--- title: From the Candle to the Lightbulb description: Simon’s vision for a light bulb moment is not going to be achieved by BI still in the candle and gas-light mindset. We need something fresh. image: https://blog.quaeris.ai/hubfs/blog%20feature%20images.png --- [![logo@4x-May-15-2026-05-04-52-4699-PM](https://blog.quaeris.ai/hubfs/logo@4x-May-15-2026-05-04-52-4699-PM.png) ](https://blog.quaeris.ai/) Product [Platform](https://www.quaeris.ai/platform) Context Engine [Ask](https://www.quaeris.ai/conversational-queries) [Integrate](https://www.quaeris.ai/integrations) [Activate](https://www.quaeris.ai/activate) Answer Engine [Search](https://www.quaeris.ai/search) [Share](https://www.quaeris.ai/communities) [Accelerate](https://www.quaeris.ai/accelerate) Decision Engine [Pin](https://www.quaeris.ai/pinboards) [Embed](https://www.quaeris.ai/embedded-analytics) [Resonate](https://www.quaeris.ai/resonate) Solutions Industry [Insurance](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility) [Private capital](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility) [Financial Services](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility) [Retail & CPG ](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility) [Electric Cooperatives/Utility](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility) Role [CFO & Finance Leaders ](https://www.quaeris.ai/roles/cfofinanceleader) [Analytics](https://www.quaeris.ai/cfo-finance-leaders#analytics)[Variance Analysis](https://www.quaeris.ai/cfo-finance-leaders#variance)[Forecasting](https://www.quaeris.ai/cfo-finance-leaders#forecasting)[Audit / Internal Audit](https://www.quaeris.ai/cfo-finance-leaders#audit) [Data Analysts](https://www.quaeris.ai/roles/data-analysts) [Data Leaders](https://www.quaeris.ai/roles/data-leader) Resources [Case Studies](https://www.quaeris.ai/use-cases) [Get Answers](https://www.quaeris.ai/resource-resonate) [Blog](https://blog.quaeris.ai/blog) [FAQ](https://www.quaeris.ai/frequently-asked-questions) About Us [Ambassador](https://www.quaeris.ai/ambassador) [Our Vision](https://www.quaeris.ai/vision-mission) [Our Team](https://www.quaeris.ai/our-team) [Partners](https://www.quaeris.ai/partners) [ Watch It Live ![](https://blog.quaeris.ai/hubfs/arrow-May-15-2026-05-08-49-4155-PM.png) ](https://www.quaeris.ai/watch-it-live) [Book a Demo](https://www.quaeris.ai/book-a-demo-3) [Platform](https://www.quaeris.ai/platform) Context Engine [↳ Ask](https://www.quaeris.ai/conversational-queries)[↳ Integrate](https://www.quaeris.ai/integrations)[↳ Activate](https://www.quaeris.ai/activate) Answer Engine [↳ Search](https://www.quaeris.ai/search)[↳ Share](https://www.quaeris.ai/communities)[↳ Accelerate](https://www.quaeris.ai/accelerate) Decision Engine [↳ Pin](https://www.quaeris.ai/pinboards)[↳ Embed](https://www.quaeris.ai/embedded-analytics)[↳ Resonate](https://www.quaeris.ai/resonate) Industry [↳ Insurance](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility)[↳ Private capital](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility)[↳ Financial Services](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility)[↳ Retail & CPG ](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility)[↳ Electric Cooperatives/Utility](https://www.quaeris.ai/industry/electric-cooperatives/utility) Role [↳ CFO & Finance Leaders](https://www.quaeris.ai/roles/cfofinanceleader)[↳ Data Analysts](https://www.quaeris.ai/roles/data-analysts)[↳ Data Leaders](https://www.quaeris.ai/roles/data-leader) [Case Studies](https://www.quaeris.ai/use-cases) [Get Answers](https://www.quaeris.ai/resource-resonate) [Blog](https://blog.quaeris.ai/blog) [FAQ](https://www.quaeris.ai/frequently-asked-questions) [Ambassador](https://www.quaeris.ai/ambassador) [Our Vision](https://www.quaeris.ai/vision-mission) [Our Team](https://www.quaeris.ai/our-team) [Partners](https://www.quaeris.ai/partners) [Watch It Live](https://www.quaeris.ai/watch-it-live) [Book a Demo](https://www.quaeris.ai/book-a-demo-3) BI Machine Learning # From the Candle to the Lightbulb Simon’s vision for a light bulb moment is not going to be achieved by BI still in the candle and gas-light mindset. We need something fresh. ![](https://blog.quaeris.ai/hubfs/blog%20feature%20images.png) SUMMARIZED BY QUAERIS AI - NLQ is rapidly maturing and attracting heavy investment, moving beyond simple queries into visualization, anomaly detection, and recommendation systems. - Healthcare, finance, and customer service teams are using NLQ to surface patterns in patient data, detect fraud, and automate customer responses at scale. - NLQ is reshaping application design and the workplace by making software more accessible and giving non-technical users a natural way to query data. - Education and policy making both benefit — from personalized learning feedback to analyzing socio-economic data for more informed decisions. ✦ Generating summary... The BI space is growing rapidly, and many industry experts are expecting disruptive analytics tools to redefine the way business users consume data. Was the lightbulb invented by building a better candle? Does the future of data consumption lie in a better version of Power BI? QuaerisAI is a truly disruptive solution: it’s BI 4.0.  **Revolution, not evolution** Oren Harari said the light bulb did not come about **by doing incremental improvements to a candle**. To invent the light bulb, Thomas Edison had to test countless new ideas. In the same light, existing BI tools are only incremental improvements over what [Yorgen Edholm](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yorgenedholm/) created in 1990 and [Christopher Ahlberg](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherahlberg/) mastered in 1995. Since then, BI companies have only made incremental improvements to the fundamental idea of a dashboard – **everybody has been trying to make a faster horse.**     It was in July 2012, almost ten years ago, that [Simon Gratton](https://www.linkedin.com/in/simongratton/) wrote the seminal article on [BI 3.0](https://www.capgemini.com/2012/07/bi-30-the-journey-to-business-intelligence-what-does-it-mean/). It’s not often the **BI space hosts** predictions this accurate. Simon’s suggestions around having a solid big data foundation that along with BI drives social empowerment and business outcomes are still very much on the money. Simon’s vision for a light bulb moment is not going to be achieved by BI still in the candle and gas-light mindset. We need something fresh:    [See how electric QuaerisAI is in action](https://www.QuaerisAI.ai/trial) **BI 4.0**  Picking up from where Simon left off on BI 3.0, I am:  1. Taking a shot at what Simon expected to happen in BI 3.0 in 2012 versus what the reality is in 2021  2. Attempting to quantify and qualify the vague concept of BI 4.0 - drawing a line in the sand, so to speak   ![Table Description automatically generated](https://blog.quaeris.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined.png?width=959&name=undefined.png) Also, an interesting read on BI 4.0 is from [Jesus Rodrigues](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesusmrv/), from his story in [Medium in 2016.](https://jrodthoughts.medium.com/bi-4-0-is-business-intelligence-entering-its-4th-generation-46312b58be2d)    In essence, BI 4.0 is catered to the following three business stakeholders and their needs:  - **Business users:** We do not want to be limited in our view of the data – give us the data and we will make our inference.   - **IT:** We are data custodians; we own and control it. You cannot blame us for everything that is wrong with the data when we have no control over what goes into the dashboards.  - **BI analysts:** We cannot keep wasting almost half of our time answering the same questions repeatedly. We want to write models, predict, and prescript.  QuaerisAI is the true BI 4.0 solution in the making.   SHARE THIS ARTICLE: [← Back to blog](https://blog.quaeris.ai/blog) April 1, 2022 --- ![Rishi Bhatnagar](https://blog.quaeris.ai/hubfs/8C20A4-rishi.png) Written by Rishi Bhatnagar Rishi Bhatnagar is CEO of Quaeris, Inc., a premium provider of advanced analytics services. He is a powerhouse of all things data, emanating new ideas for making data work! After working in risk and corporate banking, Rishi found his true calling in consulting and has been solving challenging business problems for the last 20 years. These roles have given him a unique perspective on approaching customers’ use-cases, and the wisdom to bring the right teams to architect and build viable and sustainable solutions. --- TOPICS BI Machine Learning ## Continue reading [View all posts →](https://blog.quaeris.ai/blog) [![](https://blog.quaeris.ai/hubfs/How%20Decision%20Velocity%20Becomes%20Competitive%20Advantage.png) ⏱ 6 min Natural Language #### How Decision Velocity Becomes a Competitive Advantage Decision velocity is the new edge. See how rising flow signals translate into market wins. Read more → ](https://blog.quaeris.ai/learn/how-decision-velocity-becomes-a-competitive-advantage) [![](https://blog.quaeris.ai/hubfs/Hidden%20Cost%20of%20Translation%20Quaeris.png) ⏱ 5 min Decision Acceleration #### The Hidden Cost of Translating Business Questions into Queries Every translation step from question to query introduces drag. Remove it with conversational data access. 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