Why we’ve partnered with Women in data…

“Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”

This is the 5th UN Sustainable Development Goal concerning gender equality, established in 2015. The goal is to end discrimination against all women and girls globally by 2030. We are eight years away from this date, yet we are still nowhere near accomplishing gender equality.

Gender parity is not just desired but also critical for a company focused on data engineering and data science like Advancing Analytics. Data Engineering ensures that the pipelines are designed and built to collect, store, and transform data at scale, so it is usable for data scientists. Data science is then used to extract valuable information from data. There is inherent bias when it comes to working with data right from data collection through to data analysis. It is widely known that the one way to eliminate bias in the data industry is not only to broaden the diversity of data sets, but also to look at the diversity across teams to ensure a varied team of data professionals. Sadly, despite this well-known fact, the figures and statistics show that women are still underrepresented, and the data sector lags behind the rest of the job market when hiring a diverse team of data professionals.

Gavita Regunath, Principal Data Science Consultant

Bio

Expertise: Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Education: Ph.D 

LinkedIn

Twitter

Gavita Regunath is a principal data scientist consultant with Advancing Analytics and a Microsoft AI MVP. She has a PhD in Computational and Experimental Fluid Dynamics and has over a decade of experience working with Data and AI within the aeronautical, automotive, finance and agritech industries. She is an advocate for women in data, actively engaging with organisations such as Women in Data Science (WiDS) and Women in Data (WiD). Through her mentorship and support, she helps aspiring women professionals overcome obstacles and flourish in their careers, driving meaningful change in the industry. Gavita is addicted to learning and in her spare time when she is not blogging or talking about AI, she enjoys being a mother, going for a run and cooking something new.

Anna Wykes, Senior Data Engineering Consultant

Bio

Expertise: I’m a veteran software & data engineer and a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, with over 16 years of experience. I have tackled projects from real-time analytics with Scala & Kafka, building out Data Lakes with spark and applying engineering to Data Science. 

Education: BSC Multimedia Computing and Business

LinkedIn
Twitter

My journey into data has been unconventional. I started off wanting to be a photographer, and thus working in a photography lab whist studying Media & Art. However, off the back of my media course I soon discovered I enjoyed coding and set of down a path to become a Website Developer. This was in the early 2000’s when website development was still very new and a “hot” career to get into. In deciding to become a Website Developer, I chose to leave my creative side behind and enrol onto a Computing and Business degree which I loved. I got to learn lots of aspects of computer programming, and fundamentally, data storage and processing. Learning about data storage and processing was another game changer for me and remained a passion alongside coding.

When graduating I immediately started working as an Application Developer (writing code) and remained in similar roles for over 10 years. In this time, I moved from Application Developer to Backend Developer to Software Engineer; all the while keeping my passion for data alight, working with data when and where possible, and eventually transitioning into becoming a fully-fledged a Data Engineer. All these roles required similar skill sets but focused on different areas and specialities so it was a natural progression 

I now work as a Data Engineering Consultant, helping empower clients to achieve their data goals. My currently employer are great, but as a woman in tech I have faced some challenges. In particular around unconscious bias, which is hard to tackle as the perpetrators are not necessarily aware of what they are doing. When taking time out for maternity leave it was very daunting to come back into the industry. I felt my skills had already become out of date. I would love for more tech employers to openly tackle issues such as this. We need to keep female talent in the industry and not turn a blind eye when they quietly disappear. My current employer always listens to my concerns and is interested in my experiences, determined not to make the same mistakes. This is really reassuring and empowering, making them a great place to work.

I am involved in various Diversity & Inclusion movements, including Women’s tech Hub Bristol, and I also help to organise and run local code clubs for children. I plan to continue this work as much as possible, doing my bit to break down walls for those in minorities.

Sam Blount, Finance Manager

Bio

Expertise: Finance, Legal, Operations, Compliance

Education: MAAT, AATQB, LLB (Hons) Law Student (due to complete in July 2026)

LinkedIn

After moving to Devon in 2006 to start a new life in the South West, I became interested in Accountancy and the world of finance. I started training with the AAT as an apprentice whilst working as an accounts clerk. Over the years, I moved up through the AAT levels and through the business hierarchy becoming Financial Controller. 

