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From Data to People: Damiano’s Growth Journey as a Data Scientist at Rabobank

  • Damiano looking in the camera
  • Damiano D'UrsoData Scientist
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"The question is how we can demonstrate that employees receive equal pay for equal work"

Damiano traded his research job in academia for a data science role at Rabobank. In HR, he uses data to investigate a variety of questions from within the organization and to help his colleagues make better decisions. “I love the combination of critical thinking and supporting the business.

Damiano moved from Sicily to Tilburg 10 years ago to pursue a degree. He started out studying Psychology and then did Statistics. “After my degree, I worked as an academic researcher for several years. I liked my job because I got to research subjects that interested me. For example: whether questionnaires really measure what we think they do and whether it is possible to make a fair comparison of answers provided by different groups. But after a while, I realized that I wanted to use my technical skills to have a greater social impact.”

Supporting the HR Business


About three years ago, Damiano decided to make the move to Rabobank. He started as a data scientist for HR, where he has been supporting the business ever since, along with 60 IT colleagues. “Our team consists of different roles: data steward, data reporting specialist, data engineer, data translator, and data scientist. Our focus is always on HR-related topics, so issues that have to do with the workforce and the way people work.”

It is helping me prepare for my next step: team leader"

From Academia to Business

Moving into the business world did take some adjustment for Damiano. “In academia, the goal is to answer questions as thoroughly as possible. But at Rabobank, time is also of the essence. We constantly have to ask ourselves whether we know enough to move forward.”

He discussed his goals and desires with his manager. “I already had the technical skills. I thought it was important to learn how the business colleagues work. I’m a visual thinker, and I really wanted to be able to visualize what the work a HR Advisor or Recruiter looks like, so I talked to a variety of colleagues to get a better picture.”

Data-driven Insight


It did not take long for Damiano to be promoted to a Senior Data Scientist role.“I love the combination of critical thinking and supporting the business. I recently spent a lot of time focusing on a hybrid-work question. HR facilitates this way of working and has developed guidelines for it. The business believed that younger employees were working from home relatively often and wanted to find out whether that was true and what exactly the story was.”

Damiano researched how different groups of employees approached hybrid working. “Our analysis showed that age only told a small part of the story. The biggest difference was the type of work that people do. With that insight, we were able to look at the issue from another angle and approach it not as a generational thing, but as related to what kind of work they were doing.”

After that, Damiano examined hybrid workers’ productivity. “That had not changed over the years,” he said. “The data showed that working away from the office suits the tasks this group of employees carries out, and also that it does not bring their productivity down.”

Glara loopt het Rabobank pand binnen

Equal Opportunities for Colleagues

One of the topics the team is currently working on is the new EU Pay Transparency Directive. Businesses will be required from 2027 to provide insight into the remuneration they give their employees. “The question is how we can demonstrate that employees receive equal pay for equal work,” according to Damiano.

That is not something that can be done simply by comparing roles and salaries, he said. “We also have to consider relevant differences, such as an employee’s level of experience or the type of job they have. The context determines whether the differences in remuneration are justifiable. I enjoy working on topics like these, because they are directly related to fairness and equal opportunities for all colleagues. Not only am I helping Rabobank comply with legislation, I’m also helping shape a more transparent and fairer organization where colleagues receive equal pay for doing the same work.”

Extra Awareness of AI Risks

In HR, Damiano uses AI a lot, but in a different way than his colleagues in other data teams. “Because we work with sensitive personal data, HR falls in the high-risk category under the AI Act. For that reason, we take an especially critical view of the risks. For example, we are very cautious about which details we share and whether the models we are using are biased.”

New Challenge

As a mentor, Damiano supports his colleagues in developing their technical skills and helps them to increase their impact. “I enjoy helping my colleagues develop their data science skills. At the same time, I’m increasingly being asked to give advice about strategic questions regarding my colleagues’ futures. That is teaching me to keep taking a broader view of the organization. It is helping me prepare for my next step: team leader.”

Damiano has just one piece of advice for other academics who are considering moving into the business world: “Do it! Don’t be too modest. You can make an impact in so many areas.”

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