Episode Details

👉 Discover how Cambridge Spark helps organisations build the data and AI capabilities needed to turn strategy into measurable impact: cambridgespark.com

On this week's episode of Data & AI Mastery, Dr Raoul-Gabriel Urma is joined by Sarah Self, AI Director at Aviva. Sarah brings a rare dual perspective to the conversation of data and AI, having spent nearly a decade in cybersecurity before moving into AI leadership. In this episode, she shares how those two disciplines share the same foundations: people, process and technology, and why that framework is central to delivering responsible, scalable AI.

Sarah discusses how Aviva built its own internal AI platform to embed guardrails from day one and why she views risk management and customer value not as a trade-off but as a single, unified objective. She also makes a compelling case for democratising AI across the workforce, using the term "organ rejection" to describe what happens when people are left behind in a transformation.

The episode closes with two standout production use cases: a claims summarisation solution that cut customer hold times by over 50% and a medical underwriting tool delivering 99% accuracy, both of which drive efficiency and customer satisfaction simultaneously.

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Chapter Markers

(00:00) - Opening Insight: Experimentation With Purpose

(02:44) - The Parallels Between Cybersecurity and AI

(05:46) - Balancing Risk and Customer Outcomes at Aviva

(10:29) - Democratising AI: Why Workforce Inclusion Matters

(14:28) - Identifying High-Value AI Use Cases

(17:27) - Balancing Experimentation With Production: The Portfolio Approach

(20:16) - Remaining Challenges and Keeping Perspective on the Hype

(23:48) - Quickfire Round: Sarah's AI Aha Moment

(25:21) - Raoul’s Reflections

Useful Links

Connect with Sarah Self on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-self-ba0b0642/

Follow Raoul for more AI insights on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raoulurma/

Explore Cambridge Spark’s AI upskilling programmes at https://www.cambridgespark.com