Perspectives

Earned honours: building data and AI at Marex

From foundation apprenticeship to first-class degree: bringing hands-on energy experience to AI innovation

Data and AI specialist Kai Henderson follows his first class degree by introducing Marex’s new structured data & AI offering

Receiving my final degree results is a moment I won’t forget in a hurry.

My degree was earned through a Graduate Apprenticeship, which has meant years of balancing full-time work with late nights, study weekends and no small amount of caffeine.

The BSc (Hons) in Data Science with first-class honours from Robert Gordon University was a major milestone, but it also feels like the natural progression in a carefully planned journey.

When I joined Marex five years ago, it was because I didn’t want to take a traditional route. I wanted to build real-world experience from day one while grounding myself in the technical skills that would shape the future of our industry.

My progression through Marex was deliberately mapped out to give me a complete, end-to-end view of how the business operates. Starting out in digital marketing, I quickly moved into a junior risk consultant role, where I spent time in the operational trenches working on safety cases, thorough reviews and BowTie reports alongside our senior team.

From there, stepping into commercial lead and data analyst roles allowed me to see how technical delivery directly connects to client strategy.

Working across these different functions was not accidental. It gave me a full and deep understanding of our business, our clients and the high-hazard environments we support. I learnt how complex operations run, what keeps directors awake at night and where operational bottlenecks occur.

That background is what makes our new data and AI offering so effective. Over the last five years, I have been able to take advanced academic concepts in data science and test them directly against the daily realities of the energy sector.

Businesses have the data, they just need to know how to make best use of it – which is where we come in.

We are not bringing abstract theories to the market; we are combining fresh technological capability with Marex’s nearly 30 years of established heritage in safety, risk and compliance.

I’ve already seen how this approach works in practice, having recently welcomed our summer intern Lennon Brown, who helped me build the live client dashboards and analyse the needs of our clients. Seeing the immediate impact of these tools reinforces why this service is so vital right now.

As the energy sector continues to evolve across traditional oil and gas, renewables and marine operations, businesses do not need hype; they need practical, reliable systems that improve safety, optimise costs and streamline operations.

Combining five years of hands-on experience across every corner of Marex with a solid academic foundation means we are uniquely placed to deliver just that.

The groundwork is done, the degree is secured and I am excited to help our clients take their next step into data and AI.

Perspectives