Data science and AI at Quantium: making real-world impact with data

Speaker: Ryan Starkey, Danny van Os and Maia Thomas
Affiliation: Quantium

Abstract

Quantium was founded in 2002 and is a globally recognised leader in the use of data to drive better decision-making. Over 24 years, we have helped many of Australia's largest organisations unlock value from data and AI through our deep data science expertise, software engineering capabilities and the unique insights from Quantium's data partnerships. Quantium employs over 1,300 professionals globally, including data scientists and analysts, actuaries, mathematicians, strategy experts, software engineers, product managers and consultants.

 Ryan Starkey, Danny van Os and Maia Thomas will jointly present "Data science and AI at Quantium: making real-world impact with data".

Quantium works with organisations across many sectors, spanning retail analytics and promotional planning, insurance pricing and modelling, fraud and scam detection, accelerating businesses with AI across professional services and energy, and supporting government analytics across health, education and disability.

 This talk explores what a career in analytics and AI consulting looks like, from the skills that matter most to how the work changes across projects and industries. We draw on real case studies to show analytics and AI in practice, and how AI is fundamentally changing both the problems we work on and how we solve them, and what that means for graduates with a mathematical or technical background looking to make an impact.

 We close with a ground-level view of the graduate experience at Quantium, including what it looks like to move from university into analytics work with real commercial impact.

Bio:

Ryan Starkey is an Executive Manager in Quantium's AI Solutions team. With a background as an actuary and nearly 10 years of experience spanning insurance pricing, data science and AI consulting, Ryan now leads AI engagements with some of Australia's largest organisations. His work focuses on AI strategy, use case identification and developing AI solutions, helping clients move from curiosity about AI to measurable outcomes.

 Danny van Os is a Senior Analyst currently working within the Quantium-Telstra joint venture. She has over five years' experience delivering end-to-end analytics and AI solutions to tackle complex client problems across public sectors including health, education, justice, and disability.

 Maia Thomas is a Graduate Data & AI Analyst in Quantium's joint venture with Woolworths, where she supports the development of internal analytics tools used to inform supplier negotiations and commercial decision-making. She is also part of a workstream sharing AI knowledge across the Analytics Community, helping teams leverage tools like Claude in their day-to-day work.