The 30 Most Influential Business Leaders in Tech April 2022

VOL 04 I ISSUE 03 I 2022

The

Most

Tech to Top

Innovative Leadership in Tech Space

Embracing Changes How is Technology Shaping the Leadership for the Future?

Influential

Business

2022

Tim Conroy Leveraging Technical Expertise and analytics to Improve Financial Health for All

EDITOR’S NOTE A Guiding Light for the Noble Future

H

ave you ever imagined how our lives would be different if we didn't have computers or smartphones? It isn't easy to fathom life without them. When I wonder what keeps us hooked is that the technology provides a better user experience with consistent updates. The tech industry is evolving at a breakneck pace, considerably changing our way of life. With the rapid growth of tech professions, everyone opts to study tech to stay in the race. It gives us the impression that technology is here to stay and will continue to change how we live.

As a result of this progress, the number of technology leaders is growing. There are tens of thousands of digital companies worldwide, and many entrepreneurs are leading them by giving it their sweat and blood to stay relevant in the tech world.

When we look at the leading tech companies, their founders are some of the most influential leaders. A prime example of such leadership is Elon Musk, a well-known entrepreneur who branched out into various industries, taking the business world by the storm with his innovative tech ideas.

What is it about leaders like him that makes them so noteworthy?

They have several characteristics that set them apart from the crowd. With their tenacious and deliberate approach, they inspire people around them. They face challenges head-on, looking at the big picture, paying close attention to the details, and looking out for everything that can help them achieve their goals.

"The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world changing quickly, the only strategy guaranteed to fail is not taking risks," says Mark Zuckerberg. When great leaders take chances, they build confidence in themselves, and confidence is the key to winning people over. And if you're a leader today, you must take opportunities to produce something different than the rest.

In this edition of "The 30 Most Influential Business Leaders in Tech, 2022," CIO Look has identified influential individuals who have disrupted the tech sector with their expertise.

Explore more similar and intriguing stories to learn more about the achievements of such exceptional leaders in the tech sector. To acquire insight into the area, read the articles of our editorial staff and the CxO viewpoints of some of the industry's leading executives.

Happy reading!

Sonali Dhiwar

Sonali Dhiwar

10 Tim Conroy Leveraging Technical Expertise and analytics to Improve Financial Health for All

ARTICLES

20

38

Tech to Top

Embracing Changes

Innovative Leadership in Tech Space

How is Technology Shaping the Leadership for the Future?

16

Angela Alvarez

A Proven Leader in the Corporate Finance Space

A Visionary Trailblazer with Focused Approach

28

Daniel Hofmann

Jay Pasteris

Kris Rao

52

Rahul Bhardwaj

Tim Hardcastle

40

Lily Ley

48

Pat Jerding

56

Building Security and Privacy Conscious Culture

Bringing Real Value to Fund Managers with Innovative Solutions

68

Kevin Steer

One of a Kind Innovative IT Leader Committed to Delivering the Best SAP Solutions with Technical Expertise and Business Acumen

A Reliable Leader Pioneering Disruptive Solutions

60

32

Driving Remarkable Shifts in the Transformation Space

Driving Business Growth with Adaptive Leadership

Nick Miletich

Ina Behrendt

The Heart of a Technologist with the Vision to Transform Organizations

A Pioneering Leader Revolutionizing the Finance Space

44

22

The Visionary IT Whizz

Engraining Innovation for the Next Generation

36

Carey Smith

Rocco Pellegrinelli

64

Leading with Awareness and Innovatively Bridging the Gap in the Insurance Industry

Assisting Clients in Reaching their Business Goals

Zac Schindler

72

Featuring Person

Company Name

Brief

Angela Alvarez Founder & Executive Chairman

Aglaia Capital aglaiacapital.com

Aglaia Capital is an independent Corporate Finance advisory.

Ajit Prabhu CEO

QuEST Global quest-global.com

QuEST Global has been a trusted global product engineering services company.

Amir Arooni CIO

Discover Financial Services Discover Financial Services strive to be the leading digital bank and payments services company. discover.com

Aaron Gwinner CIO

Reynolds American Inc. reynoldsamerican.com

Reynolds American Inc. is a world-leading manufacturer that’s transforming the tobacco industry through innovation

Carey Smith CIO

Orchid Insurance orchidinsurance.com

Orchid is a Program Administrator and Wholesale Broker that is dedicated to serving property and casualty agencies.

Cindy Hoots CIO

AstraZeneca astrazeneca.com

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-focused pharmaceutical company.

Daniel Hofmann CEO

Hornetsecurity hornetsecurity.com

Hornetsecurity is a leading global email cloud security company.

Dennis Cahill CTO

Wolters Kluwer wolterskluwer.com

Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in information services and solutions company.

David Reid CTO

NOV nov.com

NOV delivers technology-driven solutions to empower the global energy industry.

Frank Weishaupt CEO

Owl Labs owllabs.com

Owl Labs is building the most revolutionary collaboration technology the world has ever seen.

Gint Grabauskas CTO

Offerpad offerpad.com

Offerpad, the new way to buy and sell a homes.

Ina Behrendt CIO

Miami Ad School miamiadschool.com

M.AD, prepare students to face that reality and thrive.

Jay Pasteris CIO & CISO

GreenPages greenpages.com

GreenPages plans, implements, and manages secure, highperformance digital operating environments for leading companies nationwide.

Justin Foster CTO

Cysiv cysiv.com

Cysiv 24/7 security operations center-as-a-service helps reduce cyber risk.

Kevin Steer Founder & CEO

121advisor 121advisor.com

121Advisor is a visionary technology solution and consulting services company.

Featuring Person

Company Name

Brief

Kris Rao CIO & CTO

HNI Corporation hnicorp.com

HNI is a leading provider of workplace furnishings.

Lily Ley VP & CIO

PACCAR paccar.com

PACCAR is a global technology leader in the design, manufacture and customer support of premium light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates.

Larry Cates CEO

Global Learning Systems globallearningsystems.com

Global Learning Systems provides security awareness, antiphishing & compliance training programs for employees.

Loris Degioanni CTO

Sysdig sysdig.com

Sysdig is driving the standard for cloud and container security.

Nick Miletich CTO

Managecore managecore.com

Managecore is a certified SAP Partner and the leading provider of SAP Technical Managed Services.

Pat Jerding CIO & Senior Vice President

Univar Solutions univarsolutions.com

Univar Solutions is a leading global chemical and ingredient distributor and provider of value added services.

Rocco Pellegrinelli Founder & CEO

Trendrating trendrating.net

Trendrating is a global leader in the field of advanced analytics and portfolio management technology.

Rahul Bhardwaj Global Privacy & Data Security

Kroll duffandphelps.com

Kroll provides proprietary data, technology and insights to help clients stay ahead of complex demands related to risk, governance and growth.

Shamim Mohammad CIO

carmax carmax.com

At CarMax, our commitment to innovation and iconic customer experiences have made us the nation’s largest retailer of used cars.

Steve Palmucci Global CIO

Covetrus covetrus.com

Covetrus is a global animal-health company dedicated to empowering veterinary practices.

Sandy Rapp CIO

TravelCenters of America ta-petro.com

At TravelCenters of America, we invite everyone to make themselves at home.

Steve McGovern CEO

Dubber dubber.net

Dubber is the world's leading provider of cloud-based call recording and voice AI.

Tim Conroy CTO

Experian experian.com

Experian unlocks the power of data to create opportunities for consumers, businesses and society.

Tim Hardcastle CEO & Co-founder

INSTANDA instanda.com

INSTANDA operates exclusively through Software-as-aService and is a radically different approach to insurance product innovation.

Zac Schindler Director

doeLEGAL doelegal.com

doeLEGAL provides advanced information management tools and elevated support designed to provide corporate legal departments and law firms.

Hitesh Dhamani Editor-in-Chief CONTENT

Senior Editor

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April, 2022

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C

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Tim Conroy

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Chief Technology Officer Decision Analytics

Experian UK&I

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Tim Conroy Leveraging Technical Expertise and analytics to Improve Financial Health for All

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Experian unlocks the power of data to create opportunities for people, businesses, and society.

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oday, many business leaders believe that data is the most important asset and most valuable resource. Data can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of businesses and help make informed decisions. Passionate business leaders believe in the power of data and are experts at tapping the potential of data for achieving their organizational goals. Tim Conroy is one such leader who believes that data has the power to change lives. Seeing an idea becoming a reality fascinates Tim, marking his 25th year in the industry. With Experian UK&I, Tim implements his expertise as CTO, UK Decision Analytics.

Breaking the Model of Traditional Leadership Following an unconventional route, Tim spent seven years studying Civil Engineering in Sheffield before joining the UK's largest postal and delivery company as a graduate software developer, focusing on Cobol, CICS, and DB2. Tim told his parents it was a conscious decision, and the synergies between construction and IT were there for all to see - both include products being built.

