Companies like Google and Facebook have taken data mining and predictive modeling to new heights, analyzing and deploying results real-time.  (The presenters cannot stand the targeted ads but respect the analytical power they demonstrate.)  Today a company’s value is materially impacted by its ability to effectively and efficiently collect and analyze data, and to develop and deploy 'good' statistical models – even when they are part of an industry like (re)insurance that seems driven primarily by supply and demand.  The rise and success of Progressive makes the case.

The quantity of data is growing rapidly with respect to risks, customers and their behavior.  Are actuaries evolving in way that will leverage their unique skill set by taking on the challenge of quantifying risk in this ‘brave new [data-intensive] world’?  Actuaries have traditionally focused on a specific task; for example, ‘pricing actuaries’ mainly focus on determining the price of an account or a pricing manual and ‘reserving actuaries’ on determining reserve amounts using industry-accepted methods.  Their work is, or should be, used to support decision making within the business – from pricing and reserving, to marketing and strategy-setting.

The presenters strongly believe that actuaries should be involved in the entire process – from data to decision – and that they are uniquely equipped to function in a data-driven analytically-sophisticated world.  This requires an evolution in how we think about the role of the actuary, moving away from the specific task to framing our work in the context of the era of Big Data where we balance sophisticated analytics with ‘real life’ business needs.  Drawing from examples in the fields of P&C and health, they will share their joint learning of the wins (and losses), and their vision for the Actuary as the preeminent professional in the new data driven (business) world.