This is a profile from the 2022 version of the DataIQ 100.
The latest list is available here.
Tom Spencer, head of customer data science, Aviva
What has been your path to power?
My undergraduate degree was Biochemistry. I was all set to do a PhD, but got so bored stuck in a lab all day, I decided to pivot into business. I found out about a small (at the time) company called dunnhumby which was doing exciting things with data, analytics and the exhilarating pace of retail. It was a perfect match, and I was fortunate to be part of its explosive growth for the next 14 years.
My first role was as a customer data analyst, where I cut my teeth analysing huge (for the time!) retail datasets. In 2008, I relocated to Seoul to set-up dunnhumby Korea as the analytics lead in a two-person team, working shoulder-to-shoulder with Tesco. I spent the next nine years in Asia, two years based in China building and leading the region’s analytics teams, and then latterly as country head of the South Korea business.
I am now back in the UK as head of customer data science at Aviva, leading a brilliant team of analysts, data scientists & engineers, using data to understand customers and take better actions.
What impact has the pandemic had on the role of data in your company/organisation?
Data has always been at the heart of insurance businesses, but we’ve never had to deal with such profound disruption across so many different products and services at the same time. “What’s happening? What should we do? What are the effects of what we are doing?” Getting answers to these questions fast was more critical than ever - an advantage that could lift some of the fog. In light of this, the pandemic period has had a positive, lasting effect on the way we run our business using data.
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