Digital transformation efficacy driven by practical strategy
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Disruptive technologies for the digital transformation of insurance WRITTEN BY
MARCUS LAWRENCE PRODUCED BY
JAMES PEPPER
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ERGO
Joe Lapierre, Managing Director and CEO of ERGO Digital IT, ERGO’s digital technology unit, discusses the measured and focused strategy for applying disruptive technologies and methodologies
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A
mid the industry’s rapid and exciting changes driven by disruptive technologies,
German insurance firm ERGO set up an IT unit dedicated to pushing the technological enablement of its digital transformation: ERGO Digital IT. “As my boss says, ERGO Digital IT is seen as the tip of the spear,” says Joe Lapierre, Managing Director and CEO of the unit. “We are the agile and technology facilitators of the digital transformation.” The unit currently has offices in Berlin and Warsaw, and was devised from the ground up to augment ERGO’s operations with technology. Its operations are closely entwined with all other IT entities within ERGO, and its projects are driven by colleagues across all disciplines, sites and expertise.
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Digital superheroes are born – or made by us. Everyone talks about change. We design it. With digitalization, companies face the challenge of transforming their business models. Anyone who wants to become a digital superhero must learn from the digital natives. BearingPoint shows you what that means in concrete terms, from the further development of your business model to the generation of network effects through the integration of different services. You benefit from our many years of experience as management and technology consultants and from the platforms and software solutions we have developed.
Consulting. Solutions. Ventures.
Imagine for a moment that you are the world’s most modern insurance company The pace has changed. More insurance clients are digital natives and expect seamless and effective communication with a free choice of touchpoints and channels. Are you prepared for this? Do you have a 360-degree view of your customers no matter the channel they choose or the concerns they have? Are you able to identify and fulfill additional services your customers need based on the data you have? Using innovative technologies in combination with a deep understanding of clients, the markets and business needs will help you get there. Client expectations are changing. Especially when it comes to claim. Expected and requested services need to reflect the highest standards of both quality and speed. What if sensors could detect a dishwasher has a leak and it gets repaired before it causes major damage? Wouldn´t this avoid inconveniences for the client and save you costs? The modernization of insurance platforms in combination with AI, IoT, and process automation technology will get you there. Combined that with the data you need to predict and proactively handle the process, and the client will see you in a different light. The organization needs to be ahead. Being adaptive and creative enough to manage innovative technology, being stable enough to be there for your clients 24/7 and being strong enough to fulfill the growing complexity of regulatory requirements are challenging and can push organizations to their limits. Can you manage different speeds within your organization without sending parts of it off into a black hole? Careful but goal-oriented change of your organization and processes, especially change that reflects your business-specific starting position, will enable you to create your own path, to make you a leader again instead of a follower. The whole. Technology can be the engine driving your business. Can you make the right decisions for your business and implement them? Are you able to keep track of the latest startup technologies and see the potential impact they will have on your daily business? Holistic but predictive handling of technologies in combination with your business capabilities will identify the right balance between existing and innovative solutions and provide you with a stable but future proof and flexible environment. Imagine for a moment that this is reality.
“Our ambition and passion turn imagination into reality. Combining a deep understanding of your business with people who have a finger on the pulse of technology make us at BearingPoint the right choice for getting you there. You are not only an insurance company: for us you are the insurance company.” • • • • •
Your technology advisor Your business advisor Your change advisor Your trend scout Yours
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ERGO
“ You don’t want to get too carried away with new technology: look at it, blend in the new with the old, and make it practical” 08
— Joe Lapierre, Managing Director and CEO, ERGO Digital IT
ERGO Digital IT was equipped with the full range of skillsets to make a success of its endeavours, including designers, engineers, developers, program managers, testers, DevOps, cloud and product owners. ERGO Digital IT has been instrumental in supporting its parent company to remain at the forefront of the industry as technology becomes increasingly vital in meeting customer needs and expectations. “What we’re trying to do is add a digital ecosystem where there’s a host of reusable assets
ERGO – COMPANY REVIEW 09 that can be leveraged independent of where you are, which language you speak and which technology you’re currently running, to accelerate the time to market and make smaller ERGO entities more competitive,” says Lapierre. From the outset, Digital IT has been given the flexibility and dynamism it needs to drive digital transformation at ERGO IT in the most effective way possible. “We were set up in Berlin and Warsaw on purpose, in order to be able to attract talent here,” notes Lapierre. With both Berlin and Warsaw, ERGO Digital IT’s offices are located within w w w.e rgo . d ig it a l
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place people; we coach and mentor people, so that they will make a positive impact in the companies they are placed with, leaving both the company and the individual stronger for the experience. We partner with you to enhance performance, productivity and deliver the right business outcomes. Ken and the team, after many years in the industry, have gained in-depth experience in the Insurance, Technology, HR and Operations domains. We bring simplicity, clarity and authenticity along with our experience, working with corporations to clarify and distil exactly what and whom they need to make them stronger.
