Data mining = data warehouse + pattern recognition. ...

Data mining = data warehouse + pattern recognition.

(Pattern recognition is a research direction in electrical engineering).

Besides the hard skill, it also requires good presentation skill  to justify a project’s value and to “show off” what is mined,  like a financial analyst’s job.   忽悠的功夫.

It is a creative job, but, just like data warehousing, it is not a must to a business. (Therefore a job security concern).

I broader sense, risk management in banking industry  belongs to data mining.

Hope other experts will provide more complete answer.