Yudhvir Seetharam As the business environment continues to evolve, bringing a new set of challenges and threats to organisations, risk managers across the globe are beginning to harness the power of Big Data to accurately predict and manage risks more efficiently. Yudhvir Seetharam, Head of Analytics at FNB Business , says stricter regulatory requirements and compliance penalties have prompted businesses in the financial services sector to find new ways to effectively evaluate and manage risks. Consequently, Big Data is now being actively used as a key risk management indicator to identify problems and address them quickly before they impact on the reputation and bottom line of businesses. “It is therefore not surprising that more and more organisations are investing in Big Data to enhance the predictive power of their risk models to enable business leaders to make more informed decisions,” says Seetharam. Moreover, the ability to manipulate historical records, to detect hidden ope...

Agriculture, Healthcare, Financial Services, Retailers and Franchises should use Big Data   Yudhvir Seetharam As corporates increasingly harness the power of Big Data analytics to improve productivity, gain market share and a competitive edge, there are sectors that are lagging behind by not fully capitalising on data to produce actionable insights. According to Yudhvir Seetharam, Head of Analytics for FNB Business - global business challenges and developments are putting more pressure on key sectors that are sensitive to economic cycles. As a result, insight gathered from Big Data can help solve some of the biggest challenges currently facing businesses. He says there are five sectors in South Africa that should consider incorporating Big Data analytics into their operations.  Agriculture - the agricultural industry can utilise data predominantly to increase operational efficiency. Faced with drought conditions, South Africa more than ever requires the agricultur...

Yudhvir Seetharam As the domestic economy continues to contract, Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan has tough decisions to make while curbing spending, accommodating the drought-stricken agricultural sector and ensuring that small businesses continue to grow. “The National Budget Speech has a direct impact on the bottom line of SMEs and influences long-term business decisions,” says Yudhvir Seetharam, Head of Analytics for FNB Business, as he unpacks reasons why small businesses should make time for the budget speech.  Tax – this should be watched closely as high unemployment, decreasing disposable income of consumers and the slowdown in economic growth are currently leading to lower tax revenues for the government. Meanwhile, tax relief for small businesses would have a major impact on their profit margins. High youth unemployment – the current youth subsidy may be cancelled due to complaints that it is not effective enough. However, scrapping this subsidy, while saving o...