Actuaries and musicians may work in very different fields, but both rely on patterns, interpretation and judgement. At Akur8, several actuaries say their experience with music has shaped how they approach their work.
A band rehearsal and an actuarial pricing meeting may seem unlikely to have much in common. One is built around rhythm, harmony and performance, while the other is concerned with data, risk and mathematical models.
But for some actuaries, the overlap is more apparent.
Akur8’s Chief Actuarial Officer Thomas Holmes believes the connection between music and mathematics runs far deeper than a quirky detail on a LinkedIn profile.
The common ground starts with patterns. Actuaries use data to identify patterns in risk and help determine how insurance should be priced. Musicians work with patterns in rhythm, harmony and melody.
Akur8 Senior Actuarial Data Scientist Leonardo Stincone sees a particularly direct mathematical link.
“Music is math. If you look at it with an actuarial eye, you basically have rhythm, harmonies, they are all based on proportions.”
There is also a practical similarity in the amount of discipline required. Actuarial careers involve years of study and professional examinations. Music, particularly for those who perform seriously, also requires repeated practice over long periods.
For Holmes, that can make the demanding examination process familiar territory for musicians moving into actuarial work.
“When people get into the actuarial career, the downside is that you have to take a lot of exams. And what do you tell a musician? Well, you have to study. You have to be in a room for hours a day studying. They say, ‘I’ve already done this. That’s what I do every day as a musician. I go into the room and I practice.’”
The more significant connection, however, may be the way both disciplines deal with complexity.
Insurance pricing is increasingly data-driven, but data does not necessarily provide a definitive answer. Actuaries still have to interpret results, assess assumptions and decide how much confidence to place in a particular outcome. That requires judgement, particularly when different approaches can produce reasonable results.
Holmes believes musicians can be comfortable operating in that environment because interpreting music also involves moving beyond what is explicitly written.
“Musicians tend to be good actuaries because they’re okay with ambiguity. What is written on the page isn’t always the truth. It isn’t the full truth. Kind of like you look at your data, it’s never going to tell you the full truth. You need to interpret it, and there are many different ways to interpret it, and that interpretation really parallels actuarial judgment. There’s a lot of reasonable solutions, a lot of ranges of reasonability in actuarial work. There are ranges of reasonability in interpreting music,” Holmes said.
The distinction is important as insurers make greater use of data and technology in pricing. Models can identify relationships and provide more sophisticated ways of assessing risk, but actuaries remain responsible for understanding the results and deciding how they should inform a pricing decision.
That means technical expertise is only part of the role. Akur8 Actuarial Data Scientist Mateus Tannous points to creativity as another area where the two disciplines overlap.
“I think it’s mainly because music brings together patterns and creativity, and actuarial work has a similar creative dimension.”
Creativity is not necessarily the first quality associated with actuarial work. The profession is traditionally associated with mathematics, statistics and analytical thinking.
But applying those skills does not always mean following a fixed path. Actuaries have to decide which questions to ask, how to approach a particular problem and how to interpret the results. Those decisions can involve several possible solutions rather than a single predetermined answer.
Music operates in a similar space. It has technical structures and rules, but performers still have to make decisions about how those structures are interpreted.
Akur8 actuarial data scientist Suguru Fujita described the relationship as a combination of technical knowledge and personal judgement.
“Music sits right at the intersection of science and art. You have key elements like rhythm, harmony and melody. And you also need to add on your own judgment, interpretation and creativity. That’s very similar to actuarial work. Basically you follow the technical methods but still make professional decisions as a team.”
The reference to working as a team introduces another parallel.
Playing music with other people requires musicians to listen and respond rather than simply concentrate on their own contribution. A performance can change depending on what the other players are doing, requiring each person to adapt while maintaining a shared direction.
Actuarial work can involve a similar process. Pricing teams can bring together people with different areas of expertise, with decisions requiring discussion around data, modelling, assumptions and the wider insurance context.
For Stincone, the experience of playing with other musicians translates directly into the workplace.
“When you play in a band, when you do a jam session, you play with other people. You need to listen to them, have a common vision and play your part. This is not so different from working in an actual team.”
The link between music and actuarial work was also visible during Akur8’s 2026 Company Seminar in France, when Stincone, Tannous and Fujita performed for the whole company.
While the performance was a company event, it also provided a practical example of the different skills the actuaries associate with music and their profession.
The relationship is not simply about mathematical ability. Music can involve years of practice, working within technical structures and responding to other people, while actuarial work combines analytical methods with professional judgement and interpretation.
For Holmes, the performance reflected a wider connection between the skills developed through music and those increasingly valued in actuarial work: technical understanding, creativity, interpretation and, ultimately, the ability to work together.
The comparison also points to an issue facing actuarial teams as insurance pricing becomes more sophisticated.
More data and increasingly advanced analytical tools can give actuaries more information to work with, but they do not remove uncertainty. Instead, they can create new questions around which patterns matter, how reliable they are and what conclusions can reasonably be drawn from them.
That leaves professional judgement at the centre of the process. An actuarial model can produce an output, but an actuary still needs to understand the assumptions behind it and determine how it should be interpreted in the context of the risk being assessed.
It is here that the comparison with music becomes most useful. Both disciplines have technical foundations, but neither is entirely mechanical. There is room for interpretation, judgement and different approaches to the same underlying material.
For actuaries who also play music, those similarities may simply be part of why the two interests sit comfortably alongside one another.
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