After completing the AAT, my sights became set on management accounts and how a business runs. One of the things I always loved is that you can look at financial statements and glean so much information about how a business is run, without asking any questions. I started my own business during the pandemic offering finance management to many of my clients, then finally one of my clients became my home, so I moved back into the world of employment. 

My role allows me to get involved in the organisational development on the business side and to utilise my newly obtained legal skills as I work through my Law degree. I’m driven by processes and efficiency, ensuring businesses are compliant in all areas. I enjoy creating, adapting, and documenting business processes and ensuring that we have contingency, not only financially, but operationally too.

Tori Tompkins, Senior Data Science Consultant

Bio

Expertise: Data Science and MLOps

Education: BSc Forensic Computing and Cybersecurity

LinkedIn
Twitter

Tori is a Senior Data Science Consultant at Advancing Analytics. Specialising in MLOps, Tori has worked on many ML and data science projects with Azure, Databricks and graph technologies and all stages of the ML Lifecycle. She is a co-presenter of the Data & AI podcast, Totally Skewed, founder of Girls Code Too UK and regular contributor with Girls in Data.

Grace O’Halloran, Senior Data Engineering Consultant

Bio

Expertise: Data Engineering, Cloud Network Security, Azure Architect, Python Developer

Education: Masters Degree in Mathematics

LinkedIn

Twitter

I am a passionate Senior Data Engineering Consultant, specialising in Azure Lakehouse implementations and Data Platform Network Security, with 6 years of Consulting experience. I am a Certified Microsoft Azure Developer and Administrator, a Python Institute Certified Associate Programmer, and I have a First Class Integrated Masters in Mathematics. I am an international speaker, focusing on Azure Networking Security, speaking at conferences such as SQLBits and DataGrillen.

Joanna Woodley, People Experience Manager

Bio

LinkedIn

I’ve worked for IT & data consultancies for over 15 years now, but specifically as a People Manager since 2016. I’ve been very fortunate to work for companies that have always put their people at the heart of what they do, which has made for a very satisfying career for me so far. I thrive on supporting and helping people through challenges and love an opportunity to get HR processes up and running too.

Since I joined Advancing Analytics back in 2021, I have been proud to be part of a company that not only supports women, but advocates for them. As a part time working mum, I feel incredibly lucky to work for a company that stands by its commitment to a flexible, inclusive, and supportive working environment for everyone.

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

How advancing analytics sees the data landscape changing in the UK in the next five years

The future of the data landscape is exciting!

We all know that data is exploding in an unprecedented way. In fact, by 2025, it’s estimated that 463 exabytes (one exabyte is equal to 1,000 Petabytes or one billion gigabytes) of data will be created each day worldwide. That’s the equivalent of generating 212,765,957 DVDs per day!*

When you consider technology such as autonomous vehicles, IoT devices and sensors, it is clear that the expected volume of data will be massive. Having all this data is pointless without analysis and insight! To create business insights and value from all this data, we need Machine Learning. As Machine Learning becomes more and more sophisticated, it is expected to play a huge role in data over the next 5 years.

The other trend that we see evolving is the adoption of the fast-evolving and distributed IT capability that IoT edge computing offers. IoT edge is when data is analysed on devices (at the edge of the network) rather than in the cloud itself, which overcomes latency and bandwidth issues associated with the cloud model.

The data landscape will evolve, and we are looking forward to helping businesses embrace this change.

*Published in “How much data is generated each day?” By the World Economic Forum

about advancing analytics

Advancing Analytics is a consulting firm specialising in data engineering and data science. As a Microsoft Gold Partner and an award-winning Databricks Partner, we are specialists in enabling some of the world’s top companies to become data-driven businesses.

If there is one thing that distinguishes us, it is our company ethics and principles, which we all take pride in. Our “Come as you are” company goal demonstrates a culture that values diversity and inclusivity. We welcome graduates and actively promote women throughout the industry including women who are returning to the workplace. The business promotes a culture of community and sharing knowledge through our participation and sponsorship of events and via our YouTube channel, where we can all level up together!