Scott Savage, CFA, MBA, MMAI, is a Digital Advisor with Microsoft’s Customer Transformation and Innovation Team and brings a cross-industry perspective and strategic expertise to clients in support of their digital transformation efforts. He is a trusted executive advisor with a broad background in government and military, corporate finance, investment management, banking, and artificial intelligence. Scott also has over 28 years of experience in the Canadian Armed Forces, in which he still serves on a part-time basis. Scott walks us through his unique career path, the importance of creating career optionality, and how to embrace new technology in a digitizing world.

Tell us about your military experience and your time in Afghanistan.

My undergraduate education at the Royal Military College of Canada made me a lifelong soldier with an interest in the defence sector, and even today I serve as a part-time reservist in the innovation cell at the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command Headquarters. I continued my training and service after graduation and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2006. There, my primary duties included liaising with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations in the southern region of Afghanistan to better understand their operations and help deconflict with the military operations. In addition, much of my role was to support the “hearts and minds” effort of our military campaign, including understanding some of the economic development challenges and how they might be addressed despite the rapidly changing and precarious security dynamic.

How did you start your career in the financial services and investment management industry?

After returning from deployment in Afghanistan, I enrolled in the Omnium Executive MBA program at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. I selected this program because it provided a general management education with the opportunity to study internationally and learn about business from a global perspective. While completing my studies, I developed a deeper interest in finance and decided to pursue the industry professionally.

What was your start in the financial services and investment management industry after graduating?

I completed the MBA program in the fall of 2008, which was not an ideal time to be looking for opportunities in the industry due to the developing global financial crisis. However, a Rotman networking event opened a few doors for me, and I was fortunate to secure a role at TD Bank in their MBA Management Rotational Program. This position was a great start to my financial career as it provided exposure to several different areas, such as wealth management, treasury, credit and asset management, and asset securitization, before I settled into a role working in the Treasury and Balance Sheet Management Group as part of TD Bank’s investment portfolio team. It was during my time at TD Bank that I decided to pursue the CFA designation.

What was your goal in pursuing the CFA designation?

I am committed to lifelong learning, and I saw the CFA Program as an opportunity to grow my investment management knowledge and add professional credibility. My goal at the time of studying was ultimately career progression in either investment management or a transaction-focused area, and I knew the charter would provide me with more options. I became a CFA charterholder in September 2015.

How did your career progress from that point?

A unique opportunity found me. In the fall of 2015, when a colleague and friend was appointed Minister of National Defence following the federal election, I was offered a senior policy advisor role due to my combined background in defence and finance. Despite the weekly commutes to Ottawa, it was a high-impact role that I greatly enjoyed. My portfolio included a new defence policy, the defence budget, and global military operations, among others. When my term was over, I took a management consultant role with Deloitte, focusing on defence, security, and justice opportunities, and I grew very interested in the role that disruptive technology can play.

How did you decide to return to school and study a new field?

When the COVID-19 pandemic triggered an introspective period for many people, in me, it catalyzed a desire to deepen my skills and knowledge in technology, and I felt that I needed to return to school. I enrolled in the Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence program at Queens University and graduated in September 2021. I had been interested in artificial intelligence for a while and had some exposure to the technology in the defence space, so I wanted to further my understanding of the field. I have always been drawn to learning and pursuing paths that position me to help solve complex, meaningful challenges. When I was entering the financial industry during the financial crisis, I knew that I wanted to understand more about this field to be in a better position to solve some of the challenges this presented. I see the opportunity to understand artificial intelligence as a general-purpose technology in the same way. It has the potential to help solve problems that span multiple industries and that will have a massive impact on our society and how we organize ourselves for the future, which is very compelling to me.

Can you tell us about your current position?

I am a Digital Advisor with Microsoft’s Customer Transformation and Innovation Team. This is a consulting-style role in which I help organizations envision and execute digital transformation initiatives. Fundamentally, it’s about bringing organizations into the cloud and enabling them to leverage digital capabilities across the spectrum of business applications, modern work, data, and artificial intelligence.

What trends are you seeing in the digital transformation space?

The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation timelines for organizations, especially when it comes to cloud adoption and remote work. Outside of the technological transformation, it is also important to be cognizant of the cultural dimensions and impacts of digitization and remote or hybrid work. It’s critical that organizations going through digital transformation do not overlook the culture and change management pieces, as these are often the most difficult parts of any transformation.

What is your advice for people who want to pursue a technology-based role without a technology background?

It is important to pursue what interests you—always start there, even if you’re not sure of the outcome. Don’t just do what others are doing because you think it’ll give you an edge in career prospects, compensation, etc. Make sure you have an interest in it first, and the rest will follow. If you lack critical knowledge or skills for a desired career, the faster you can start learning to fill those knowledge and skill gaps, the sooner you will be able to pursue your interests professionally. Just getting started is truly more than half of the challenge.

How important do you think technical skills, such as programming, are for financial professionals?

Having some basic programming knowledge will be increasingly important not only in finance but across all areas of business. Excel will most likely continue to be a major tool in the industry, but knowledge of Python, R, Tableau, and Power BI may become prerequisite knowledge for financial professionals in the not-too-distant future. If you can broaden your knowledge base and find ways to improve business processes, such as by automating tasks, you will provide substantial value in any role. Also, learning new technologies and expanding your skillset demonstrates initiative and dedication that will be attractive to employers, especially those that are future focused with their technology adoption.

How do you see artificial intelligence impacting the financial services and investment management industry?

As in the advancements with other general-purpose technologies, you will see a displacement of jobs through technology adoption. I encourage everyone to learn as much as they can about the impacts of artificial intelligence and other technologies that might impact their career. It is important to be aware of which roles may not exist in the future due to technological disruption. While technology systems will do much of the back-office and even mid-office work, humans will still be needed in some capacity to interpret and make decisions about the outputs. I think it is important to be focused on front-facing (client-facing) and decision-oriented roles.

What advice would you give to someone starting in the industry?

I would say to be patient with yourself. Nothing needs to be figured out immediately, and a career is a journey. Your path will change, and that is okay. If you work on things you are interested in, you will usually end up in the right direction. Your career trajectory will likely have ups and downs, and that is also completely normal. I would encourage people to embrace those down moments when they occur, as you may find that you learn more about yourself and your interests during those periods. Most people will not have a 40-year (or longer) career with one employer or even within one industry, so it is important to adapt and embrace change. I would also reiterate the importance of education and leveraging learning opportunities, such as the CFA Program, to create career optionality. The CFA Program is great because it can open many career paths within and outside of the financial services and investment management industry, as it did for me. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

FUN FACTS 

What is something you are looking forward to?

I look forward to getting back to travelling internationally when it is safe to do so. I have been to over 70 countries. My top three places that I have visited are Bali, Japan, and South Africa.

What is your motto or personal mantra?

I like the motto of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command: “We will find a way.”

What books have you read recently?

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Satya Nadella, Greg Shaw, and Jill Tracie Nichols

Risk: A User’s Guide by Stanley McChrystal

A Promised Land by Barack Obama