Career case study: Nathasia Kumala — an actuary across Asia and Australia - Actuaries Digital

Nathasia Kumala's actuarial career has taken her from life insurance in Asia to the competitive pressures of the general insurance market in Australia.

Here, she shares what shaped her path, why human judgement remains the profession's sharpest edge and what she'd tell anyone just starting out.

Why did you become an actuary?

Honestly, it started with my affinity for maths. Growing up, maths was always my favourite subject — so the idea of a career built around quantitative thinking, understanding uncertainty and pricing risk stood out. Though I must admit that at the outset, I barely knew what an actuary actually does!

What drew me further in was the reputation of the profession. Actuaries are respected and taken seriously for their rigour and their unique skillset. I've always believed that challenging myself is where I find the most growth and the actuarial path has proven to be the perfect avenue to channel exactly that.

How did you find your way into the profession — and were there any unexpected turns along the way?

It started with a Google search. I typed something like "what's a good career for someone whose favourite subject is maths?" and actuarial science kept coming up. I looked into it, rolled the dice and enrolled in a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies at UNSW.

I’d say my journey has been fairly typical — no dramatic plot twists. But one thing I didn't fully appreciate when I first started is just how broad the profession is. There are so many paths and specialisations to explore — insurance, banking, investments, data, the list goes on!

I've been lucky enough to experience a slice of that breadth myself, starting my career in life insurance in Asia before making the move to general insurance in Australia three years ago.

How did you land your first actuarial job?

Doing well in your coursework gets you to the starting line, but having a competitive edge is what matters most. I tried to be proactive about both my academic and professional development early on, which more often than not, meant stepping out of my comfort zone. I reached out to people I didn't know, spoke to actuaries at career fairs, signed up for mentoring programs and more.

What I found is that people are willing to help when they can see your commitment and enthusiasm. The actuarial community is smaller than it looks from the outside and that works in your favour if you put yourself out there. All that effort eventually paid off and I was fortunate enough to land my first role through exactly those steps.

What has helped you most in building and progressing your career?

I’d say talking to people, having strong commitment and the courage to try out new things.

I've been lucky to have leaders, colleagues and peers who genuinely shaped how I think. Watching someone translate complex technical work into clear commercial insights, navigate a difficult conversation, teaches you things no exam syllabus covers.

Beyond that, I've been deliberate about surrounding myself with brilliant people outside of actuarial too. Different perspectives make you see things in a more holistic manner and that breadth consistently makes you better at your job.

And then there's grit, not just for the exams, but for the career itself. Pushing toward the next opportunity before you feel ready, saying yes when it's easier to say not yet — that's a different kind of hard and it's ongoing.

Where has your career taken you — any roles, projects, or locations that surprised or shaped you?

Two countries, two very different corners of actuarial — that's probably the best way to sum it up. Starting out in life insurance in Asia gave me a solid technical foundation and threw me into a fast-moving, commercially-driven environment early on.

Moving to Australia and into general insurance felt like a fresh start and it has been. The work that has shaped me most is navigating the commercial market cycle, particularly the current soft market.

When competition heats up and rates come under pressure, the challenge becomes really interesting: how do you help a business keep growing while still maintaining a healthy risk pool? The environment has pushed me to think from various perspectives, including segmentation, figuring out which risks are worth competing for and communicating that clearly to underwriters and the broader business.

How has technology and data changed the way you work — and how are you responding to that?

Honestly, I'm still figuring it out. We're living in an era where AI can handle a lot of the technical heavy lifting, which is genuinely exciting, but it also raises the question: where do actuaries really come in and add value?

For me, the answer has always been on the human judgement side of things. Technical skills can be replicated. The ability to build trust with an underwriter, claims manager, read a room, sense-check a result that looks off and translate a complex pricing analysis into something someone can actually act on, that's harder to automate. If anything, technology has made those skills more important, not less. That’s where I'm focusing to continually hone on.

What advantages does being an actuary give you in the professional world?

I would say the most prominent advantage is credibility. The rigour associated with the actuarial qualification garners external recognition and respect, even when people are not entirely sure what an actuary does. Actuaries are known for their analytical skills and fact-based approach and that means your opinion carries weight in the room.

In addition, actuarial training fosters something less tangible — discipline and character. Balancing work and study can be tough. Navigating that phase itself builds a kind of grit that carries over into your professional life. When you face complex problems, difficult conversations or high-stakes decisions at work, you've already proven to yourself that you can push through. And honestly, that quiet confidence makes more of a difference in the workplace than people realise.

How do you explain the value of actuarial thinking to people outside the profession?

To be very frank, I am still struggling with defining clearly what an "actuary" does — let alone actuarial thinking. My own family still doesn't fully understand what I do. They know it involves gruelling screen hours and apparently a lot of Excel. I've just accepted that at this point.

When I think about it simply though, actuarial thinking is about asking "what if?" before it matters. At its core, it's a fact-based approach — you look at the data, understand the context and form a view of what the future could look like. That means keeping a close eye on trends, regulatory changes and emerging shifts in the environment, and using those as indicators to inform decisions.

It's not just about crunching numbers. It's about telling a story with those numbers, anticipating what's coming and helping people make better decisions in the face of uncertainty.

What are the top five skills every actuary needs today?

Communication: The ability to translate complex analysis into something a non-technical audience can make sense of and act on. Numbers mean nothing if the message doesn't land.
Analytical rigour: The foundation of everything. Accuracy matters, and so does knowing the limits of your analysis. A big part of this is sense-checking — questioning your own outputs, challenging assumptions, and making sure the answer actually is reasonable before it reaches a stakeholder.
Big-picture thinking: Understanding how your work fits into the broader business context. It's easy to get lost in the technical weeds and lose sight of the end goal.
Adaptability: The profession is changing fast. The actuaries who thrive will be those who aren't afraid to step away from the old ways and embrace new tools and domains.
Stakeholder management: Knowing how to build trust across an organisation and influence decisions. As AI and automation handle more of the technical heavy lifting, the people side of things is increasingly where actuaries add the most value.

What are the three highlights of your career so far?

Landing my first actuarial role: After all the effort I put in at uni — studying hard (pre-AI era!), the networking and the mentoring programs and finally, getting to do real actuarial work felt like a genuine turning point.
Qualifying as a Fellow: Balancing work and study is no easy feat and it comes with real sacrifices. But the feeling of achieving something that once felt like a distant dream when you first set foot in uni is honestly unreal.
Navigating the soft commercial market cycle: This one's still ongoing. Helping the business grow sustainably under competitive pressure, identifying the right segments to compete in, maintaining pricing adequacy, keeping the risk pool healthy it's some of the most commercially meaningful work I've done.

How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

Actuary first, with pilates, good music and occasional matcha squeezed in between.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out?

Stay curious. Ask questions and be proactive. Reach out, put your hand up and say yes to new opportunities/challenges.

And remember that being an actuary is so much more than numbers, charts and graphs. The technical foundation is essential, but it's only the beginning. The most valuable things you'll develop over a career is judgement, communication, relationships, the ability to see around corners. None of those come from a textbook. They come from staying present, staying open and always being hungry for more!