In financial services, data science and a new breed of “data wunderkinds” (someone who has product management and commercial experience, technical expertise, design and customer experience skills) are growing in importance. To understand the reason behind this, we asked Yasaman Hadjibashi, Chief Data Officer at the Barclays Africa Group to shed some light.

"With the Barclays Africa group having millions  of customers across Africa, it is not difficult to understand the complexities involved with trying to connect with our customers on an individual intimate basis. However, the answer lies within the power of data and technology.

“Over the course of the last century, banking has seen an evolution in the way it maintains relationships with its customers. Previously, banks maintained trust and intimacy with our customers through face-to-face close interactions but through the big expansion of our business and  the growing digital revolution, this relationship of trust has become harder to maintain. Data, for us, is the catalyst to help bring back this trust, closeness and connection with our customers with dynamic, personalized customer experiences through the field of data science and latest open source data technologies.” she says.

Data, for us, is the catalyst to help bring back this trust, closeness and connection with our customers with dynamic, personalized customer experiences through the field of data science and latest open source data technologies.

However, Paul Swanepoel, a data scientist for Barclays Africa adds: "There is still  a scarcity of data science talent and data wunderkinds both locally and abroad with the right set of commercial acumen needed in financial services.”

Hear more from the leading Chief Data Officers at the coming Chief Data Officer Forum, Africa organized by Corinium Global Intelligence. For more information, visit
www.chiefdataofficerafrica.com

Join the Chief Data Officer Forum on LinkedIn here.