Business intelligence (BI) is the set of techniques and tools used to transform raw data into useful information that can help business managers make strategic decisions. BI has evolved over time from early concepts introduced in the late 19th century to more sophisticated tools and techniques developed in recent decades. Modern BI uses large data warehouses and multidimensional modeling to integrate data from various sources and provide reporting, dashboards, ad hoc querying and other capabilities to support analysis. BI systems have been widely adopted by retail industries to gain insights from sales, inventory and other operational data.