Alexander joined Oliver Wyman’s Amsterdam office after earning his bachelors from the University of Oxford and masters from the London School of Economics. He has since utilized his fluency in applied mathematics and physics to help clients spanning financial services, industrials, and retail to solve advanced analytics problems.
It’s a wonderful (and strange!) realization that millions of people are touched by our algorithms on a daily basis
Helping clients tackle their most complex analytics opportunities requires what Alexander describes as “a deep understanding of the business dynamics on the one hand, and the technical ability to design algorithms that ‘solve’ the problem on the other.” Those traits tend to be present in separate people but rarely in the same person, he notes. “It’s one of the archetypes we cultivate at Oliver Wyman.”
Whether it’s optimizing pricing for a retailer, risk modeling for a bank, or churn prediction for a utility, the necessary skill set goes far beyond competency with numbers. It is often up to Alexander to bridge the gap between the business and the development team. Truly solving the problem, he notes, involves a flexible, empathetic communication style.
Though Alexander has seen the rising demand for Digital and AI over the past several years first hand, he believes there is still much room for growth.
There are massive opportunities out there for our clients. Capitalizing on them requires adapting to new ways of working and shifting the talent mix – a daunting task that involves risk. But organizations that do not start now may soon find themselves left in the dust