It’s almost become a cliché to say that data is the lifeblood of the modern enterprise. However, Claire Thompson, group chief data and analytics officer (CDAO) at financial services firm L&G, says data has always been crucial to big firms. What’s changed during the past few years, particularly in her sector, is a recognition of the game-changing power of information.
“We’ve always been doing stuff with data,” she says. “If we hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to start my career in data 25 years ago. What has changed is there has been a realisation of the value that data can bring to an organisation when it’s used differently.”
Thompson joined L&G in February 2021. While this is her first CDAO role, she’s spent her career in data analytics and financial services. She worked in senior roles for NatWest before joining L&G, having previously worked for Barclays. During her 25-year career in financial services, she’s climbed the career ladder from programmer to senior executive.
“I’ve seen the industry undergo a lot of change in that time,” she says. “I was going to be an accountant and didn’t get the grades. That’s why I ended up in data – it was one of those fateful things. I hadn’t thought about data until I got the offer to study statistics at university. But I’ve never looked back. I love working with data. I’ve been very fortunate.”
Proving the value of information
While L&G is perhaps best known for being an insurer, Thompson says the company’s operations encompass asset management, pensions and other finance areas. As well as providing high-quality services to clients, she says the company is eager to build a better society and invest in local communities.
“It’s a great company to work for,” she says. “Why would I not want to come and join an organisation where I can put data at the heart of its activities?” Thompson is a passionate advocate for information. Industry commentators often refer to data as “the new oil” or the “crown jewels” of an organisation. Thompson also emphasises the value of analytical insight.
“Data touches everything. At the organisations where I’ve worked, I’ve had an opportunity to make a difference with data – to help businesses make decisions faster and improve the customer experience. When you work for larger organisations, you get that opportunity on a bigger scale,” she says.
“Technology has advanced with cloud computing and the introduction of generative AI [GenAI], which has brought the importance of data front and centre to many individuals. That evolution has increased the interest in how to use technology to solve challenges.”
Thompson reports to L&G’s CTO and her role as data chief encompasses several strands, including how the firm can use data to become an insight-led organisation: “We do a huge amount in the analytics space already, but how might we do that work differently to help our customers and the business more broadly?”
She also manages apprenticeship schemes, data fluency programmes and the provisioning of platforms and tooling across the organisation: “Each of the business divisions has their own data teams that are working on their strategies, so it’s about coordinating that effort and bringing it together to be able to tell the story at a broader level.”
Another element of Thompson’s role covers execution from data science to DevOps cloud engineering. “I run a broad, multidisciplinary team and manage these multiple skillsets in one place,” she says.
Building internal capability
When she looks back on her achievements during the past three and half years at L&G, Thompson is keen to draw attention to the apprenticeship scheme. “That’s been a big success story and has been used as a blueprint for many other apprenticeships in the company,” she says. “I’m proud of that work.”
The data apprenticeship started three years ago and Thompson sponsored the scheme across the group. In addition to the data apprenticeship, L&G now runs schemes across other areas, including cyber security, financial crime and change. The courses run from level two and up to level seven, which is the equivalent of a master’s qualification.
Thompson says L&G hires capable candidates across all ages and skill profiles. Apprenticeships start in September. People going through the scheme form part of an organisation-wide programme. This year’s scheme will include more than 50 people.
“The apprenticeships are geared to the skills we’ll need at L&G in the future and it’s about ensuring we have those core capabilities in the organisation”
Claire Thompson, L&G
“We started in data, we’ve grown and expanded, and there’s more appetite,” she says. “The apprenticeships are aligned with our strategic workforce planning. The apprenticeships are geared to the skills we’ll need at L&G in the future and it’s about ensuring we have those core capabilities in the organisation.”
The data apprenticeship lasts for 20 months. Professionals are then given access to opportunities across the business. Thompson says the company is exploring how the apprenticeship scheme can help upskill existing staff in new areas. As well as providing benefits for apprentices, Thompson says L&G also reaps the rewards.
“It’s good that people are building networks across the organisation and understanding what’s going on in other areas from a career path perspective,” she says. “So, it’s been hugely successful for us as a way of building up future talent capability.”
Exploiting emerging technology
Thompson worked with the CTO in 2023 to set up an Al accelerator in response to the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI). The aim has been to create a business-wide approach to emerging technology and to find ways to reuse technology capability in other areas of the organisation.
“We were one of the first companies to look at Microsoft Office Copilot. We’re using GitHub Copilot too. There are small productivity gains, but they’re helping to make a difference. We’re also working with our data in secure environments to look at generative AI – and that’s where we think about chatbots,” she says.
“That work is about how we use the chatbot on our documentation. We’re not doing anything customer-facing. We always ensure that the human stays in the loop. But we do have a chatbot looking at our group protection policies. We’re training the model on data to answer questions, so that it doesn’t hallucinate, and putting the right guardrails in place.”
Thompson says documentation summarisation is another area of interest. Her team is exploring how large language models (LLMs) might boost process efficiency. She says the key to success is putting the right guardrails in place and ensuring the technology is used to augment human workplace activities safely and securely.
“It’s just another way of finding, searching and navigating for information,” she says. “The key point here is that when the prompt comes back, it provides you with a link that takes you directly to the relevant part of the document.”
Thompson says strong foundations are crucial for innovative projects. She alludes to a group-wide data management programme. This initiative ensures the organisation has good quality data that can be used to power business projects. During the next 12 months, she expects to scale up GenAI initiatives and help the business to move into new areas.
“Creating a modern, digital organisation across all functions is key,” she says. “For example, having finance, risk and HR functions that are digital by nature is crucial to success. That would mean their processes are automated, they’ve got self-serve reporting to help individuals answer questions and we’re utilising AI in areas where it makes sense. That’s the type of organisation that I would hope we can become.”
Defining great data leadership
Thompson says successful data leaders have a range of facets. She says the key aspects are working with the business, building relationships with stakeholders and delivering data-led projects commensurate with the underlying business strategy.
“You need to understand the issues the stakeholders want to overcome and how data will help support that process,” she says. “It’s easy to build solutions, but unless you tie it back into what the business is trying to achieve, it makes it difficult to tell the story of why data creates value for the organisation.”
Thompson sees herself as a female role model. She was nominated for Women in Data’s Twenty in data programme in 2019, a list of data leaders to inspire the next generation of women in technology: “By going out and talking about my achievements, and demonstrating that role models do exist, I do think it helps.”
She says L&G has subsequently created its own internal women and data network through a partnership with Women in Data. “The more we talk about how our approach has worked, and how we’ve got the career stories we have, I’m hoping it helps other people on their journey to show what is possible and hopefully that gives them something to aim for.”
Thompson describes herself as a passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion. “You get much better results in your solutions,” she says. “It’s much harder to manage teams with diverse thoughts and opinions. But the results are much better because you’ve had many different thoughts feed into the process – and that’s why it’s so important.”
The Women in Data network at L&G is aimed at anyone who wants to work with information. “It’s new,” she says. “We’ve only started this year. We share stories and run sessions. We might look at impostor syndrome or how you think about your career. We’ll provide something for anyone in the organisation but with a focus on data and data careers.”
She says the internal Women in Data network is open to all employees: “It’s important we have male allies involved in our network. A lot of the topics are equally of interest to our male colleagues. So, it’s not just women in the room in our network.”