Careers of the future: from graduate to data science leader 

Vogue Codes Con promised to provide young women an opportunity to explore careers they might have never heard of, while connecting with the most influential names in technology – and it didn’t disappoint. The final event in the Vogue Codes 2024 series – which CommBank was proud to be the presenting partner of – saw everything from career planning to how tech is influencing shopping, to the endless possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI).

Representing CommBank, Bronte Pendergast, Senior Staff Data Scientist, spoke on a panel about jobs of the future and how to future-proof your career, together with Jeanette Cheah, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hex and Annie Tran, Senior UX/UI Design Lead at Transport for NSW.

From graduate to senior manager: Bronte’s career in data science 

Bronte always had a love of science and maths, but didn't know what a data scientist was when she was getting started in her career. Now, she leads a team of data scientists at CommBank, working on cutting-edge AI solutions to improve the banking experiences for millions of customers.

Bronte shared her career trajectory, from joining the CommBank Graduate Program in 2019, specialising in data science, to becoming a senior manager in 2024. She said the Graduate Program gave her the opportunity to rotate through different teams, gain new experiences and find the team that she loved within the bank’s Chief Data and Analytics Office.

“What was common across all those teams is that they had really fantastic, kind, smart and talented STEM practitioners who were happy to help me develop my skills and career,” she said. 

"I now work in the perfect team for me because there's real purpose to the work – we aim to provide the best experiences for our customers and solve their problems and pain points through data science and AI. This could be personalisation through the CommBank app, enhancing experiences with generative AI or helping customers find opportunities to save amid cost-of-living pressures with our Smart Savings feature.”

Continuous learning: the key to future-proofing your career

Bronte shared that the key to future-proofing your career in STEM is to cultivate a growth mindset and keep learning. She decided to do a Masters in Information and Data Science at UC Berkeley two years ago to keep up with the latest developments in the field.

"If you reflect on the past five years and how customer experiences and technology has evolved in that time – from the Covid pandemic to cost of living pressures and the rise of generative AI – it highlights the importance of continuous learning and experimenting,” she said.

“All of those environmental impacts have influenced customer behaviour and expectations, and how CommBank needs to support our customers. For me personally, it’s also led to being involved in meaningful work that impacts the Australian community.”   

One of the ways CommBank is helping skill its people in emerging technologies is through the bank's AI education suite of learning, which includes the AI For All microlearning series, ensuring people can use AI safely and responsibly to deliver better customer outcomes, Bronte explained.

“CommBank takes the responsible use of AI very seriously and part of that is playing a leadership role in shaping Australia's responsible AI framework and policies. We know that if we can't use AI responsibly, we will not use AI at all. It must be responsibly managed, and ultimately deliver a better outcome for our customers and communities,” she said.

Getting more women into STEM careers

Bronte believes the importance of having more women working in STEM, especially in data science and AI, to ensure the algorithms powering technology represent the diversity in the world.

Ultimately a more diverse workforce would only lead to greater innovation, she feels. 

“STEM opens the world up to innovation, and I hope more women are able to play a role in this. There's nothing more exhilarating than doing something that no one in your team, your company or your industry has done before.” 

Find out more about CommBank’s Graduate Program and technology careers at CommBank.