting a conversation even if their initial assumptions might be wrong
- Unfazed by being corrected – and quick to adjust
- Willing to pause a discussion to clarify something
- Happy to step into new business domains
- Not afraid to ask questions or challenge thinking
Context
They can:
- Focus on the right things quickly
- Explain the bigger picture in strategic terms
- Make connections others might miss
- Turn complexity into simplicity
Critical Thinking
They
- Apply structured thinking to messy problems
- Ask “why?” repeatedly
- Challenge assumptions and received wisdom
- Bring their own perspectives, not just a checklist
An experienced BA is someone who gets it – not someone who needs to be told what to look for.
What’s Next?
In my next post, I’ll talk about the knowledge and experience BAs need to succeed — and how you can start building those skills no matter where you are in your career.