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As a data scientist: What do you want to know about the thing you're building and how it works?

"We don't know what we want to know, but we have a vague sense that if we knew we would benefit from knowing it."

Would this be a bad answer? I think part of the data scientist's job is to look at the data and see what beneficial information can be gathered from it and how it can be used to optimize the company/revenue/costs.

It's a terrible answer. It means they don't even know enough about what they want to have even an idea of what questions to ask. They may as well be flipping coins or tossing crap at the wall to see what sticks.

Empirical inquiry doesn't (usually) start with aimless exploration of data hoping it tells you something. It usually starts with an observation and some pertinent questions.

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