Allister Mowbray began his career as a quantitative analyst, working on hedge fund reporting for a niche investment firm. He later joined a data science consultancy in Cape Town, where he spent several years building machine learning models while also developing his skills in team and project management. From there, he moved into banking, establishing the data science capability in FX at First National Bank in South Africa. His success in this role led to his appointment as Chief Data and Analytics Officer within the same space. After nearly eight years working in FX, Allister transitioned into the Rand Merchant Bank franchise, where he now serves as CDAO responsible for Corporate Banking.
DataIQ asked: “How do you see the role of the data leader evolving over the next 12-24 months?”
“The data discipline is still relatively immature in the corporate construct compared to other tech areas such as IT; this has advantages in terms of nimbleness and reduced governance but also brings disadvantages in terms of relative investment spend. To mature the discipline correctly, data leaders need to concentrate on improved governance and structure for data initiatives and teams.
“Additionally, there is a heavy reliance on data leaders to drive the AI culture within business, and this will start to have a large effect on the type of work being done within data teams, as well as the relative exposure of the data discipline to the wider business.”