7 May 2025
AI is Reshaping What Firms Want
After near 30 years of placing actuaries and pension professionals, I've developed a pretty good nose for industry shifts. But the changes I'm seeing now with AI? They're unprecedented.
Last month, a longstanding client called to adjust a search I was about to start for them. "David," they said, "that Head of Valuation role we discussed? We need to rewrite it completely. We don't just need someone who can run the models anymore—we need someone who can tell us which models to trust and why."
This conversation isn't unique. It's happening across my client base.
What firms are really looking for now?
Let me be direct: the skills that guaranteed a successful actuarial career for the past three decades are no longer sufficient. The market is transforming before our eyes.
When I started in this business in the early 90s, technical mastery of actuarial science was the golden ticket. Now? It's necessary but nowhere near enough.
My most successful placements over the past 18 months have all demonstrated something beyond technical excellence. They bring:
Technological discernment – not just using AI tools but knowing their limitations.
Business translation skills – explaining complex actuarial concepts to non-technical executives.
Strategic insight – moving beyond calculation to consultation.
One insurance CEO put it bluntly during a search intake call: "David, I don't need more people to feed data into systems. I need people who can tell me what the output actually means for our business."
The Mid-Career Squeeze
If there's one group I'm genuinely concerned about, it's mid-career actuaries with 10-15 years of experience. Many built their careers on technical expertise that's increasingly being automated.
Last quarter, I had several highly qualified candidates in this bracket who I struggled to shortlist for any of my live projects. All had impeccable technical credentials. All had been caught flat-footed by how quickly the market shifted.
I suggested they should reposition themselves for other roles by highlighting projects where they had influenced business decisions, not just provided the calculations behind them.
The Surprising Winners
Here's something that might surprise you: some of the most sought-after candidates I am aware of aren't the ones with the most designations after their names.
I recently placed a Fellow with just six years of experience into a role that would typically require 12+ years, simply because she had led an AI implementation project and could speak the language of both actuarial science and data science.
Another candidate, who had taken a two-year detour into a customer-facing role that many considered a career misstep, is now being fought over by three firms precisely because of his communication skills and business understanding.
The New Career Playbook
Based on what I'm seeing in successful placements, here's my advice for actuarial professionals at any career stage:
Get hands-on with AI tools – Not to become a developer, but to understand their real capabilities and limitations.
Build your business acumen – Volunteer for projects that expose you to the commercial side of decisions.
Develop a specialization beyond calculation – Whether it's communication, change management, or regulatory insight.
Document your judgment calls – Keep track of times when your professional intuition caught something the models missed.
What About Entry-Level?
I get this question constantly from worried parents and students: "Is it still worth pursuing an actuarial career with AI taking over?"
My answer is yes, but with caveats. The traditional entry path of endless exam-taking while doing rote calculations is narrowing. The new path requires earlier business exposure and greater technological adaptability.
Several forward-thinking firms have revamped their graduate programs. One major consultancy has created a dual-track system where new actuaries rotate between traditional teams and their innovation lab, explicitly to build this hybrid skill set.
The Hiring Reality
Let me share some hard numbers from my own business:
Searches for traditional actuarial roles with primarily technical requirements are down 44% over the past two years.
Searches for hybrid roles requiring actuarial knowledge plus data science or business skills are up 92%.
The average time-to-fill for specialist AI-savvy actuaries has increased from 7 weeks to 16 weeks due to demand.
The firms that still view actuarial talent as purely technical resources are finding themselves with increasingly sophisticated tools but insufficient human capability to leverage them strategically.
A Word on Compensation
Follow the money, as they say. The salary premiums I'm seeing for actuaries who can bridge the technical-strategic divide are substantial, often 40-50% above their technically focused peers at the same experience level.
One client recently authorised a compensation package 70% above their original budget for a candidate who demonstrated both strong actuarial foundations and the ability to shape business strategy using AI-enhanced insights.
The Future I See?
After three decades watching this profession evolve, I remain fundamentally optimistic. Actuaries have always been adaptable; it's built into the profession's DNA to assess and adjust to changing risk landscapes.
The actuaries and pension professionals who thrive in the coming decade won't be those fighting against AI advancements. They'll be the ones who recognize that the real value of actuarial thinking was never in the calculation itself, but in the judgment surrounding it.
As one of my most successful placed candidates recently told me: "The machines can have the spreadsheets. I'll take the boardroom."
David Tuscarny is the Founder and Client Partner of Stirling Hunter a boutique executive search and HR consulting firm, David’s has been specialising in actuarial, risk and asset management placements since 1997.