Diane Berry, chief data and analytics officer, The Phoenix Group

Describe your career to date 

My undergrad was a BTech back in New Zealand and was built off a passion for solving problems that manifested itself in software engineering. The first roles I had out of university were predominately building client server applications in financial institutions that ranged from trading systems to asset management. It was when I was working for a commodity trading house in the 2000s that my interest in modelling was renewed and did a sideways step back to university (UCL London) to do a Master’s in Statistical Science.

I made a conscious decision not to head back to industry and was successful in landing a full-time research role at UCL, where I completed my PhD part-time (within four years). As it was back in the 2000s, the whole genome had only recently been decoded and there was an explosion of data, which meant dealing with “big data” and developing novel and robust methodologies to analyse complex genetic, longitudinal lifestyle and health data.

Industry called again in the early 2010s and I was attracted by the variety and challenge of the problems in strategic consulting, which is like research on a much quicker time scale.

I joined Bain & Company and had an incredible time, working with a variety of clients to build data strategies, operating models, technology and build and deliver use-cases. By the time I left in 2021, I was director of data science for the UK practice.

That said, when Phoenix knocked on my virtual door, I was excited by the opportunity to settle down and build from within. Phoenix is at a pivotal time with integration of entities and relaunching our Standard Life brand – the energy, pace and focus is incredible, and I am excited to be part of it and leading the team.