However, the real reason was that Tim wanted to continue playing football for a local team.

Tim spent two years coding, realizing he wasn't the best at it, but he managed to create an environment where people worked well together, as told by several colleagues. Fortunately, he then did a role swap with the team leader who wanted to go back to the technical side of things, and with that, his obsession with working with tech teams began.

Tim undertook seven years with the postal company before being part of a large outsource to CSC. He was fortunate to land his first prominent managerial role in 2003, never looking back. Tim actively looked to take leadership roles across various domains as he wanted to understand the pressures across the entire supply chain – Sales, Technology, Delivery, and Operations.

One of the most significant challenges Tim faced was probably trying to break the model of a traditional leader in a corporate company. His primary advice to anyone is that to succeed, "You must be yourself and have a laser focus on your greatest asset - the people you work with."

Tim believes that tech is just tech without a great team to turn into a product the industry craves and helps solve solutions they face.

At Experian's inaugural Careers Week Tim was asked how he managed to succeed in this and his previous roles.

He said, "It's a combination of things – having confidence in yourself, recognizing I worked well with people, and building on that experience all help to get me to where I am today."

Enabling People to Thrive by Unlocking the Power of Data Experian is a global organization playing an important role in the worldwide economy. Its mission is to unlock the power of data to create opportunities for people, businesses, and society. Its strategy has been to improve financial health for all through its core products, social innovation, and community investment schemes. By investing in its people, technology, and innovation, Experian responsibly harnesses data to transform businesses, help communities prosper, and enable people to thrive.

We believe data has the power to change lives.

By helping people and organisations make the most of their data, we can make a positive difference to our society and communities.

Empowering Consumers to Take Control of Finances

We unlock the power of data to create opportunities for people, business and society.

The world is built on data. It's all around us, growing in power and influence every day. But only by understanding that data can it be deployed correctly. Experian works to turn that data into something meaningful. It gathers, analyzes, and interprets data to help organizations of all shapes and sizes achieve their goals – whether that means planning for a secure future, getting to know their customers better, or helping them understand the suitability of their customers for financial products.

Experian empowers consumers to take control of their finances and meet their ambitions, such as buying their first home. As an example, in the US and the UK, Experian has launched Experian Boost, giving people – for the very first time – the chance to improve their Experian Credit Score by adding additional regular payments to their reports. By helping people and organizations make the

most of their data, Experian makes a positive difference to society and communities.

Leveraging Technological Advancements Experian currently has 110 million consumers using its free platforms to help them understand and manage their credit reports; since 2013, Experian has reached 61 million people through its social innovation program. In 2021, it volunteered over 21,000 hours, focusing on financial education and other relevant causes.

Experian believes it is its responsibility as a leading player to help consumers and organizations leverage its expertise to improve financial wellbeing for all. Tim says four key areas of focus where Experian is leveraging technological advancements are: API & Microservice, Comprehensive Automated Testing & Deployments, Adopting DevOps, and Cloud Migration.

Being More Diverse and Inclusive Tim would like the industry to be more diverse and inclusive. He would like to see an industry accessible to everyone and provides opportunities for people of all backgrounds.

Experian is 20,000 people across 44 countries, comprising 94 nationalities and spanning five generations. It feels it is vital that everyone feels supported to grow and succeed. In 2021 it launched its first global Diversity Equity and Inclusion reportto increase transparency around its progress and goals. Tim would like to see that become an industry standard, certainly for the largest players in the market.

Experian continues to invest in innovation, specifically in leading-edge technologies where it can add additional value to its customers. It is working with its wider ecosystem of partners to bring this to life, sharing its resources and expertise to innovate together.

Enabling Great Things to Happen with Great Culture It's hard for Tim to believe, but this year marks his silver jubilee year in IT, and while he has always had support, Experian is different.

The culture of learnability, togetherness, and environment Experian operates in enables great things to happen. As such, and it's probably no surprise, he doesn't look beyond Experian.

In terms of future goals, two broad domains that come to Tim's mind are obsessing about delivering value to market by raising the bar in product development, and constantly hiring brilliant people to join Experian.

Tim says, “We have an abundance of talent in Experian and I’ve always felt it crucial when your fortunate to be in a position of influence, that you make time for those who are looking for support with their careers. Personally, it’s hard to beat seeing colleagues unlock their potential.”

Succinct Advice Tim advises aspiring entrepreneurs in the innovation sector, "Go for it! If you are passionate about what you do, are driven to succeed, and believe in your cause, then the world is your oyster. There has never been a better time to be innovative due to the rate of technological change and the global reach social media platforms are giving us. Surround yourself with good people, work hard and grab the opportunity with both hands.”

Angela Alvarez A Proven Leader in the Corporate Finance Space

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t was the mission of mixing traditional Corporate Finance and the Financial industry with the new digital world that inspired Angela Alvarez to found AGLAIA CAPITAL. Her belief that technology and human sciences can go together to face this new technological world without losing humanity has taken Angela to great heights. Her work reflects her passion for decentralised technologies and cooperation business models.

the values and interests around the business. I think that this century should be a predominance of the fairer business in finance and the alternative investments world, and likely sooner or later will make a difference for the preference of the consumers as it happens in other industries.

Angela envisages Aglaia Capital as a tool for a change in the financial industry from the business and technology perspective and also to imprint some codes of values that are more present in technology.

Aglaia Capital is a new generation of corporate finance and alternative investments. It has a holistic approach covering a traditional corporate finance discipline, focused on Hotels, Real Estate, and Alternative Financing, from lower to big deals, from simpler to more complex deals. It is focused on digital assets as well, considering them as a more evolved way of the same reality. We cover the whole life of the digital asset, advising on the full token generating event, also covering the technological and legal part through affiliates teams, also providing services for structuring the funds and fund management through our trusted providers. Besides, we cover the functionalities of the cryptoassets through my newly developed Defi Permissioned Platform Aglaia Capital DeFi Platform, a new compliant financial infrastructure focused on security tokens.

Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.

Inspired by her virtues, we at CIO Look caught up with Angela to learn more about her journey and how she is contributing to the finance space through Aglaia Capital.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at AGLAIA CAPITAL. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?

The path towards leadership can be various. Some traits are present in you since you are a child, and those traits appear when something triggers, and that type of leadership is the most powerful because it comes from the inner essence. It can be followed and copied, but is unique in the essence, as it has a purpose that drives it. I identify myself with that type who does not intend to do what I have believed that has to be done; that belief has also converted into a purpose, in a business, in a mission.

My vision is continually developing a new financial infrastructure with blockchain, taking advantage of the discipline of the investment banking world, but with the efficiency, speed, and automatic trust, that provides the blockchain, and with code of values based on consensus and values behind that are the ethos of the company, such as integrity, sustainability, diversity, and impact for creating a better world.

Our mission is to transform and continue making evolve our industry applying blockchain, to make it more scalable, and imprint a code of values that we consider that will make a difference also in our industry.

I have faced many challenges, and I am still facing them.

Some are related to what implies innovation and the creation of new infrastructure, and others related to www.ciolook.com

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Aglaia Capital is a new generation of corporate finance and alternative investments.

Angela Alvare Founder and Executive Chairman

AGLAIA CAPITAL

Enlighten us on how you have impacted the corporate finance and alternative investment niche through your expertise in the market.

with a view of including the functionalities needed for operating with cryptoassets as a more advanced way of operating with the assets that are in the real world.

We have extensive experience and knowledge in our industry as well as on the players, which makes a difference for the investors and sponsors, and being independent we don’t have the conflict of interest that may have other firms.

What, according to you, could be the next significant change in the corporate finance and alternative investment industry? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?

The financial sector is experimenting already with a transformation of its financial infrastructure driven by blockchain, and digital assets. I have been envisaging that for years, and Aglaia Capital surges as an expression of my vision on the evolvement of my industry with blockchain, and with digital assets. The new Aglaia Capital DeFi Platform is a tool to help in using that new infrastructure and cryptoassets. We are already one of the active actors in the transformation of our industry contributing what we are doing, and have made so far.

Besides, my vision was to apply the discipline of traditional corporate finance to the cryptoassets world.

We have a unique approach as we cover the whole life of the cryptoassets since inception or conceptualization, covering the whole token generating event, the legal structuring, and, during its life, through my newly founded Aglaia Capital DeFi Platform. It is an authorized platform for cryptoassets using a protocol of smart contracts for security tokens, and with several functionalities.

We advise in the whole process of the token generating event, covering also the legal and technical areas through an affiliated team. We also cover the creation of the legal structures and asset management, if that is the case, through our trusted providers, or companies under the same umbrella, as well as all the tokenization process and the functionalities of the cryptoasset, through Aglaia Capital DeFi Platform.

Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for AGLAIA CAPITAL? I have already contributed to transforming and creating a new paradigm for my industry. The future goals for Aglaia Capital are the consolidation of the traditional lines of business, the launching and growth of the new Permissioned DeFi Platform, which is focused on security tokens, and qualified investors.

Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the corporate finance and alternative investment sector?

The ethos of Aglaia Capital is around integrity, innovation, sustainability, diversity, and impact for making a better world. The work culture is based on these values, in consensus, and in a code of values based on maximizing the unique qualities of the team to contribute to the others. I consider uniqueness and diversity as well as integrity a competitive advantage in this new complex world and what is making the difference.

Resilience, and to help in creating a new generation of business, supported also with values that facilitate a more cooperative and fairer ecosystem.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

We have been pioneers in the industry using blockchain technology for transforming our industry. My newly founded Permissioned Defi Platform has been created www.ciolook.com

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Tech to Top

I N N O VA T I V E

LEADERSHIP IN TECH SPACE

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nprecedented time calls for unprecedented, innovative, creative, strategic, and thoughtful solutions, and uncertain challenges and contingencies require an innovative approach to solving the problems. Today, an innovative approach in the leaders is the most fundamental quality to sustain the competency of their solutions in the market. In times of unprecedented circumstances and rapid globalization, the success of businesses is dependent on keeping pace on a global scale by coming up with innovative solutions. Technology trends in cloud computing, social media tools, mobile devices are driving global growth. Leveraging technology changes for availing competitive advantage is essential in an uncertain future. Business leaders need to observe and realize the needs of customers and end-users and deliver solutions accordingly using innovative technologies.

business. The right kind of leaders inspire employees; they keep everyone focused on the right direction and ensure that they overcome common challenges for the sustainable growth of the organization they are leading.

While every leader has to face challenges from dealing with conflicts in the office to supporting people from different generations in the organizations, technology leaders have to face additional and unique issues. In the technology space, leaders have to be very up-to-date, precise, innovative, clever, and move continuously at a rapid pace to suit the changing marketplace trends.

They also have to ensure high levels of reliability, speed with accuracy, and deliver continuously good performance. Technology leaders have to manage many more things than conventional leaders.

Today’s technology is changing rapidly, and because of that technology, leaders have to face new challenges related to managing their teams and supporting staff effectively. They need the support of staff that is competitive in understanding the need for upgraded technology. They have to train their staff in operating the latest software as well as hardware efficiently.

Leaders with special skills and expertise can help them be more creative and more innovative in making sure that they are leveraging technology effectively for the growth of the businesses.

Innovative business leaders strategize about creating a culture that facilitates innovation. They recognize ways to create an impact in the industry by coming up with innovative ideas and innovative technologies or products to meet the evolving needs of users and customers and enhance their reputation as a reliable solution provider. They responsibly plan to build and deploy the technology to serve the needs of the users and customers. They don’t want to stay behind in any way that may hamper the business growth. Instead, innovative leaders have a forward thought approach, and their insights help them think ahead of the time and be prepared to deliver innovative products to meet the needs of the changing times.

Succeeding in the technology sector means grabbing opportunities as they appear and be prepared to convert opportunities into success. Tech leaders should be able to recognize and evaluate all the opportunities related to their business, especially with a more keen sense of optimism. They should install the latest technologies for meeting regulatory and compliance issues for organizations. They should be able to deal

Leaders are an extremely important part of any business as they set the tone for the functioning of the www.ciolook.com

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with a rapid rate of pace and should also ensure precise accuracy. They should be able to handle the pressure, explore new concepts, and come up with innovations to increase the affordability of their solutions.

Technology leaders should have confidence and decisiveness to take clever decisions in the interest of the businesses. They should have an empowering and collaborative nature to promote the cooperative spirit in teammates for delivering good results to all stakeholders. Innovative leaders should also have excellent communication skills and be willing to continuously learn and grow. Innovative business leaders in technology can be highly successful if they have great technical abilities, innovative approaches, and shrewd business acumen.

Carey Smith

Chief Information Officer Orchid Insurance

CAREY SMITH A Visionary Trailblazer with Focused Approach

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rtificial Intelligence continues to advance through remarkable milestones that can be utilized to change the way we do business. AI can solve several business problems, and technologists leverage it to prepare for the future. Carey Smith is one such technologist and an evangelist of the democratization of technology. He believes that placing the power to make digital product changes into the hands of the customer and internal business teams is the significant change that can be an industry disruptor.

As the Chief Information Officer of Orchid Insurance, Carey strives to deliver personalized, intuitive, simple yet powerful digital solutions that allow easy selfservice no matter when, where, and how the customer wants to engage.

Carey began his technology career developing digital solutions and expanded his roles covering all aspects of technology. As a leader, Carey focuses on unifying technology and business so that IT teams operate as business units with accountability to business outcomes. Carey has delivered transformational change to enterprises large and small, established market incumbents and startups spanning public, private, and not-for-profit sectors.

Cultural change is the biggest challenge Carey always faces, regardless of the organization. Changing institutional IT mindsets to think strategically is key to success from a business perspective. Instead of focusing on traditional IT metrics and KPIs to measure outcomes, Carey's technology organizations focus on value delivered to the customer. Measuring value and holding technology teams accountable to business outcomes helps shape a different perspective and build a stronger, trusting partnership between technology and business.

The Initiation With nearly 30 years of experience building and delivering technology solutions and a reputation as a progressive IT leader, Carey Smith has a long history of driving transformational change at organizations within the insurance, financial services, and manufacturing industries.

The First Choice Orchid Insurance is a unique and rapidly growing Managing General Underwriter specializing in distributing and underwriting residential and commercial property. Orchid is committed to being "The First Choice" for catastrophe property insurance for thousands of independent retail agencies from coast to coast. For more than two decades, Orchid's products, processes, and people have consistently delivered outstanding coverage solutions in the insurance industry by offering customized solutions

Carey focuses on developing technology strategies and delivering digital solutions that amplify the business, which drives the achievement of the enterprise vision.

Instead of being constrained by the traditions of legacy IT, Carey champions the use of emerging technologies and modern delivery practices to transform business models, drive extreme growth and achieve industrybest results.

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“

with distinguishable ease of use and expertise. Orchid's proprietary underwriting capabilities and strong carrier relationships have led to a best-in-class historical underwriting track record.

We need bright, courageous entrepreneurs, and you are never too young or too inexperienced to bring creative, tech-based solutions forward.

Carey asserts Orchid IT is pivotal in executing the digital business transformation strategy delivering innovative digital products, and improving enterprise operational efficiency. Due to its recent technology modernization, Orchid IT has achieved 32X efficiency improvement, a 14X progress in delivering platform configuration for new revenue-generating business opportunities, and a 9X improvement in time-to-market for delivering new digital capabilities. Allowing more digital capability to be delivered significantly faster with fewer resources has resulted in new digital product delivery measured in days VS. months/years, allowing for a substantial increase in value delivered to the business. Most importantly, these significant improvements were achieved while also reducing the technology operational expense run rate. Orchid IT has achieved the seemingly impossible by delivering

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significantly more products, quicker to market, and higher quality while reducing expenses.

The Long Run Carey asserts that the future is incredibly bright for Orchid as it continues its journey as a market leader, creatively solving the needs of its customers. Carey will lead with continued unification of technology and business, leveraging emerging technologies to solve customer and business needs, driving a digital culture across every enterprise facet, and accomplishing strategic objectives.

Carey states that the contribution that technology makes to Orchid is multi-faceted. Technology delivers the digital business transformation, enabling the achievement of the enterprise goal of tripling in size, driving top-line growth, delivering an Excess & Surplus marketplace, and re-imagining the digital customer experience. These objectives are being achieved through the technology organization's integral engagement in top-line growth initiatives, new ventures, and new emerging technology solutions delivery. Additionally, bottom-line efficiencies are being achieved through significant technology optimization due to a comprehensive technology modernization.

Exploiting the opportunity to expand the deployment of modern technology, such as the utilization of blockchain and behavioral analytics to drive value to the customer and Orchid stakeholders alike, are exciting opportunities.

The Technological Impact

With data continuing to be the new currency of business differentiation, using AI to drive informed decision-making at the point of impact is a challenge that keeps Carey motivated.

Orchid understands its customers' needs and delivers innovative products that meet those needs. The insurance industry has traditionally been a laggard in embracing technological change. At Orchid, leveraging modern technology is a strategic cornerstone of digital business transformation.

Valiant Advice Carey advises budding entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into the technology sector, or leverage technology to address a consumer problem is to think big, be bold, rage against the status quo, and most importantly, be customer-obsessed. He says, "We need bright, courageous entrepreneurs, and you are never too young or too inexperienced to bring creative, tech-based solutions forward. Focus your sights on solving the needs of the consumer and your internal business partner.”

