2025 SOA Valuation Actuary Meeting Virtual: Session 3A: Coding: The Cornerstone of Actuarial Modernization-09.16.26 Recording

Actuarial modernization is transforming the profession, and coding plays a central role. Coding skills enable actuaries to automate data manipulation, streamline model development, and effectively harness advanced analytics. This session explores why coding is foundational to the future of actuarial work, highlighting practical use cases, essential technologies, and career benefits. We will discuss the importance of coding and its return on investment for your career. The session will introduce several coding tools, demonstrating their practical applications to actuarial tasks, such as efficiently merging model changes. Attendees will learn key design patterns that enhance model maintainability and identify common anti-patterns that create errors and technical debt. Additionally, a practical demonstration will showcase how generative AI tools, such as GitHub Copilot, significantly boost productivity and simplify coding tasks for actuaries. Join us to discover how investing in coding - comparable in effort to passing one actuarial exam - can deliver lifelong professional advantages and position actuaries at the forefront of technology-driven innovation.