Dr Craig “(Doc) Savage” is a Melbourne based analytics consultant. Craig has a diverse background and education across a wide number of technical and business domains, including rocket science and bringing sight to the blind. His international career includes defence work, biomedical engineering (Bionic Vision Australia at the University of Melbourne), teaching, and risk modelling.

He has worked in algorithm development, prototype systems, process improvements and mathematical modelling for two decades. He brings experience working as a liaison between disparate groups, including industry and academia, analysts and management, and engineers and medical professionals.

In this 2 minute video, Craig talks about his background and motivation to bridge the gap between the technical and business domain; raising awareness, learning and building better outcomes in the process.

Craig is an active member in the Australian analytics community and in the video he provides his advice for aspiring consultants: how to network effectively, to contribute to, and benefit from the network you build.

Craig is a verified AlphaZetta Consultant and AlphaZetta Academy Trainer.

Contact us if you’d like to engage Craig in a project!

My name is Craig Savage I’m a consultant and instructor with AlphaZetta. My background, my education and experience is diverse. I have degrees in mathematics, engineering and business and I’ve worked in numerous industries including defense, biomedical engineering, teaching, business consulting and credit risk.

My area of expertise is to improve business processes through iterative automated analytics. I handle the mathematics with R. I liaise with stakeholders on business impacts and model refinements using the Shiny package because it enables you to have inputs and outputs through a browser. And then I automate the documentation out the other side with R markdown.

My favorite projects are those that break the silo between analytics and day-to-day functions. Now for that to work the end users should be engaged in the process but they will only actively take part if they see a direct benefit in the findings and predictions from the analysts. Then they will contribute their expertise and knowledge which will in turn improve the applicability of the analytics.

Now my favorite aspect of these projects is the learning on all sides; for the analyst to have a better understanding of the business, and the end users to appreciate the value of analytics. Once you can build these relationships, future projects will be more impactful and faster.

My advice is to actively network. Make professional networks when you don’t need them so that in the event that you do, they exist. Keep in touch with former bosses and colleagues, send the occasional message, go to the occasional coffee. But practice building, maintaining and nurturing professional relationships. Be active in meetups and presentations: attending is good but presenting is better.

Get on LinkedIn. Interacting with other people’s content, whether that’s liking, sharing or commenting is good but making your own content is better.

Such a network is one of the strengths of AlphaZetta, where I know that if I need expertise on any given topic, I have a global network of vetted professionals that I can reach out to.