Orchid's aggressive enterprise goals require technology to build a new digital ecosystem to support the continuance of its strong growth. It fosters a shift in its business model, supporting new consumer products, national programs, market expansion, acquisitions, partnerships, and new corporate ventures. Additionally, Orchid is delivering a new industry-leading digital experience for its agents that strengthens their ability to focus on the needs of customers easily.

Constructing the new digital ecosystem required modernizing a legacy technology organization while delivering the digital needs of a transforming business.

Orchid is leveraging modern technology to amplify its enterprise value-driving revenue growth, expanding Orchid's scale in the marketplace, improving profitability by optimizing how technology products and services are delivered, and most importantly, better serve its customers. Leveraging advanced analytics in risk analysis, AI-based proprietary algorithms for rating, customer experience bots, contactless digital engagements, and intelligent automation are just a few of the methods Orchid will leverage technology advancements.

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Daniel Hofmann CEO

Hornetsecurity

Daniel Hofmann The Visionary IT Whizz

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proud to say we are continuing to grow and advance daily, with vision, innovation, enthusiasm, and energy.

he IT industry worldwide faces continuous challenges in data storage and management, security, rising costs, and operational complexities. US-based cybersecurity solution provider Hornetsecurity - guided by the skilled leadership of their dynamic, visionary CEO, Daniel Hofmann - offers a wide-ranging portfolio of solutions. Daniel Hofmann correctly identified the industry's need, creating versatile, cloud-based solutions that offer robust email security and backup functionality, with a special focus on security for Microsoft 365 business users. CIO Look caught up with Daniel Hofmann to learn more about his exciting success story and the company’s future plans.

Tell us something more about Hornetsecurity.

Hornetsecurity was founded in 2007 and is today a leading global cloud email security and backup provider.

Hornetsecurity is a leading email cloud security provider, which secures companies and organizations of all sizes across the world.

Its award-winning product portfolio covers all important areas of email security.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Hornetsecurity.

I spent the first few years of my career in various positions in the IT market, which gave me valuable insights into various aspects of both business operations and business needs.

During that time, I identified the need for a lowmaintenance solution that was easy to manage while being capable of handling large amounts of data so that it would be effective at detecting threats. I also wanted it to be cloud-based as I saw great efficiencies in having one central location from which to operate. A product that could cover all these requirements didn't seem to exist. That inspired me to start developing that solution myself. This is how Hornetsecurity was born.

Since then, we have developed a comprehensive portfolio of cloud security services. Our solutions protect thousands of customers worldwide, thanks to our global team of more than 350 employees. And I'm

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We also publish monthly and annual reports about updates and trends in the cybersecurity world, as well as educational content. We use the specialization of our worldwide team members and in-depth research to keep at the forefront and protect our customers through our innovations.

A recent example involves 365 Total Protection Enterprise Backup, the first all-in-one security, compliance, and backup suite for Microsoft 365 users.

As businesses increasingly move to the cloud and to Microsoft 365, this offer satisfies that growing need.

Our award-winning 365 Total Protection comes in different editions, which each provides Microsoft 365 users with a robust layer of security. To this, 365 Total Protection Enterprise Backup adds data loss protection for Microsoft 365 through backup and recovery for Microsoft 365 data in mailboxes, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint. It also backs up roaming and on-premises Windows endpoints. If our customers lose data due to system or human errors, malicious actions, or ransomware, for instance, this allows them to restore their data with ease.

Our mission is to protect cloud-based communication ensure business continuity and compliance by deploying next-generation AI solutions for companies of all sizes so they can focus on their core businesses.

Our product portfolio is not restricted to email security, although it covers all important areas there, such as spam and virus filtering, protection against phishing and ransomware, legally compliant archiving, and encryption. We also provide email, endpoint, and virtual machine backup, replication, and recovery. We focus especially on Microsoft 365, and we believe our flagship product is the most extensive cloud security solution for Microsoft 365 on the market.

It's also convenient as customers can handle all aspects via a single platform and liaise with a single vendor.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

Hornetsecurity has ten worldwide offices and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Hornetsecurity Inc. is based in Pittsburgh, PA, with other North American offices in Washington D.C. and Montreal, Canada.

Yes, technology is always evolving and advancing.

Unfortunately, this also means that cyberattacks are evolving too, becoming ever more sophisticated, with the aim of extracting valuable information and vast sums of money.

We operate through a global network of 5,000+ channel partners and MSPs and 11 redundant, secured data centers. Our services are used by more than 50,000+ businesses and organizations of all sizes and across all verticals.

Training your employees about cybersecurity is essential. However, that must be backed by the right infrastructure in place to ensure secure usage and safeguard the organization's data. This is essential.

Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the Cybersecurity niche through your expertise in the market.

Our mantra is that we should enable our customers to focus on what they do best by providing the expertise and professionalism needed in handling their email security and data loss prevention. It is simply not possible for them to keep up with the never-ending developments in the world of cybercrime, be it in business email compromise (BEC), phishing attempts,

We've been in the cloud security environment since 2004, developing systems for the cloud before the cloud was recognized as such. We aim to make an impact with each of our services, identifying current and future customer needs and addressing them. www.ciolook.com

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CEO fraud, or ransomware and malware technologies.

You need experts in using technology as a force for good to counteract those using it with nefarious aims, and those experts must always keep their eye on the ball.

This is why our team incessantly conducts in-depth analyses to gain ongoing, comprehensive knowledge of current cybercrime trends.

This is coupled with identifying business challenges and market changes. I also like us to question established approaches without taking things for granted. Both these approaches allow us to cater to emerging needs and develop trail-blazing services and solutions to do a great job and set our customers' minds at rest.

rights they have been granted. We're looking at monitoring, alerting, auditing, and so on in a fully automated way. We're truly excited about what we will be delivering here.

What are your future goals for Hornetsecurity?

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the cybersecurity sector?

We will continue building on our expertise in providing robust cloud-based email security in the B2B space, expanding our suite of services to meet evolving customer needs.

The software environment is unlimited, and there are so many spaces where you can be active, introducing new products and functionality and bringing great value. There is ample opportunity. Roll up your sleeves and go for it!

Today's systems and setups bring many functionalities, providing new ways to work with greater usability and uniformity. This makes it easier for everyone to join in.

This is very powerful. Single users now have massive rights to operate within a system, sharing files, folders, and processes with others both inside and outside the organization.

From a security perspective, this needs to be audited.

However, this is currently a blind spot – it is hard to tell which user has what rights. One response is to restrict this as much as possible, but this limits creativity and productivity.

Our idea is to enhance this and make the whole thing more transparent. We will provide 360-degree protection around what each user is doing, whatever www.ciolook.com

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Ina Behrendt

Engraining Innovation for the Next Generation

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umankind has come a long way from lighting fire with stones to being a part of the digital world. The only aspect that continuously transformed our adaptability throughout the centuries is innovation. Today, much thought goes into innovation to constantly embrace the digital transformation to impact almost every industry worldwide. With such a distinct approach, Ina Behrendt implies her expertise to foster sustainable change by driving innovative change with a strong focus on creative marketing and mainly the education niche.

As the Chief Innovation Officer at Miami Ad School Europe, Ina re-invents the educational system for the digital age, helping current and future business leaders, how to navigate, learn and stand out these days. She is also the Chief Executive Officer of the new brainchild of Miami Ad School Europe: Infinity Campus – its new e-learning platform (infinitycampus.online).

Ina's thought leadership has always brought transformative shifts making her an influential leader.

Her award-winning work over the last decades symbolize her excellence in digital advertising, working with world-renowned brands.

Ina Behrendt

Chief Innovation O cer at Miami Ad School Europe & CEO at Infinity Campus

Miami Ad School Europe & Infinity Campus

Let us dive into Ina's journey.

“It's important to give women more confidence and opportunities in the industry, particularly when it comes to knowing how to advance their careers.”

Nurturing Impacting Innovation Since Ina became part of the management board, 6 years ago, she shifted strategic tides from traditional to more sustainable future strategies, encouraging three crucial aspects: Ÿ Listening, observing & learning, and using data to inform strategic decision making to see, understand and think. Ÿ Inspiration and fostering a culture of creativity and prototyping to do and make! Ÿ Collaboration & networking to gain more diversity in every kind of aspect to care!

Ina wants to push boundaries at the intersection of art, design, technology, and creative engineering. “I aim to turn the back towards too tech nerdy perceived roles with my goals to re-invent the definition regarding the needs in the industry,” says Ina. Real World Experience on campus Miami Ad School is a network of 15 schools around the globe and has built its reputation over 29 years as one of the world's most awarded schools in higher education in the creative and marketing industry. It is well known for producing outstanding creative graduates ready to work from the first day on the job.

With Infinity Campus, Ina and her co-founders, brought

Ina understands the importance of innovation as digital has become the new norm. It drives organizations to change products and services, tapping into the new markets to stay relevant, further affecting the educational field. Ina is leading with responsibility, to create and design an educational system that breeds future creative innovators right from the start or uplift those, who are already professionals. She co-founded recently Infinity Campus, a new and outstanding elearning platform, driving education and life-long learning to the forefront of contemporary education.