OUR TEAM Ken Owiti Director Genie Khan Principal Anthony Page General Manager, Tech Ventures
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EXECUTIVE SEARCH, CONSULTING, CONTRACTING & TECHNOLOGY VENTURES WE WILL GET YOU WHERE YOU NEED TO BE We have a long history of partnering with Blue Chip clients across a range of industries from Retail, IT, Government, Mining, Media, Telecommunications and Financial Services. Our passion for people with specialised, complex skill sets has led us into regions such as Asia, Australia, Europe and Africa, one of the world’s fastest growing markets. We pride ourselves on our network of talented executives, giving us the ability to quickly identify appropriate people to meet your needs, and provide a thorough and efficient evaluation of their strengths in relation to what you seek.
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HELPING DEFINE THE VALUE OF HUMANISTIC PURPOSE The end result being a more balanced team with refreshed and restocked knowledge, skill and strategic understanding, more capable of driving your business forward as a strong and confident team. hunterPac recently launched its Technology Ventures division headed by Anthony Page, leveraging its network of leading specialists to help illuminate old issues, fast track those lightbulb moments, drive new possibilities and opportunities to make a real impact.
DIGITAL DISRUPTION IS REDEFINING THE BUSINESS PARADIGM At hunterPac Technology Ventures, we are putting effort into the future. Not just sitting on the sideline, but invested, engaged and involved. We are helping to tie the physical world to the virtual world and building understanding of customer activity prior to the digital engagement. By doing this we help our clients unlock their potential. We are heavily involved with research and development into business intelligence platforms utilising artificial intelligence, including Machine Learning and Deep Learning.
DATA WITHOUT A FOCUS IS JUST NOISE We strongly believe that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Henry Ford once said “If I had asked them what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”. The horse is a person’s reference point, which makes the answer very logical and therefore not very innovative - insight is the name of the game. We recognise the need to do things differently, to innovate and create insight. To that end we are investing in Bio- analytics technology start-ups and incubating talented people and companies, supporting them with our networks of leading specialists. Our R&D investment can help your business stay ahead of the ever-changing business technology environment, deliver insight, extend corporate radar and stay ahead of the competition and excel in the moments that matter.
BUILDING STRONG, TRUSTED RELATIONSHIPS hunterPac will find the missing piece of your jigsaw and together we will construct a stronger future while helping you grow, opening your eyes to new technologies and opportunities. hunterPac delivers skills that will create balance, intervene and change your course. We bring knowledge of people, process and industry. And most importantly we leave having made a difference, having built something together. Two of the most significant advantages that hunterPac brings are intimacy and immediacy, together they make the world smaller.
ERGO
“If we decide to switch to Microsoft Azure in the future, that will be easily done” — Joe Lapierre, Managing Director and CEO, ERGO Digital IT
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two of Europe’s most active and
“I also encourage startups to talk
exciting tech startup scenes. Lapierre
to other startups,” Lapierre adds,
has been involved in fostering positive
crystallising the benefit to ERGO
development of startups in both
Digital IT of having someone at the wheel
Asia and Europe, having worked and
who takes it upon himself not only to
mentored multiple fintech startups in
nurture tech startups but to glean ideas
Hong Kong prior to his current role.
and inspiration from some of Europe’s
“I try to provide guidance, direction,
most innovative minds. “I’m a practical,
practical common sense and some-
common sense digital person,” he
times just motivation,” he says. “The
explains. “You don’t want to get too
Tech Stars Berlin Programme, that I
carried away with new technology. You
personally support, runs a mentorship-
need to look at it, blend in the new with
driven accelerator which provides
the old, and make it practical. Don’t go
startups with feedback and helps them
too far off one way or the other and
to focus on what they’re aiming for,
keep a level head on your shoulders
what they’re trying to implement, who
when you’re integrating newer
their audience is and how they engage
insurtech or fintech solutions into your
with their customers”.
IT environment.”
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Joe Lapierre Joe Lapierre is a Digital Technology and Customer Experience expert who helps large multinational corporations tackle the huge task of digital transformation. Outside of work he also volunteers as a mentor and helps fintech startups build an audience and grow their customer base. Lapierre has worked extensively in the US, UK, Europe and Asia.
