A unified customer experience helps companies deliver consistency, build trust, and reduce friction across their offerings making it easier for customers to engage, buy, and stay loyal. That’s why Aflac is investing in a unified group strategy consolidating acquired products into a seamless, integrated experience across dental, vision, disability, and more. In this episode of Technovation, Peter High interviews Shelia Anderson, EVP and CIO of Aflac, and speaks with her about the company’s strategy for transforming IT from a fragmented, acquisition-heavy operation into a centralized, data-driven engine for business value.
She outlines how Aflac avoided a costly cloud migration misstep, refocused its data and AI capabilities, and aligned talent strategy with architectural goals. Her approach to innovation is pragmatic and powerful: tie everything to business priorities and know your why.
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MetLife is one of the world’s largest financial services companies, serving over 90 million customers globally. Leading its technology and operations division is Bill Pappas, who oversees AI strategy, cybersecurity, customer experience, and digital transformation across the company.
In this episode of Technovation, Bill Pappas joins host Peter High to discuss how MetLife is leveraging AI, automation, and technology to enhance customer experience, ensure security, and drive operational efficiency. He shares insights on managing a 38,000-person global team, the role of AI in financial services, and why customer-centric innovation is key to long-term success.
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New York Life is embracing AI and data to enhance customer experience and business strategy. In this episode of Technovation, Don Vu, Chief Data & Analytics Officer, shares how he’s leading a transformation at the 180-year-old mutual insurance giant. Don discusses how AI and data modernization are reshaping insurance, the role of data in improving agent and customer interactions, and how New York Life is structuring its organization for agility and innovation. He also reflects on his career spanning Major League Baseball, Northwestern Mutual, and WeWork, and what excites him about AI’s future.
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888: The rapid pace of technological change, particularly with the advent of AI tools, has drastically decreased the average half-life of skills to less than five years, necessitating a focus on continuous learning at every level. In this episode of Technovation, we feature a panel from our May 2024 Metis Strategy Digital Symposium, where Liberty Mutual Global CIO Monica Caldas and WestRock CIDO Amir Kazmi speak with Metis Strategy Partner and East Coast Lead Alex Kraus about future-oriented storytelling, talent upskilling, and innovation processes. Discover how Liberty Mutual leverages its ecosystem of partners to develop the ‘Skills to Fuel our Future’ strategy, maturing employee skills in data, software, and AI, and how Amir at WestRock emphasizes purpose-driven innovation and a growth mindset. Both executives also share their thoughts on executive storytelling, cultural nuances in approaching different personas, and the importance of metrics for evaluating performance and progress.
856: With a wide range of levers at their disposal, technology and operational executives are strategically positioned to be masters of speed within their respective organizations. In this episode, we feature a panel from our February 2024 Metis Strategy Digital Symposium where Jen Felch, Chief Digital Officer and Chief Information Officer of Dell, and Mojgan Lefebvre, Chief Technology and Operations Officer of Travelers speak with Peter High about how they drive speed and agility at their companies. Both executives discuss cultivating a culture of speed and innovation on their team, leading the change management associated with the mindset shift toward agility, and the methods they use to accelerate and automate processes within the organization. Jen and Mojgan also dive deeper into the types of technology they are using today and the emerging technologies like advancements in artificial intelligence that are on their radar for the future.
855: As digital capabilities become more important to competitive positioning, companies have begun to rethink the composition of their digital and IT workforces. In a panel from our February 2024 Metis Strategy Digital Symposium, Brink’s Global CIO Neelu Sethi and Zurich North America COO Barry Perkins join Metis Strategy Partner and Central Office Lead Michael Bertha in a conversation about optimizing workforce composition for digital maturity. Tune in to the discussion to hear these executives speak about shifting workforce compositions within their organizations, focusing on storytelling when driving the mindset shift, and the cultural implications of the new composition.
801: Srini talks about the transformation he is leading within the company and the art of change management behind the transformation. He discusses his unique title and why it made sense to blend strategy with the CIO’s responsibilities and sheds light on the strategic planning that takes place within the large-scale insurance organization. Srini delves into the innovative use of digital and data in assessing property risks coming from climate as well as other areas and expands on that use of data with a background on the company’s experimentation with generative AI. Additionally, Srini elaborates on the importance of developing his team’s skill set to prepare for the future, being a force for change management, and using the lessons from his experience in human resources to drive this talent strategy. Finally, he reflects on the secrets to his success and looks ahead at trends in InsureTech, AI, and more.
784: Greg speaks about being a customer-focused organization and leveraging technology to drive a proactive, predictive, and personalized customer experience. He emphasizes the value of a positive attitude, positive habits, and continuous improvement in achieving success in customer service and why he looks for humility, emotional intelligence, accountability, and learning agility when recruiting talent for his team. Finally, Greg talks about the trends in technology that are on his radar, how those trends aim to impact the customer experience, and the keys to success that have helped him throughout his career.
782: Mojgan covers the intersection of technology and operations within her purview and the alignment she drives between her team and the broader business. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the business and customer needs in order to drive technology strategy and highlights the company’s focus on creating great experiences for customers, modernizing technology infrastructure, leveraging data and analytics, and protecting the organization from cyber threats. Mojgan shares examples of how machine learning and AI are being used to enhance employee and customer experiences, the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in driving innovation and success within the organization, and creating a culture of digital fluency through employee training programs. Finally, Mojgan looks ahead at trends in technology that are on her radar and reflects on the keys to her career success.
776: Monica joins Peter for a conversation focused on the digital transformation journey of this century-old firm and developing it into a tech-forward insurance company. Monica describes how her team is driving the modernization program focused on creating a sound data strategy and improving data literacy across the organization. She dives into the process of digitization, collaboration with internal and external constituent groups, and the optimization of the individual experience. Monica provides insights into maintaining technological literacy through training programs and balancing IT resource allocation for operational efficiency and differentiation. Additionally, she covers topics such as cloud migration, the development of an architecture community, and the exploration of generative artificial intelligence and its diverse use cases. Lastly, Monica explores the emerging technology trends in quantum computing and reflects on the keys to her career success.