Apart from being an innovator, Ina is skilled at solving problems and thinking like an entrepreneur. She often collaborates with numerous companies to bring the much-needed innovation to life. She is as well a frequent speaker at local and global tech/innovation conferences and summits.

Becoming a Voice Addressing the gender imbalance in STEM fields, Ina co-founded the "Women in Technology" initiative in Sydney, Australia. It is a comprehensive and innovative program designed to nurture education and provide women employment opportunities. The program aimed to push for a culture change in the digital and tech field through addressing digital industry gender issues with a significant national program launch. The key pillars of the program are education and employment with young women in high school and tertiary institutions exposed to panels, experts, workshops, and mentors. Ina says,

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I want to push boundaries at the intersection of art, design, technology, and creative engineering. I aimed to turn my back towards too tech nerdy perceived roles with my goal to re-invent the definition regarding the needs in the industry.

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With innovation, diversity, and mindset in its DNA, Infinity Campus addresses specific needs to impact people's lives positively and push their skills to the next level.

the advanced training and courses online, collaborated with new partners, and developed formats that did not exist. The platform aims to establish a unique campus for special courses, training, summits, and boot camps of an expansive network of mentors – available online regardless of one's physical location by mixing even more technology into its creative bloodstream, next to people’s jobs.

Setting an Upward Curve for Future Future holds many opportunities, but it is uncertain, and innovation is the only effective way to adapt and stand out to upcoming changes. It is essential to enable creative minds to have outstanding ideas throughout constant change and transformation to create future leaders. With Ina's transformative ideas, Miami Ad School Europe & their Infinity Campus platform strive to instill the best for future creatives & marketeers, strategic thinkers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

Ina shares, "Infinity Campus is a network of endless opportunities, where we foster collaboration and creative solutions for existing challenges. We want to inspire and push the boundaries, with passion for the inventor, rebels, entrepreneurs and the visionary."

Infinity Campus means Transformation – means Movement – a Development of yourself, your knowledge, and your Creativity. It means pulsating, moving, pushing boundaries, and yourself to the next level. It means to transform! Ina notes, "Be in a flow with other like-minded people and receive inspiration – take them, give them and evolve them. It's something with an individual touch as well as a timelessness. You'll feel it & you'll see it: a certain pulse – more than an impulse, which takes you further – continuous and infinite! Be yourself and express your power through knowledge, inspiration, intuition, and creativity. For that, you'll need a neighborhood – your neighborhood, a personal place to BE! WELCOME to THE HOOD!”

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Jay Pasteris The Heart of a Technologist with the Vision to Transform Organizations

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s the CIO & CISO at GreenPages Technology Solutions, Jay is responsible for expanding GreenPages' intellectual property and services portfolio; overseeing systems security, compliance, and quality assurance; and leading the technical pre-sales and business advisory services teams. He is also an executive sponsor and security subject matter expert for the company's key enterprise clients.

one department in IT—it permeates every aspect of a business, inside and out, and should be top of mind at the board level.”

A Programmatic Paradigm: Automation & AI In Jay's opinion, tech leaders need to stop looking at security from a remediation point of view and change their mindset towards a programmatic approach. And they must do it every day they are in business. Security is an inherent part of transformation, and automation is the solution to carry out transformation efficiently.

Jay notes, "I was on a recent panel discussion and one of the top three initiatives CIOs and CISOs cited was Robotic Process Automation (RPA) which is fantastic because it performs repetitive tasks and minimizes human error while letting humans focus on highervalue work. The challenge is that, without proper security protocols and processes, RPA can be a target for hackers. So, tech leaders must have a comprehensive security program in place—ideally where machine learning and AI can help them achieve true observability.”

But when Jay first started out in his career, his passion was simply technology. “I got into tech originally because it was cool, fun, and interesting! Of course, it still is but along the way, I realized that to truly make technology work for a company, I had to pivot to become a business leader. While technology is at the core of how every business is run today, being able to translate technical concepts into meaningful business conversations is key because that's the only way to effectively grow and scale an organization.”

Cybersecurity: Combatting the Threat at the Board Level One of the biggest challenges that every tech leader faces is making sure the business always stays modern and can evolve in the face of ever-changing technology.

Says Jay, “It’s crucial not to let your tech become antiquated or even mildly outdated because tech debt is very expensive and hard to escape once you find yourself in that situation. Instead of being an enabler, technology can end up crippling a business—especially when it comes to cybersecurity.”

Assess, Modernize, and Manage Digital Platforms GreenPages is a nationally recognized MSP focused on cloud, security, and digital enablement, offering its large customer base a unique set of modern IT services—not just technology toolsets. “Through assessment-led interactions we gain an understanding of what our customers are trying to achieve and where they are on the maturity curve from a digital, security, and risk perspective. Then we build a roadmap and create a funding model to put them on the path of cyber excellence.”

Cyberthreats are a problem for every single organization. Jay explains that a big mistake companies make is thinking they don’t have anything hackers are looking for. The fact is every company is a target. “One thing—and I can’t stress this enough—is that there must be cyber expertise at the board level; that’s where the funding happens and where the big choices affecting the entire organization are made. Security is no longer

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Every modern CIO and CISO must juggle different pressures from all directions: to go faster, to do so securely, and to drive digital innovation. Says Jay, “As organizations move to the cloud, it’s hard for them to 36

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find and maintain the technical talent necessary to successfully make that crucial transformational pivot.

As an MSP with expertise in cloud and cybersecurity, GreenPages is purpose-built to provide these companies with that sought-after knowledge and experience enabling them to focus on other business priorities.”

Multiple Points of View Lead to Better Solutions At heart, Jay will always be a CISO; it's in his DNA. And while he continues to provide thought leadership to clients and boards of directors, he also spends a lot of time with younger people coming into the tech sector, teaching them to be savvy and collaborative. “Some engineers want to go sit in a silo and master the tech.

While that’s important they also need to be asking, ‘What business problem is this tech trying to solve and for whom?’ Not ‘Is the technology working correctly?’”

“

Extensive technology expertise in security, cloud, and managed services to enable clients to compete in the digitallydriven economy.

Jay also advises aspiring entrepreneurs to engage with different people and understand their motives. He’s a firm believer that multiple points of view lead to better solutions. "Be collaborative and value others because at the end of the day; technology is a relationship business.

Technology will always do amazing things but you can't create meaningful transformation unless you have good relationships and sharp perspective on what others are going through," Jay says.

“

Since joining GreenPages, Jay is well on his way toward his goal of ensuring the company—and its talented team—is at the top of the list for any client looking for cloud or cybersecurity help. “In the end, this kind of work is my passion and what I love to do. It’s challenging and rewarding when you can build the kind of trust we have and get to work with so many smart people—our employees, our partners, and especially our clients.”

Jay Pasteris CIO & CISO

For more information you can visit www.greenpages.com

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Embracing Changes

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fragmented and remote teams to collaborate efficiently and drive profitable business results. Taking care of all stakeholders is possible for business leaders with the use of innovative technologies. Implementing the latest technologies is no longer an option for business leaders; it has become a necessity. Today, it is critical for them to adopt digitalization for the sustainable growth and development of their business and deriving maximum profitability.

echnology plays a vital role in determining how we live, work, interact, and connect. It has become the most important part of all business processes. No business can flourish without the adoption of the latest technologies in its business processes. Technology is continuously gaining greater in most of the business processes. The use of evolved technologies in business processes improves the productivity and efficiency of the organizations' workers and leaders. Evolving technologies help leaders manage their businesses in a more organized manner and help them derive maximum profitability.

The evolving technology demands leaders to be more innovative, more skilled, and more tech-savvy. They should use the key tools and technologies effectively to strengthen the business potential of their organizations. In the current and future times, business leaders have to embrace advanced business analytics technologies to tap the potential of data to get better insights for taking the most important business decisions. Harmonizing understanding of data analytics with analytical tools and business context will give business leaders a huge edge over others. This will be the most common basic norm in the future for business leaders as this will become the most important aspect of businesses.

The streamlining of business processes becomes easy and efficient with the use of technologies. The rapidly evolving innovation in technology is a boon to leaders for availing edge over others. As the role of technology is critical in all businesses, the leaders also need to be technically apt, smart, and capable of utilizing technologies effectively. Knowledge or awareness of the potential of particular technologies and the effective utilization of the technologies or leveraging technologies diligently are important traits business leaders should have in the technology-driven world.

Successful business leaders succeed in their businesses because of their ability to tap the potential of the latest technologies for leading people by example and managing their overall business.

Collaborative technologies are becoming the most important part of the business process more than ever since the pandemic has fostered the remote work culture. Business leaders should effectively manage the drawbacks of remote work culture for driving the productive and efficient use of all employees' time. In the future, they need to be sharper to take advantage of collaborative platforms to ensure that there is no communication gap with anyone. Leaders need to be more effective in understanding remote work culture and using communication tools diligently for effectively managing people and projects together.

