​One of the best things I ever did in my career was to ‘internationalise’ it. In my late twenties, I felt I’d spent sufficient time learning and growing in my native South Africa (including building my first team from scratch, and having great fun along the way). I wanted to see what things would be like on the world stage, and after an enjoyable month-long secondment to Sweden, applied for a new permanent role based in London, working with all our Group’s divisions across the world.

​The role was as a consultant to the local business units’ executive teams on their product strategy and execution, and aimed to foster idea-sharing as well as improve practices around risk management, for example. I really loved the opportunity to immerse myself in so many different cultures, and get to grips with the challenges faced by local customers. I especially relished the exposure to the needs of individual customers as I’d largely worked with institutional ones until then.

The whole London-based team was new (a start-up of sorts…) with different members of the team selected for their different experiences, and across varied levels of seniority. Very early on, our new boss arranged a team-building away day, bringing together the existing product and actuarial leaders from across multiple countries, and he hired a facilitator.

We were asked to prepare our life story to share with the group, most of whom we’d never met before, and to include in it some of the people who influenced who we are today. I took this request to heart, and prepared a narrative, including searching for photos to illustrate my story.

​We came across two connected articles written by Annmarie Geddes Baribeau for the US Casualty Actuarial Society magazine which together set out the non-traditional roles performed by 8 actuaries, and their routes to get there. Published in late 2017, we found them useful examples of how professionals can push outside of the usual definitions for their profession, and contribute in other areas. Each of them first worked in insurance and/or consulting before entering new industries.

​Annmarie highlights two common attributes across the individuals profiled: "First, they possess a willingness to charter the actuarial road less taken. Second, each one mentions the role of family as part of his or her career decisions." 

Our takeaways from each of the 8 examples:

Tapiwa Chiwewe, Research Manager at IBM Research Africa, has some excellent lessons for us on applying your existing skill base to an entirely new area. Born in Zimbabwe, he’s a computer engineer by training, with a PhD from the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

Struck by the scale of air pollution in Johannesburg, Tapiwa “felt an urge to do something... [and] couldn't just stand idly by”, so he looked to apply his knowledge and experience to the problem. His main challenge, despite describing himself as a “bit of a jack of all trades, a master of some”, was that he didn’t know much about environmental science, air quality management or atmospheric chemistry. But, he didn’t let this lack of specific domain knowledge hold him back: “What I knew back then was that, if I was even going to try to make a difference, I had to get smart about air pollution first. And so, I became a student again”.

He also realised that “...given the scale of the problem, it was necessary to do it in a collaborative way. So I decided I’d better get to know some people working within the field.” He adds that “the process of engagement I embarked upon helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the problem”. And, he approached the challenge with humility: “I started by simply asking myself how I could bring together in some meaningful way my skills... and the expertise of the people I'd reached out to.”

And the conclusion of his learning in a completely new area? His team, working across countries, designed an air pollution forecasting model, incorporating major causes of air pollution like emissions from cars, domestic fuel burning, industrial emissions, and toxic dust from mine dumps in Johannesburg. 

Watch his TED Talk “You don't have to be an expert to solve big problems” (roughly 8.5 minutes long) below:

​The specific air quality modelling and management project he describes is driven by IBM’s Green Horizons division in collaboration with the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Green Horizons’ work began in China, and expanded to India and South Africa, and uses algorithms that enable machine learning and predictive analytics. It uses historical and real-time data from environmental monitoring stations to measure air pollution and quality, and assess which pollution prevention methods are effective. It also feeds satellite and weather data into forecasts. 

Tapiwa describes himself as always “fascinated by technology”. More on his extensive computing background: he began his career in the academic world as junior lecturer and scientific researcher at the University of Pretoria. In parallel, he was a software developer coding in areas like fleet management, Voice over IP (VoIP), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He was then a computer engineer specialising in virtual reality training simulators for the construction, mining and military industries, before moving to the CSIR as a senior engineer. In his current role, he manages the Advanced and Applied Artificial Intelligence group of IBM Research Africa. He is a member of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES).