AXA UK has invested over £800,000 in the first-ever data academy spanning all insurance business divisions, to upskill and futureproof its workforce, support decision-making, and improve customer experience in line with National Apprenticeship Week (NAW).
Funded by the Apprenticeship Levy, the new data analytics apprenticeship, delivered by professional learning academy Avado, caters to AXA employees who have not received formal training in data analytics but can leverage these techniques to transform the way they perform their role.
The programme combines virtual sessions, online study, and individual work-based projects and takes up 20% of the participants’ working time. It gives students real-life data sets to manipulate and real-life challenges to solve, building their confidence to use new skills in their current and future roles.
The training’s core topics include data landscape, data preparation and essentials, data analysis programming and visualisation, advanced analysis and key concepts, data life cycle and big data, customer centricity, innovation and ways of working, business strategy and planning, and communication and influence.
“As an insurer, we have been leveraging data for a while, from underwriting to claims analytics. We know how crucial these skills are, and we are thrilled to be expanding them throughout the business so colleagues in various functions will be able to leverage data insights to support our customer relationships,” said Shali Vasudeva, the chief operating officer of AXA UK & Ireland.
Upon completing this Level 4 apprenticeship in spring 2022, the students will obtain a British Computer Society (BCS) Diploma in Data Analysis Concepts and Certificate in Data Analyst Tools.
Avado chairman Rob Devey commented: “Having led a number of large financial services businesses, I appreciate [not only] the challenges of becoming a data-driven organisation but also the massive opportunities presented to those bold enough to take that step.”