The way solutions are delivered to the clients or customers can change drastically with the evolution of collaborative technologies, mobility, advanced big data analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, etc.

Leaders can maximize their capabilities with the use of all these latest technologies. They need to be more aware and be updated with the knowledge and utilization of these technologies. Evolving technology certainly demands the evolving capabilities of business leaders. The current digital era requires leaders who are capable of driving digital transformation.

Technology can also be effectively used to empower leadership with more abilities, take the most informed business decisions, and have future insights to avail competitive advantage over others in the industry.

Leaders should empower employees and communicate important messages succinctly and concisely to all stakeholders for critically aligning everyone to organizations' common goals. Business leaders who will make the best use of the right tools at the right time will be the most successful leaders in the technology space.

Technology helps business leaders build capable teams by training them and tracking their progress, even remotely. Business leaders can utilize technology to promote remote work culture. With the evolution of increasing connectivity with many connecting devices, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and cloud services, there are increased possibilities for www.ciolook.com

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How is

TECHNOLOGY

Shaping the

LEADERSHIP for the FUTURE?

Kevin Steer Founder and CEO One Two One Advisor Sdn Bhd

Kevin Steer A Pioneering Leader Revolutionizing the Finance Space

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e is a prominent name in the finance space. His unconventional approach to the challenges in InsurTech and FinTech industry has taken him to great heights. He looks at the emerging technologies and sees how they can be effectively applied to Insurance, Takaful and Financial services. "We don't follow trends, we pioneer them," he says.

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Meet Kevin Steer, a pioneering leader and the Founder and CEO of One Two One Advisor Sdn Bhd. He formed a team of innovative professionals across Financial, Insurance and Takaful sectors in the Asia region with a successful record of serving clients for the past 20 years to start One Two One Advisor. Now, their goal is to grow Disruptive FinTech and InsurTech solutions.

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We at CIO Look caught up with Kevin to learn more about his journey at One Two One Advisor.

marketing, and work management are consolidated instead of siloed.

A Visionary Approach One Two One Advisor was started with the mission to empower Financial, Insurance and Takaful providers with robust and innovative technology solutions enabling generation of quality leads, secure sales, building customer loyalty in a professional and regulatory compliant manner.

Referral Management & Marketing Automation (ReMMA) This solution is used for banks to effectively and efficiently auto-assign leads, track and manage lead referrals and conversions based on user-defined workflows. Marketing automation results in personalized content delivery targeted campaigns and engagement.

The company struggled initially, but today, it has been grown to a team of 20+ people. Altogether, they have pioneered various revolutionary business solutions in digital technology, internet and mobile platforms, social media channels, and regulatory-compliant cloud solutions for multinational and domestic clients.

Sales Activity Mobile App (SAMA) This app allows agents to effectively plan and manage sales activity to ensure all leads and prospects are addressed, while managers can monitor real-time to render assistance where necessary.

Its broad range of solutions include: Predictive Analytics with Machine Learning The company is building Predictive Analytics Models (PAM) for Banking, Insurance & Takaful with a focus on predictive marketing & sales, customer service, new business underwriting, personalization and claims management.

Community & E-worksite Marketing & Distribution (CeMD) Community portal solution allows organizations to engage with members of their community to nurture trust and create advocates thereby improving customer retention. Recently launched u12know knowledge portal.

Multi-lingual Chatbot for Financial, Insurance & Takaful (FITbot) Its Multi-lingual Robo Advisor and a chatbot utilizes hybrid trees and natural language processing (NLP) to engage with customers to offer a more personalized customer experience and generate more referrals.

Choices Online Store (COS) This solution allows insurers and takaful operators to provide direct purchase of products online. It can integrate with Multi-lingual Chatbot for Financial Insurance & Takaful (FITbot) robo-advisor services as well as referrals via Referral Management & Marketing Automation (ReMMA).

Web Portal Solution for Sales & Servicing (WebPoS) Its Multi-lingual mobile responsive website and portal solution enable clients to experience a unified, personalized digital experience where content, sales,

Takaful & Insurance Mobility Made Simple (TIMMS) TIMMS is a cross-platform mobile point of sales solution allowing agents to identify client financial needs via Customer Fact Find, recommend products, make presentations, generate quotes and e-submit applications, in a regulatory compliant process. Its solutions are available for IOS, Android & Windows.

We encourage state-of-the-art thinking and encourage growth. www.ciolook.com

Customer Service Portal The Customer Self Service Portal is an on-demand access point enabling the customer to view their insurance/takaful account anywhere and anytime. This enables the policyholders to view their policies and certificate details via a simple internet connection. The portal provides a safe avenue for customers to update their personal information, pay a premium, switch funds, print documents, update beneficiary details, 41

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request policy changes and engage in filing claims and processing, which traditionally would take weeks to be executed due to siloed lines of business. The platform also supports automated workflows that are triggered by certain customer activities, which are routed to relevant departments, and customers are kept informed via emails or messaging. Providing a portal for your customers with the convenience of self-servicing, customers can enjoy the freedom of doing what's convenient for them when they want anywhere.

Kevin expresses, "As most millennials in the Asia Pacific do not understand financial planning and often max out their credit cards and get into debt; there is a need to help educate them on their lifestyle financial goals and recommend products that they can buy online.With the launch of u12know, we see that this will become a disruptive knowledge portal offering advice on lifestyle financial & (in future) health goals. This will help them understand their needs and create a plan to help them build their lifestyle & business financial plans. For each country, this will be translated into the local language."

Enterprise Product Configurator (EPC) It was built to rapidly set up product rates, illustrations, a validation engine as well as an automated testing module allows quick product deployment. It reduces the time to market for insurance and takaful products.

He further states that the portal will continuously evolve and include lifestyle financial goals with recommendations for financial and business products, including its multi-lingual chatbot & Robo Advisor (which provides advice on financial goals).

Multi-channel Distribution Management Solution (McDMS) This solution is designed for general agencies, IFAs, brokers, Agency Leader Corporations (ALCs) to simplify operations by consolidating their diverse requirements.

With built-in performance management and compensation computation, 121 Advisor's clients have seen improved sales with reduced administration costs.

Besides, in the future, u12know will also include health and wellness calculators. These calculators will advise people on their health and how they can get healthy.

They will also include a "total health score", which will indicate whether they are very healthy, healthy, unhealthy, or at risk.

Expanding Footprints Taking about the future, Kevin states that 121 Advisor plans to expand to Singapore, Indonesia, as well as to Europe & the USA.

Bringing Much-needed Change During the pandemic, the team at 121 Advisor saw the need to offer financial services and health services online with lifestyle financial & health advice and thus, launched a knowledge portal called u12know ( ). The portal provides lifestyle financial advice for single, married, family, retired & their business.

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In his advice to emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in the insurance industry, he says, "Explore the Risks and evaluate the potential ones, and then expand your services into the Insurance Sector.”

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Kris Rao Driving Remarkable Shifts in the Transformation Space

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rue leadership exhibits an inclination towards building a learning culture that enables disrupting the norms and setting new benchmarks. A leader who has constantly demonstrated this, in reality, is Kris Rao. Kris is a business and transformation visionary who has led digital success for enterprises through his expertise in ideating, architecting, and championing digital initiatives. He has evangelized the adoption of new and emerging technologies— including Cloud, eCommerce, Agile Methods, AI / ML, IoT, Blockchain, and AR / VR, creating IT portfolios that deliver multimillion-dollars business value at speed, increased business agility, and competitive advantage.

improvement across the organizational pillars.

Kris enhanced his knowledge of cloud, big data analytics, and IoT with each leadership position he held.

This experience was applied aptly at Ricoh Americas, a 6-billion-dollar organization with operations spread across the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. As the CIO, Kris drove digital transformation for the company, including the manufacturing operation space, visualization technologies for technical services, IoT, and Blockchain.

For his current role at HNI, he is entrusted with the responsibility of driving an expansive digital transformation portfolio again that perfectly aligns with the organization's vision of exceeding customers' expectations. From lead generation, demand generation, customer engagement models, digital channels, visualization technologies, ERP transformation, migration to the cloud, cyber security effectiveness while helping people get into the agile methods across both business and IT.

For over two decades, Kris has played multiple leadership roles in globally renowned companies, becoming a highly accomplished executive who has propelled both business and IT performance to the next level. Currently, he leads the establishment and execution of enterprise-wide IT & Digital strategy as the Chief Information and Digital Officer at HNI Corporation.

Emerging at the Technological Forefront

HNI is the leading provider of workplace furnishing and residential building products. It has entrusted Kris to ensure digital alignment with the enterprise's business strategy and achieve business success.

