The integration of digital technologies with a data-driven approach is transforming the way businesses operate and the value they aim to generate. The use of digital technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning is enabling businesses to collect and analyze large amounts of data in real-time. Data analytics is not a buzzword any more. Business leaders will agree that data analytics is more than just numbers. It is a culture, a thought process that aims to leverage business intelligence.

There are enormous opportunities for insurance and financial services to harness data and artificial intelligence to create the systems of the future. But in the present, the work is not coming together so quickly or efficiently. Often, an organization will have several talented people skilled at handling data, but spread through the corporate hierarchy, said Kartik Sakthivel, vice president and chief information officer, LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global. Getting "these disparate groups to be able to pull together a cogent story continues to be a challenge," he said. "That's something to to understand and truly manage within each and every organization that is looking to roll out artificial intelligence programs."

The #MBNSkills initiative, run by MBN Solutions, has successfully delivered The Data Lab's keynote MSc. Placement Programme for 2018 having placed 70 MSc students from Scottish Universities in to Scottish Companies. Working with a variety of organisations across Scotland to ensure the nation's emerging Data Talent have the best possible start to their careers, Rob Huggins of MBN and his team spent the early part of 2018 on the road. From Aberdeen in the north, to Ayrshire in the south, Rob's message focused on the importance of'Growing Your Own' Data Talent. For leading public and private sector organisations this has resulted in the creation of more than 70 summer Industrial Placements for students studying data focused post-graduate courses at Scottish Universities.