Where Are Australia's Data Science Leaders? The Case for Technical Career Pathways

Australian companies risk falling behind global competitors in harnessing the benefits of AI unless they establish clear leadership pathways for employees with deep technical skills. Without these routes to senior leadership roles, critical boardroom decisions lack technical depth, we default to adoption over invention, and talented professionals move overseas for better opportunities.

In Where Are Australia's Data Science Leaders? The Case for Technical Career Pathways, Data Science Actuary and Quantium Executive Victor Bajanov recommends that companies that want to transform will need to have leadership teams with a deep understanding of what AI can – and cannot – achieve to be able to fully embed AI into their organisation.

In brief: 

• Many Australian organisations are focused on implementing existing AI solutions rather than driving genuine innovation. Only 18 per cent (approximately A$650 million) of Australia's total AI investment goes to infrastructure and foundational capabilities, compared to Canada (A$2.7 billion) and Singapore (A$5 billion).
• Although Australia has a wealth of talented tech professionals, a lack of career pathways into leadership often results in them moving overseas to be at the cutting edge of innovation.

Dialogue Papers are a series of papers written by actuaries and published by the Actuaries Institute which aim to stimulate discussion on important, emerging issues. Opinions expressed in this publication are the opinions of the Paper's author and do not necessarily represent those of the Institute.