Kris firmly believes that technology assists us in: 1. Understanding customer journeys, personas, profile propensities, gaining insights, and deploying HNI's digital engagement channels to improve the top and bottom lines.

A Journey of Developing Broader Perspectives Starting his professional journey, Kris got into consulting and collaborating with professionals from the digital field. During his tenure at massive corporations like Oracle and Motorola, Kris gained various perspectives and enriched his learning curve about technology, delivering high performance at speed and building productive relationships.

2. Effectively penetrating the B2C and B2B markets while leveraging the deep understanding of customer behavior to integrate the upstream and downstream.

This integration enables complete digitization for inventory optimization, ensuring availability at the right instance and reducing wastage and write-offs.

3. Creating an impressive pipeline and enabling its promotion, sales forecasting, and connecting it to the supply chain and Sales and Operation Planning (S&OP).

During his stint at Hospira, he led a total IT transformation project, considering the scope of www.ciolook.com

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NickMiletich

One of a Kind Innovative IT Leader Committed to Delivering the Best SAP Solutions with Technical Expertise and Business Acumen

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he modern world needs businesses to be constantly upgraded to serve their clients with evolved solutions with new and improved technology. Understanding the needs of the modern world especially that of an SAP customer by incorporating business acumen and technical expertise, Nick Miletich dedicates his unmatched efforts to leading Managecore to the next level of success. As the Chief Technology Officer of Managecore, Nick is approaching nearly 20 years of IT, SAP, public cloud, and infrastructure experience.

world-class architecture to host SAP applications in a hyperscale public cloud environments. This innovative mind set has led Managecore to be at the forefront as one of the first managed service providers (MSP) globally to migrate and manage an SAP S/4HANA production environment in Google Cloud.

Managecore Providing Transparent Delivery Model Founded by partners with over 20 years of experience in the SAP managed services market, Managecore was created to disrupt the way Managed Service Providers operate. Managecore is proud of its transparent delivery model whereby all information related to the support of customers is provided on its client portal Watchdog.

Since joining the Managecore team in 2017, Nick has led the emerging technology efforts for Managecore, including being the innovator and master mind of Managecore Watchdog – the one-of-a-kind monitoring platform and client portal. Managecore Watchdog gives Managecore customers full transparency into their SAP landscapes in real-time. His background in SAP technologies, infrastructure services, and operational leadership empowers him to lead the Managecore delivery team to consistently provide the highest level of customer service with customized, scalable, and secure solutions.

Managecore's key strength as an MSP is accountability, which is one of the most important traits that set Nick and its delivery team apart from other SAP technical consulting firms. Managecore was founded specifically out of a desire to restore accountability in the IT industry and put customers back at the center of everything they do.

Staying Up to Date with Latest Technologies Nick holds the innovative leadership role he has today because he always kept learning and thinking ahead of what is to come next. Technology moves at lightning speed, and if he did not stay up to date on the latest that the cloud, SAP, and IT technology has to offer, he would have been left behind and not obtained to a C-level role.

Nick feels that its vital in IT leadership continue to pivot in the IT industry, or you will be left behind. First, he learned how to optimally manage SAP systems onpremise, he then built a thriving private cloud practice.

Now shifting his talents to build

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Managecore was created to disrupt the way Managed Service Providers operate.

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Nick embodies this mantra in everything he does, from leadership to delivery; he provides the very best in customer service, which is proven time and time again

by Managecore's 100% success rate and 100% customer satisfaction.

Nick Mile ch Chief Technology Officer

Managecore

Consistently Delivering Best SAP Managed Services Nick's expertise in the SAP technology space is bar none. He approaches customer support with both technical and business acumen, which helps him build, architect, and deliver SAP solutions like no other technical leader in the industry.

With close to two decades of IT experience, primarily focused on SAP technologies and his sound knowledge of infrastructure services, paired with an intuitive business mindset, Nick is the ideal leader of Managecore's delivery team and advocate for SAP customers.

Nick is always up to date with technology and understands how to adapt the same decades-long methodologies traditionally used to manage SAP systems – differently by delivering innovation and transparency. For example, Managecore was one of the first mid-market SAP consulting companies to support SAP on Google Cloud. Nick says, "No one wants to pivot, but as an IT leader, you must be able to, and have the knowledge to do so for your customers this is the only way to deliver the best SAP managed services consistently.”

It is important to understand that Managecore's unique approach towards business relationships manifests itself in three significant ways: focused on relationships built on trust, and a deep understanding of clients' business needs; delivering services transparently enabling customers to see precisely what they see-so clients understand what is being recommended and why; and exceeding every aspect of what the clients expect from an MSP. Leveraging Technology to Its Fullest Potential Nick states that technology plays a huge and vital role in how Managecore differentiates itself as the number one Managed Service Provider. It leverages technology to its fullest potential, hiring the very best SAP, cloud, and IT talent to implement and maintain enterprise technology for its customers.

Nick notes, "One way Managecore does this is via its client monitoring platform Watchdog. Watchdog is a deeply www.ciolook.com

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customer-centric solution and is the backbone of Managecore's service model: a cloud-based monitoring solution that integrates with customers' SAP environment to give them full visibility into their own IT landscape."

Managecore believes that complete transparency provides efficient long-term SAP and IT managed services support. Openness isn't a just choice it makes – it is part of Managecore's DNA, just as much as its SAP expertise and years of IT experience.

Being at the Forefront of Technology Nick envisions himself as a dedicated IT leader with the ability and technical knowledge to connect all of the available technologies for the customers' best interest and acutely apply technology to business goals. Nick wants Managecore to always be at the forefront of technology and its approach to delivering SAP and IT solutions by being recognized as providing the very best support in the industry.

Accelerating the Digital Journey of Customers Nick believes the next big thing for SAP customers will be hosting their SAP workloads in the hyperscale cloud platforms, and one such option will be SAP's solution RISE with SAP. With Nick's strategic leadership Managecore has prepared for such change as it has its Managecore iQ+ RISE with SAP companion solution offering to help customers attain instant value and long-term success on RISE with SAP.

Thinking Outside the Box Nick advises aspiring entrepreneurs to always think outside of the box. He says, "To be successful, you MUST stay ahead of learning the curve. Don't be afraid to be innovative and forward-thinking for your business and your customers. Clients always expect and look to you to know and provide technical advice, so it is imperative that as an IT leader you alway stay abreast of technology."

Nick's continuous focus is always in tune with what SAP customers need in the market. Today Managecore's RISE with SAP companion solution is one of the most innovative services available in the industry. It helps accelerate customers on their digital transformation journey like no other MSP can.

Most importantly, Nick and Managecore are dedicated to always staying abreast of the SAP industry to help lead and navigate SAP customers to be prepared for the next big thing in the SAP technology space.

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A Reliable Leader Pioneering Disruptive Solutions

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The Rise Through Hard Work

he digital revolution drives significant change, making itself a new norm of modern times; embracing these changes is an essential part of any forward-thinking business's capabilities. Understanding the potential of the digital world, Pat Jerding applied his experience in anticipating significant growth opportunities to the opportunities presented following the merger of two industry titans.

Pat believes that every journey consists of unique routes that will quickly teach you that sometimes a step sideways is the best way to move forward. When he started his professional journey as an IT developer at Lyondell, he climbed up the ladder through multiple disciplines. He learned to expand his expertise within different subject areas, realizing the importance of having both depth and breadth of experience to be successful. But what really made a difference in his career growth was relationships. Developing and nurturing relationships with other leaders allowed Pat to land the role of Director of Technology at Nexeo Solutions before eventually taking reigns as CIO.

As the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Univar Solutions, Pat has influenced an innovative and collaborative culture, mapping a framework to pave the company’s upward path of success and development as it navigates the digital revolution.

Univar Solutions is a global leader in chemical and ingredient distribution with a vast supplier network and a world-class formulation with unparalleled logistics know-how. It is focused on climate action, resource use, release prevention, sustainable supply chain, and sustainability solutions.

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The Above-Board Approach Pat has made his mark in the tech space niche by focusing on reliable operations and emphasizing the total cost of ownership without sacrificing performance. He was taught to do more with less during his early career, which he made central to establishing a framework to keep IT cost-efficient and reliable, while uplifting performance at Univar Solutions. Pat utilized his expertise in multiple systems to harness and unlock the value of the latest digital technologies to help serve customers, suppliers, and employees, thereby delivering shareholder value.

Pat employs a straightforward approach to career growth in the tech space; learning to move up by knowing his strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. He surrounds himself with smart people who are cutting-edge in the tech space, combining it with his strength of implementation and reliability to impact the company and the overall team positively.

