Looks like you have JavaScript disabled. For the full Twine experience, you will need to re-enable it.

I am a data science leader with over 10 years of experience architecting and scaling AI organisations. I specialise in distributed machine learning, probabilistic modelling, and large‑scale data engineering. I design and operationalise end‑to‑end ML systems—from streaming architectures to governance frameworks—ensuring reliability, scalability, and measurable business impact. I have delivered mission‑critical AI platforms across telecoms, banking, education, and research, including Vodacom’s Smart Generator Optimisation engine, IBM’s Environmental Intelligence Suite components, and ABSA’s Databricks‑centred ML transformation. I lead modernisation initiatives, introduce MLOps and cloud‑native workflows, stabilise high‑value production scoring systems, and drive enterprise AI adoption through the Ubunye AI ecosystem.…I am a data science leader with over 10 years of experience architecting and scaling AI organisations. I specialise in distributed machine learning, probabilistic modelling, and large‑scale data engineering. I design and operationalise end‑to‑end ML systems—from streaming architectures to governance frameworks—ensuring reliability, scalability, and measurable business impact. I have delivered mission‑critical AI platforms across telecoms, banking, education, and research, including Vodacom’s Smart Generator Optimisation engine, IBM’s Environmental Intelligence Suite components, and ABSA’s Databricks‑centred ML transformation. I lead modernisation initiatives, introduce MLOps and cloud‑native workflows, stabilise high‑value production scoring systems, and drive enterprise AI adoption through the Ubunye AI ecosystem.

Thabang L. Mashinini-Sekgoto

App Developer, Data Scientist, Photoshop Editor, +5





I am a data science leader with over 10 years of experience architecting and scaling AI organisations. I specialise in distributed machine learning, probabilistic modelling, and large‑scale data engineering. I design and operationalise end‑to‑end ML systems—from streaming architectures to governance frameworks—ensuring reliability, scalability, and measurable business impact. I have delivered mission‑critical AI platforms across telecoms, banking, education, and research, including Vodacom’s Smart Generator Optimisation engine, IBM’s Environmental Intelligence Suite components, and ABSA’s Databricks‑centred ML transformation. I lead modernisation initiatives, introduce MLOps and cloud‑native workflows, stabilise high‑value production scoring systems, and drive enterprise AI adoption through the Ubunye AI ecosystem.…I am a data science leader with over 10 years of experience architecting and scaling AI organisations. I specialise in distributed machine learning, probabilistic modelling, and large‑scale data engineering. I design and operationalise end‑to‑end ML systems—from streaming architectures to governance frameworks—ensuring reliability, scalability, and measurable business impact. I have delivered mission‑critical AI platforms across telecoms, banking, education, and research, including Vodacom’s Smart Generator Optimisation engine, IBM’s Environmental Intelligence Suite components, and ABSA’s Databricks‑centred ML transformation. I lead modernisation initiatives, introduce MLOps and cloud‑native workflows, stabilise high‑value production scoring systems, and drive enterprise AI adoption through the Ubunye AI ecosystem.

Available to hire

I am a data science leader with over 10 years of experience architecting and scaling AI organisations. I specialise in distributed machine learning, probabilistic modelling, and large‑scale data engineering. I design and operationalise end‑to‑end ML systems—from streaming architectures to governance frameworks—ensuring reliability, scalability, and measurable business impact.

I have delivered mission‑critical AI platforms across telecoms, banking, education, and research, including Vodacom’s Smart Generator Optimisation engine, IBM’s Environmental Intelligence Suite components, and ABSA’s Databricks‑centred ML transformation. I lead modernisation initiatives, introduce MLOps and cloud‑native workflows, stabilise high‑value production scoring systems, and drive enterprise AI adoption through the Ubunye AI ecosystem.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Language

English

Fluent

Tswana

Fluent

Work Experience

Lead Data Scientist (Acting Head of Data Science) at ABSA Insurance

March 1, 2024 - Present

Built and led the Data Science and Engineering function from the ground up, setting strategy, operating models, and delivery standards for a team of 3 Lead Data Scientists, 1 Data Scientist and 1 Data Engineer to advance data-driven risk mitigation across short-term insurance. Advised senior leadership on AI strategy, roadmap, and capability scaling. Architected and operationalized enterprise ML pipelines on Databricks and AWS, reducing model training/scoring latency by 80–90% and enabling reliable real-time telematics and risk scoring. Designed geospatial flood, lightning, and storm peril models for property insurance, significantly improving underwriting accuracy and geographic risk visibility by 80%. Introduced AI governance, monitoring, and model versioning to strengthen reliability, regulatory compliance, and production ML performance. Stabilised and modernised the telematics driving-behaviour scoring ecosystem, eliminating multi-month backlogs and enabling proactive digital eng

Senior Data Scientist (MLOps, Streaming AI, and Optimisation) at Vodacom

November 1, 2021 - March 1, 2024

Led end-to-end ML and optimization initiatives across national network operations, including predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, and capacity planning. Provided technical leadership across data science, engineering, and IoT teams, driving platform adoption and setting delivery standards. Architected a real-time ML and optimisation platform for network operations, integrating streaming analytics, optimization models, and IoT telemetry to improve maintenance decisions and network reliability during load-shedding. Delivered a smart-generator‑monitoring optimisation engine for national generator allocation, enhancing fuel efficiency and site prioritisation, contributing to substantial annual OPEX savings. Implemented scalable MLOps and streaming pipelines (Kafka, PyFlink/Flink, PySpark) and CVXPY-based optimisation, automated via GitLab CI/CD on Docker + OpenShift.

