Simon Jones: Why Saga is Building a Remote-First Data Science Team

Simon Jones, Head of Data Science and Advanced Analytics at Saga,
talks about building a remote-first data science team to help Saga
recruit the talent it needs to modernize and engage its
increasingly digitally savvy audience

Providing seamless digital customer experiences wasn’t always a
priority for British ‘over 50s’ insurance specialist Saga. But as
a new cohort of digitally savvy consumers enter their middle
ages, the firm’s attitude toward the need for modernization has
changed.


As Saga Head of Data Science and Advanced Analytics Simon Jones
explains in this week’s Business of Data podcast episode, the
company is now reimagining itself in light of the changing needs
of its customers.


“A lot of people are moving into the ‘over 50s’ category, which
is where Saga’s footprint begins, and they don’t necessarily
think of themselves as the sort of person who signs up with
Saga,” he says. “Trying to understand exactly how we can
penetrate into that demographic group was a really important
thing.


“And what [we] recognized very early on was that a lot of it was
down to our relationship with technology.”


Saga is now developing new technological capabilities with these
customers in mind, and Jones believes embracing a ‘remote-first’
model for data science will give the company an advantage as it
pursues this aim.
The Benefits of Being Remote-First

Jones joined Saga’s insurance arm in May 2021 with a remit to
build a data science team to help the company get the most out of
its data asset. He says the role is the first he’s held that has
empowered him to truly embrace remote working.


Jones argues that this approach makes it easier for Saga to
recruit top-quality talent and makes a career at the company more
attractive to data scientists who enjoy the flexibility that
comes with remote working.


“I’ve got a recruitment function right now, to build out a
remote-first team, trying to find top talent in data science and
bring them on board to Saga,” he explains. “That means our talent
pool is anywhere in the UK.”


“If somebody wished to explore a bit more of the country by
basing themselves in different spots over the course of a working
month, I have no problems with that,” he adds. “As far as I’m
concerned, you’re always working in the same location: The cloud,
online, with me.


“That makes it possible for us to reach out to talent which, for
particular reasons, have based themselves outside the areas we’d
normally be recruiting in.”
What’s Next for Data Science at Saga

In the near-term, Jones’ priorities include building out his
team, helping Saga build out its data lake and sourcing new
“exotic” datasets to provide staff with insights they don’t have
access to currently.


But looking to the future, he sees his priorities shifting toward
helping to drive the adoption of data-driven technologies across
the organization and creating processes that help his team get
data science products into production efficiently.


“It’s all part of serving the broader agenda of helping Saga
advance,” he concludes. “There’s going to be an awful