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ERGO
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“People who gave a lot of pushback two years ago and have since become some of our most vocal supporters” — Joe Lapierre, Managing Director and CEO, ERGO Digital IT
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ERGO – ’DIGITAL IT’ 17 This mentality has been vital to
protection, ERGO Digital IT has used
Digital IT’s key focus when considering
Kubernetes software to run containers
and developing ways to drive ERGO’s
within the system. “Kubernetes keeps
digital revolution. To facilitate a smooth
a lot of our workload portable, creating
transition from legacy platforms to
silos where we can reassign content
modern solutions, IT has created an
relatively easily from place to place,”
application programming interface
Lapierre says. “If we decide to switch
(API) factory to make the back end less
between providers in the future, that
dependent on old tech and drive it
will be easily done. It also helps us to
towards the target architecture. Amidst
stay elastic between cloud and on-prem-
this change, the foundations have been
ise solutions.” In itself, these actions
laid for flexibility in the future. With
unlock enormous opportunities for
a security driven cloud strategy that is
improved operations. ERGO Digital IT
closely aligned with compliance to GDPR
has devised its own distributed data hub
and consumer expectations of data
where its data sets are combined to w w w.e rgo . d ig it a l
ERGO
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provide a comprehensive view of the customer. “The customer expects us to communicate with one voice, being aware of all interactions the customer had with ERGO through all channels, and being able to access all data on contracts, addresses etc. from every point of contact. In short: the customer wants the best, most convenient and fast access to all their data and speedy answers to all questions. We pull all the data from multiple sources
2016
Year founded
250
Approximate number of employees
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into a single repository to enable this,”
If it wasn’t a sale, what else could the
says Lapierre.
customer potentially want? How can
To utilise data more efficiently for the
we service the customer faster or more
customer and also to lighten the work
easily or reach out to them in the future?”
load regarding repetitive tasks, ERGO
AI-driven automation has already taken
Digital IT also supports initiatives within
effect for certain internal processes,
ERGO to apply AI and explore machine
enabling the firm to unburden employees
learning. “We’re looking into things like
from basic tasks. ERGO Digital IT works
speech-to-text where you can receive
closely together with other IT entities
a phone call, convert that to text
on these projects. “One business had
automatically, and then analyse it to
approximately 100 people who were
provide better service to the customer.
classifying emails as they were coming w w w.e rgo . d ig it a l
Driving insurers
digital future into a
At Cognizant, we’ve invested in the end-to-end capabilities needed to help insurance organizations not just do digital, but be digital. We partner with our clients to unlock new value and through the power of digital technologies and new ways of working, we help them evolve into more competitive, progressive versions of themselves. Learn more at Cognizant.com
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“ We pull all the data from multiple sources into a single repository, our distributed data hub” — Joe Lapierre, Managing Director and CEO, ERGO Digital IT
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in, and that is now achieved through an
RPA back office processes currently
algorithm which allows the AI to do the
in use,” says Lapierre. “The AI-driven
job and reroute them directly,” says
email classification didn’t fall into the
Lapierre. His AI ambitions for ERGO
RPA category because it was more
Digital IT do not end there, however:
logic based than it was just repeating
“We are using Amazon Web Services
existing processes, but simple things
(AWS) with Hortonworks to create an
such as calculating commissions for
entire AI platform which will allow us,
an agent or broker are where we have
like the distributed data hub, to take,
applied it. As part of our straight-through
modify and utilise that AI learning for
attempt to digitalise everything, there
other projects.” In the back office, robotic
are certain steps along the claims
process automation (RPA) is also being
process that have had RPA applied to
leveraged to free staff from repetitive
them with a view to gradually automating
tasks. “ERGO has about 13 different
the whole process.” w w w.e rgo . d ig it a l
ERGO
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This incremental application of technology is in keeping with Lapierre’s practical and measured approach to transformation, which is again found in the firm’s internal change management. “We have a lot of people who have worked at ERGO for over 20 years that are experts in their areas, and we cooperate closely with these strategic business people,” he says. The agile approach to transformation within ERGO IT overall has seen considerable success. “We increasingly work across all business units, IT specialisations, locations as well as adapt new technology and have changed our role within the corporation considerably – IT is a driver of business development.” This positive shift is emblematic of the success of ERGO Digital IT since its inception, with Lapierre at the helm. Appreciating the difference between what can be done and what should be done has been crucial to the success of ERGO Digital IT’s operations as a digital transformation facilitator. With the groundwork laid for continued flexibility and clarity, this success is well set to continue on its upward trend.
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ERGO Digital IT www.ergo.digital