For many people working in pensions, the path into the industry is rarely planned. For Yu Qing Lee, the journey from Malaysia to the UK – and ultimately into the pensions technology space – was shaped by curiosity, opportunity and a passion for working with numbers.
Now a Pensions Technical Associate at Intellica Ltd, Yu Qing has already played a key role in the development of innovative technology that is helping transform how pension scheme rules are analysed and implemented. In just a few years with the company, she has been part of a team developing solutions that are helping to modernise the pensions industry.
A career inspired by numbers
Yu Qing’s interest in analytical work began early.
“I’ve always enjoyed maths and working with numbers,” she explains. “That naturally led me towards studying actuarial subjects.”
Originally from Malaysia, Yu Qing moved to the UK to pursue her studies, completing a Master’s degree in Actuarial Management at Heriot-Watt University. The course provided a strong grounding in mathematics, statistics and financial modelling – skills that would later prove invaluable in the pensions industry.
“At the time, my studies were mainly focused on insurance, particularly life insurance,” she says. “But there are quite a lot of similarities between insurance and pensions, especially in the analytical side of things.”
While pensions was not initially part of her career plan, the growing industry soon captured her interest.
“Getting into pensions was actually a coincidence,” she says. “I was applying for lots of different roles after graduating and came across the opportunity at Intellica. Once I started working in the industry, I realised how interesting it is.”
What particularly stood out was the real-world impact of the work.
“There’s a lot of analytical work involved, but it also has a real impact on people’s financial security. That makes the work feel meaningful.”
From Edinburgh to Liverpool
After completing her degree, Yu Qing discovered the role at Intellica through an online job site while exploring graduate opportunities across the UK.
“I was looking for lots of opportunities at the time,” she recalls. “Then one day I received an email inviting me to an interview, from Intellica.”
Following an initial online interview, she travelled to Liverpool to meet the team, including the CEO in person. Shortly afterwards, she began her first professional role in pensions.
“It was my first proper job after graduating, and also my first experience working in pensions,” she says.
Relocating to a new city – and a new country – can be daunting, but Yu Qing says the transition has been a very positive experience.
“Moving to a new country can be challenging, but the team at Intellica has been very welcoming and supportive,” she explains. “Everyone at Intellica is approachable and happy to help, whether it’s with work questions or just settling into life here.”
The collaborative culture at Intellica has played a big role in helping her settle in. As a growing firm with a strong team environment, employees are encouraged to ask questions, share ideas and support each other.
“People are always willing to help,” she says. “It doesn’t ever feel like you’re working alone.”
The social side of the workplace has also helped her feel at home.
“Often, we meet outside work for dinner, activities or just to catch up. It’s nice to have that balance.”
Harnessing AI to transform pensions data
Much of Yu Qing’s work centres around OrionAI, Intellica’s proprietary artificial intelligence engine. The technology sits at the heart of the company’s wider platform, Constellation, which brings together multiple solutions designed to help pension schemes manage and improve their data.
Intellica’s Constellation has been developed to support the entire pensions data journey – from auditing and cleansing data through to migration, benefit calculations and reporting. By integrating these processes within a single platform, it enables schemes and administrators to improve data quality, reduce operational risk and deliver complex pensions projects more efficiently.
Within this ecosystem, OrionAI plays a crucial role.
The AI engine is designed to interpret complex pension scheme documentation, analyse scheme rules and extract key information automatically. In traditional pensions projects, analysing scheme documentation can require hours - or even days - of manually reviewing lengthy rulebooks and historic documents.
OrionAI significantly reduces this time by using advanced AI to read, interpret and respond to questions about scheme rules.
For Yu Qing, being involved in the development and testing of OrionAI from its early stages has been a particularly rewarding part of her role.
“It’s been really interesting to see how the idea developed,” she says. “At the beginning it was just a concept about how AI could help analyse scheme rules, and now it’s become part of a real product that we use in projects.”
Watching the technology evolve into a core component of Intellica’s product suite, and one that now powers many of Intellica’s clients’ solutions, has given her the opportunity to contribute directly to innovation within the pensions industry!
Developing expertise in pensions technology
Yu Qing’s day-to-day role at Intellica focuses heavily on working with OrionAI and supporting pensions implementation projects.
“Every day is different,” she says. “A lot of my work involves reviewing scheme documents, analysing the rules and extracting pension information.”
Traditionally, analysing scheme rules can involve manually reviewing documents that run to hundreds of pages. OrionAI helps automate much of this process.
“Clients send us scheme rules and ask us to populate specifications, such as benefit or calculation specifications,” she explains. “Instead of manually reading through every document, OrionAI can analyse them and answer questions about the scheme.”
For example, the system can identify key details such as:
- Normal retirement ages
- Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) rules
- Other scheme-specific provisions
“It significantly reduces the time needed for analysis,” Yu Qing says. “What might take several days or even a week manually can now be done much faster.”
By combining pensions expertise with technology, Intellica is helping to streamline complex processes that have traditionally been time-consuming across the industry.
Building something from the ground up
One of Yu Qing’s proudest achievements since joining Intellica has been her involvement in the development of OrionAI itself.
“I’ve been involved since the early stages,” she says. “We were testing different ideas and approaches and gradually refining how the system works.”
Working closely with colleagues of all levels across the team including the COO, she helped test the system and provide feedback as the technology developed.
“It’s been really rewarding to see it grow from an initial concept into something that’s now a core part of our product suite,” she explains.
Today, OrionAI powers Intellica’s Constellation platform, supporting a wide range of pensions implementation, analysis and transformation projects.
“Being able to see something you worked on from an initial idea become a real product used by clients is definitely a highlight and proud moment.”
Continuous learning
Although she has already gained significant experience in a relatively short time, Yu Qing still considers herself early in her career.
“There’s so much to learn in this industry,” she says.
Her current focus is expanding her understanding of pension scheme design, legislation and modelling techniques.
“I’d like to learn more about different areas of pensions work,” she explains. “So far I’ve mostly worked with OrionAI, but I’m also interested in areas like calculations, GMP work and data migration.”
Intellica actively supports professional development through internal training programmes and knowledge-sharing across the team.
“We have regular training sessions and team meetings where we go through specific topics,” she says. “It’s a really good way to keep learning.”
Looking to the future
What excites Yu Qing most about the future of pensions is the growing role of technology.
“I’m particularly interested in how technology can improve the way we work with pension data and scheme rules,” she says. “There’s a lot of potential for innovation.”
Having already helped develop one major technological solution early in her career, she’s keen to continue building her experience and exploring new areas within the industry.
With Intellica continuing to expand its team, clients and technology capabilities, the opportunities to develop and contribute to new projects are only increasing.
Advice for others entering the industry
For graduates considering a career in pensions – or anyone thinking about working abroad – Yu Qing has simple advice: stay open-minded.
“Be open to opportunities, even if they’re not what you originally planned,” she says. “Working in pensions wasn’t something I expected, but it’s turned out to be a really interesting and exciting field.”
Sometimes the most rewarding career paths are the ones you discover along the way.
Pensions Technical Specialist & Adviser, Niche Sector Role, 2 days London office only.
Good salary with excellent pension and benefits
3 days home, 2 days office central London location
