Abby Jones

Current Employer/Organisation Name

Baringa Partners

What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?

After completing my Masters in Applied Data Science and Statistics, I went solo-travelling across Vietnam. Following this, I joined the Data and AI VelocITy gradscheme at Avanade, where I spent 5 months training across technical areas like SQL and python, as well as soft skills such as consulting fundamentals and requirements gathering. I joined my first Data Science project after this training period, and worked on a variety of projects since: all with a focus of machine learning or AI.

In May 2025, I joined Baringa Partners as a consultant in their Data, AI, Solutions and Engineering team. I work closely with clients in London and am enjoying my current project that utilises generative AI. Overall my main focus at work is helping teams leverage AI within their businesses.

Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?

At school I always enjoyed English and Maths equally. Even though the job title ‘Machine Learning Engineer’ sounds fairly technical and ‘mathsy’, my role still uses skills related to both of these subjects. The programming element uses a lot of problem-solving skills, which keeps my brain stimulated: this element is very rewarding. However I have to use a lot of soft skills too. Storytelling is very important in consultancy; with any work you do, you need to form a narrative and build an argument around the importance of your work to the client so they can understand how you’re delivering value. It’s the combination of these elements that I really enjoy, as well as the fact that everyday can look a little different.

Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?

I was a member and part of the committee of Exeter University Swimming Club and a member of the Women in Business Society.

What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?

I enjoyed the blend of building technical coding skills, and learning how to communicate data. The course was well balanced which helped prepare me for the world of work where storytelling with data is as important as the technical skills. My highlight was training machine learning models for my dissertation. It was exciting putting what I had learned to use and getting good results!

What did you most enjoy about studying here?

I liked the variety of topics covered whilst learning. I learned about data in very different contexts for example: environmental, social media, and housing.

Why did you choose to study at Exeter?

I completed my Bachelors degree here and really enjoyed the way of teaching and life at Exeter. With assignments I’ve always had the opportunity to link what I have learned to an area that interests me.

What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?

Python coding – I do this on a day to day basis.
Storytelling with data – important as a consultant to have a narrative to share with clients.
Problem solving – I need to be able to break down the parts of a solution or pipeline into tangible sequential steps.

What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?

Pay attention to all elements of your course, and research machine learning as much as you can. Having a solid foundation of your algorithms and knowing why you’d use different models for different problems is really valuable.

Learn how to write good code – or the structure of good code – without chat GPT.

Consider the value outcomes of you get from your work. You always need to know WHY what you’re doing is valuable to your team or client.

What are your plans for the future?

Progress at my current company and build my skills as a solution architect and continue learning more about machine learning in buisness.