Data scientists the hot new trend in business

To survive in a post-Covid world, companies need to be able to use their data to make smart decisions.

To do that they need data scientists, who are in short supply.

The “Future of Work 2020” report released by the World Economic Forum last week says Covid-19 has accelerated the future of work, with companies embracing the benefits of technology to survive.

Neil Rankin, CEO of Predictive Analytics, a consultancy that analyses data for clients, said: “Customers who use their data effectively will thrive and those who don’t will struggle and go out of business.”

Eugene Wessels, chief technology executive for King Price Insurance, concurred. “High-performing data scientists are gold,” said Wessels, whose team of 15 data scientists look for customer trends.

For example, a recent trend that Wessels’s team identified is that customers who have golf clubs and mountain bikes insured stay with the insurance company the longest.

Trends such as this are used to create new products or find ways to target these clients.

“These golden nuggets help us understand our clients better,” he said.

Data scientists in SA are in big demand as companies join the digital revolution.

Martin Pienaar, chief operating executive of digital talent consultancy Mindworx, said there is a 30% to 40% increase, year on year, in the demand for data scientists.

SA doesn’t produce enough data scientists and the few it has are snapped up by multinational companies. Leon de Bruyn, head of data science and advanced analytics at African Bank, said the shortage is a global phenomenon.

Andreas Bartsch, head of service delivery at PBT Group, said the dearth of data scientists can partly be attributed to the interdisciplinary approach required, combining techniques and theories from mathematics, statistics, information science, business, economics and computer science.

Paul Morgan, head of data planning and analytics at Altron Karabina, said a data scientist needs a combination of technical skills and business understanding.

An example is the ability to use a programming language such as Python, which, for a junior data scientist, is easy to acquire — but the business experience takes a little longer.

Junior data scientists with limited experience can earn between R20,000 and R30,000 a month, and an advanced scientist with more than seven years’ experience can earn north of R100,000.

Adam Pantanowitz, a data scientist and co-founder of security platform Aura, said a salary can easily top R120,000 a month, depending on the candidate’s seniority and role. Senior candidates are hard to find and are poached by other companies.

Wessels said that if you can find an exceptional data scientist you need to make sure they are “very well looked after”.

SA is an easy poaching ground for data scientists.

“There are some fantastic overseas guys but they are often too specialised and lack the versatility to find their way around business problems,” he said.

Pantanowitz has just bade farewell to five data scientists from SA who have taken up positions abroad.

Universities such as Wits, Stellenbosch and Cape Town offer degrees in data science. Short courses for technical skills can be found on online platforms such as Udemy.

Customers who use their data effectively will thrive; those who don’t will struggle and go out of business