Machine Learning Research Scientist at IBM Research Johannesburg

April 1, 2020 - November 1, 2021

Collaborated with global IBM teams to design and operationalise large-scale geospatial and meteorological analytics for climate, environmental intelligence, and disaster resilience. Built state-of-the-art predictive models using TensorFlow, improving forecast accuracy and enabling more reliable enterprise decision-making. Integrated advanced ML workflows into the IBM PAIRS Geospatial Platform to enhance real-time data access for strategic planning. Developed the COVID-19 Analytics Dashboard for Gauteng public health authorities, supporting operational response with real-time insights. Led a cohort of PhD and MSc interns, fostering technical excellence and project delivery, and contributed to NeurIPS publications.

Data Scientist at Business Intelligence Service (University of the Witwatersrand)

June 1, 2018 - April 30, 2020

Contributed to a central analytics division, designing and operationalising end-to-end ML pipelines to support strategic planning and decision-making. Collaborated with BI Analysts to improve model accuracy and streamline analytics workflows. Developed a course recommendation system using K-modes clustering, achieving a 90% silhouette score and contributing to revenue generation via improved enrolment alignment.

Data Scientist and Software Engineer Intern at CSIR Pretoria

November 1, 2017 - January 31, 2018

Collaborated to design and develop predictive profiling models for South African municipalities, achieving ~75% accuracy and identifying bottlenecks that informed service delivery planning. Developed and deployed a Django-based decision-support web application for municipal managers, enabling real-time data access and improved operational efficiency. Recognised for innovation in predictive modelling and digital public-sector solutions.

Systems Analyst and Support at ZAR X

June 1, 2017 - October 31, 2017

Enhanced trading platform reliability by resolving critical issues and implementing performance improvements, reducing downtime by 20%. Improved reporting accuracy and operational visibility by refining data workflows and strengthening integration across trading and analytics systems.

Co-founder and Executive at Wits Astronomy Club

January 1, 2014 - February 28, 2017

Co-founded a public engagement initiative aligned with the SKA project, organizing lectures, stargazing events, and workshops to strengthen collaboration between students, researchers, and industry partners. Secured partnerships and funding to support operations and outreach.

Machine Learning Research Scientist at IBM Research

April 1, 2020 - November 30, 2021

Collaborated with global teams to design and operationalise large‑scale geospatial and meteorological analytics for climate, environmental intelligence, and disaster resilience. Developed state‑of‑the‑art predictive models with TensorFlow, improving forecast accuracy and reliability for enterprise clients. Worked on IBM PAIRS Geospatial Platform integration and contributed to the COVID‑19 Analytics Dashboard for Gauteng authorities. Led a cohort of PhD and MSc interns and co‑authored papers for NeurIPS, strengthening IBM’s research output.

Data Scientist at University of the Witwatersrand – Business Intelligence Service

June 1, 2018 - April 30, 2020

Contributed to central analytics, partnering with government and university leadership to deliver insights for strategic planning, performance management, and student success analytics. Built end‑to‑end ML pipelines with Scikit‑learn and Pandas, improving model accuracy and analytics workflows. Implemented a course recommendation system that boosted enrolment alignment and government subsidy efficiency.

Co‑Founder and Executive at Wits Astronomy Club

January 1, 2014 - February 28, 2017

Co‑founded a public engagement initiative aligned with the SKA, organizing lectures, stargazing events, and workshops to promote science outreach and collaboration with researchers and industry partners. Secured partnerships and funding to sustain operations.

Founder & Architect at Ubunye AI Ecosystem (UAIE)

January 1, 2024 - Present

Founded to standardise ML workflows and accelerate capability development. Designed modular components for declarative ETL orchestration and probabilistic distributed ML, with YAML specifications and pluggable compute backends to ensure reproducible, scalable pipelines. Drove organisation‑wide ML standards and data‑mart feature stores at ABSA.

Co‑Founder at Ubunye AI Ecosystem Kasi’Lam Digital Platforms

January 1, 2022 - Present

Co‑founded to enable township businesses to establish a digital footprint with zero hosting cost, delivering scalable web platforms via HTML/CSS/JavaScript/React and GitHub Pages hosting.

Creator & Principal Developer at tfilterspy

January 1, 2023 - Present

Developed a scalable Bayesian filtering library (Kalman, Particle, and custom filters) with a Dask backend for distributed time‑series analysis and sensor data smoothing; published on PyPI with documentation and usage examples.

Education

PhD in Computer Science (In Progress) at University of the Witwatersrand

January 1, 2024 - December 27, 2025

MSc in Computer Science (Distinction) at University of the Witwatersrand

January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2019

BSc Honours in Computer Science at University of the Witwatersrand

January 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017

BSc in Computational & Applied Mathematics and Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of the Witwatersrand

January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2016

PhD in Computer Science (In Progress) at University of the Witwatersrand

January 1, 2024 - December 27, 2025

MSc in Computer Science (Distinction) at University of the Witwatersrand

January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2019

BSc Honours in Computer Science at University of the Witwatersrand

January 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017

BSc in Computational & Applied Mathematics and Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of the Witwatersrand

January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2016

Qualifications

Add your qualifications or awards here.

Industry Experience

Education, Telecommunications, Software & Internet, Non-Profit Organization, Financial Services, Professional Services, Government, Media & Entertainment