“I was very surprised to hear that I had made the list, as I really hadn’t expected it,” says University of Pretoria (UP) alumna Jess Rees about being announced as one of the honourees of the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans list in the Technology & Innovation category. “I felt immense gratitude and excitement.”

Rees graduated with a master’s degree in Big Data Science from UP in 2018 and is a data scientist for medical aid scheme and financial services company Discovery. Taking pride in her work and working hard are just some of the reasons why she felt she got the nod from the Mail & Guardian. Being a proud South African and committed to contributing to the country, as well as setting ambitious goals for herself and her team, while never letting those goals supersede caring for others are some of the other reasons.

Rees works with massive datasets, trains machine learning models and builds systems that solve complex problems, among other roles.

“I also lead a team of talented data scientists and engineers,” she says. “My team and I focus on natural language processing (NLP) and large language models (LLMs), and how we can use them to add value to our organisation. I’m constantly collaborating with brilliant people – from those in my team to the contact centre teams we work with, to organisational leadership.”

By focusing on NLP and LLM, she gets to work with new and exciting technology every day.

“This is super fun and interesting, but of course, it must be done sensibly and safely. This means that I also get to work directly with customer service teams, who are inspiring through their passion for and excellence in what they do, and are just really good people.”

As a woman in science, Rees believes that an interest in science should be equally distributed across the population.

“If any population group is under-represented in science, then we are missing out on that talent and interest,” she says. “Women are severely under-represented in science, which means we are severely missing out. We should do better to unlock and feed the scientific talent that is untapped among women across the country, because women are incredibly skilled scientists, builders, problem-solvers and leaders.”

She adds that encouraging young girls and women to take up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is crucial because it is one of the most effective spaces in which to learn problem-solving and critical thinking.

“Special focus is needed for girls and women because their STEM development has been neglected historically,” Rees explains. “From what I’ve learned from educators, STEM education works best when it’s hands-on, practical, transdisciplinary and, to an extent, self-driven, so that it is engaging and students can see its impact. Excellent, dedicated teachers – particularly women – are vital for developing skills and interest in STEM. I know my teachers were instrumental in my own pursuit of a scientific education and career.”

Rees says she feels fortunate and proud to live and work in South Africa.

“I love that I can contribute to my country by working hard, paying my taxes and building things using world-leading technology,” she says. “South African data science and artificial intelligence are internationally competitive, and we have a wealth of talent working towards solutions for South Africa and Africa. That makes me really proud.”