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Pat Jerding

Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer

Univar Solutions

Enhancing Your Growth Univar Solutions is on a mission to Streamline, Innovate, and Grow. It envisions redefining distribution as the most valued chemical and ingredients distributor globally. After 97 years of experience in the niche, Univar Solutions' team serves as a global partner and committed ally to its customers and suppliers by supporting innovation, development, and distribution of a massive portfolio of ingredients and specialty chemicals. Touching upon every industry, Univar Solutions leverages its expansive network, deep bench of experts and high level of service and technical expertise to help businesses in the industries it serves run smoothly, while also assisting them in recognizing and influencing meaningful growth opportunities.

A Safe & Sound Work Culture Pat states that Univar Solutions values safety above all. Not only does it strictly adhere to all global laws and regulations that govern its operations, it embeds a safety mindset into the culture by sharing a safety tip at the start of every meeting. In this way, its teams consistently work to prevent accidents before they occur.

Univar Solutions also values people, striving to create an empowered environment for its personnel, highlighting working together to achieve common goals. It also emphasizes accountability for meeting business partner commitments, which the company sees as a way to earn and maintain trust. Pat notes, "We understand that we are more than a distributor and are committed to a forwardthinking and holistic

sustainability journey focused on our purpose to help keep communities healthy, fed, clean and safe.”

time deliveries and started addressing these goals throughout all aspects of the business to make itself available to the end-user through the front-end commerce space.

Digital Amplifications Embracing the modern business world, Univar Solutions recently expanded its digital capabilities to create a more seamless and tailored experience for its customers. It launched enhanced e-commerce offerings that allow buyers to search, source, and self-serve on the products they need at the time that best suits them, thereby streamlining the customer’s ordering experience.

Pat mentions that by using data as a strategy, Univar Solutions empowers its Shared Services Organization to help improve processes focused on the customer experience and metrics that its customers value most, such as responsiveness, inventory availability, and ontime delivery. Pat notes, "Achieving these objectives all while managing costs means we can keep innovation moving forward as we continuously improve our model while delighting our customers.”

Additionally, Univar Solutions uniquely positioned itself to maximize the leverage of its content and data, centralizing business platforms, enabling optimal frontend experiences and back-office tools, and improving the product portfolio and supply chain footprint to leverage digital for growth.

Prized Pointers Pat advises budding entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into the tech space to prioritize having a logical mindset, coupled with a good deal of initiative. He says, "Hard work is rewarded, so use your drive to show others that you want to be there." On a concluding note, Pat mentions that seeking advice from your senior leadership, and then following-through, will get you noticed.

Paradigm-Shifting Goals Univar Solutions aims to help the chemical and ingredient distribution industry transform into a digital sector focused on the ease of conducting business for suppliers, customers, and employees. It intends to focus on the Customer Experience through in-stock and on-

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Rahul Bhardwaj

Building Security and Privacy Conscious Culture

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executives to have a unified strategy to set up a global privacy program for the firm without business distribution. His approach was to bake security and privacy into Kroll's core operations and practices and build a security and privacy-conscious culture. The clarity in thought process and efficient planning ensured success and brought in multiple accolades.

nformation is a tremendous boon when protected in the digital age, but it can be exploited if it is not private and protected. Having a security and privacy-conscious culture is the most excellent shield for protecting the most valuable information of organizations. Building similar culture by solving the challenging and complex problems passionately in the information security industry is Mr. Rahul Bhardwaj.

Being a Renowned Data Security Leader From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Bhardwaj worked as an information security analyst for Vertex Computer Systems. He was active as a team manager for Capgemini (Fromely Patni Computer Systems) from 2006 to 2009. He began his tenure with FinTech giant FIS in 2009 as a security and governance manager, rising to the post of Director - Information Security Assurance Services in 2013; he also helped FICO set up the Enterprise Risk Management Program serving as Principal - GRC till 2019.

Mr. Bhardwaj is renowned as an information technology professional with more than 15 years of specialty in data security and privacy.

He has been recognized among many global awards and recognitions like: "American Business Awards – Gold STEVIE," in IT Executive of the Year 2020 Ÿ Security Systems News' 20 Under 40 Ÿ Finalist for a 2017 Information Security Leadership Award.

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In 2019 Mr. Bhardwaj joined Kroll (Formerly – Duff and Phelps), where he was tasked to design and implement a Global Privacy and Data Security program for the firms. Due to the business nature of acquiring mid to small-size global firms in different geographies, and some of these firms needed to upgrade their respective robust privacy and data security controls to meet the high standard of the firm.

Fostering Faster, Smarter, and Sustainable Decisions Kroll delivers global organizations' coverage to anticipate and exceed the complex demands surrounding risk, governance, operations, and growth.

The Kroll logo "Kroll Lens" represents the sharp focus, forward-thinking, and long-term competitive advantage to its clients through its proprietary data, technology, and insights. Kroll's unique perspective is forged by the diversity of its skill sets and backgrounds, coupled with the geographic reach and experience of being a market leader. It is a powerful filter that turns question marks into decisive periods.

Ensuring Success with Clarity Mr. Bhardwaj was assigned to set up "Global Privacy and Data Security, " a challenging and complex problem to solve, but that is the only thing he has sought throughout his career. He was tasked to provide leadership, management, and strategy for all aspects of global privacy and data security and liaison with other executives. He also handled multiple functions like COO, CIO, Global CISO, CCO, CPO, and operational

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Across every shifting economic and regulatory landscape, the Kroll Lens allows clients to stay ahead by 60

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Rahul Bhardwaj Global Privacy and Data Security

Kroll

Kroll provides proprietary data, technology, and insights to help its clients stay ahead of complex demands related to risk, governance, and growth."

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making faster, more innovative, and more sustainable business decisions. Kroll's six values are at the core of who they (team members) are and how they interact with the company's people, clients, and partners at work and within every community they serve. These six values include excellence, ambition, courage, inclusion, innovation, and unity.

efficient with their time, reach maturity more quickly and identify and leverage innovation earlier.

Staying Ahead of Challenges and Changes New directives and regulations are adding complexity to compliance operations across all industries every year. Navigating the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape is key to retaining a competitive advantage; Kroll is constantly working on advanced alternative approaches to compliance management to stay ahead of new challenges and changes. Based on the global trends building operational resilience is becoming important in the compliance industry.

Democratizing Innovation and Automating Processes The only way to overcome the challenge of skilled resources in the information security industry is by proper usage of Technology. Mr. Bhardwaj believes that all security leaders must leverage advances in technology to future-proof their respective business or security programs. Meaningful digital transformation can be achieved by democratizing innovation, integrating applications, automating processes, and embracing the IoT.

With the recent security incidents (like SolarWinds etc.), and vulnerabilities impacting large-scale industries, it is expected that regulators worldwide impose more requirements on firms to strengthen the industry's overall operational resilience when dealing with cyberattacks. Kroll has reviewed its plans and stressed testing the firm's cyber controls, educating boards and employees on technology and cyber risks, and reporting such incidents to the board.

One of the most common objectives and targets Mr. Bhardwaj set for himself and all the leaders working for him is that a particular portion of their daily operations must be automated by applying solutions available in the modern era. He also works with many startups and problem-solving think tanks to find optimal solutions to real-life problems and challenges faced by the industry.

He believes that as the competitive landscape continues to evolve and grow more intense, success will be driven by those who innovate by using technology to disrupt and reimagine business models.

Continuing to Strengthen Cyber Defenses Mr. Bhardwaj will continue to challenge himself with new projects and challenges at Kroll and look to contribute to the overall firm's value by strengthening the cyber defenses. He is also very passionate about giving back to the community and is involved with multiple Not-for-Profits dedicated to education and skill development among students and disadvantaged youth, which he intends to continue.

Identifying and Leveraging Innovation Earlier Mr. Bhardwaj is a huge advocate of building open and collaborating cyber security communities, which defend the ecosystem as one big team. Strength in number is key to hiring; retaining the best and brightest cybersecurity talent will always be difficult for many organizations, putting many mid to small-size firms open to attack. As a community, everyone can benefit if more people are working on a problem collaboratively, with a broader data set and context, the better the outcome.

Being Focused and Dedicated Mr. Bhardwaj advises aspiring entrepreneurs in the Security Risk Management sector, "One must be passionate about the Security Risk Management field as it's constant learning. You must be focused and dedicated as it only takes one incident to make or break your firm's and your reputation. Know your business and its objectives, build your security risk program which is aligned to your organization's objective."

From threat detection to incident response, bad actors' tactics — and methods to thwart and resolve them — are constantly evolving. Drawing from the lessons learned and best practices of more than just a single organization enables security professionals to be more

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Rocco Pellegrinelli Founder and CEO Trendra ng

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rom starting as a portfolio manager to founding Trendrating, Rocco Pellegrinelli, Founder and CEO has come a long way. He launched Brainpower in 1996 and established it as one of the top portfolio management systems globally. Later, it was acquired by Bloomberg in 2006. Then, he started a research and development project to design a superior model to capture price trends in listed equities. After a few years of massive testing of 350 indicators and thousands of combinations across 25 years of history for 20,000 securities he got what he wanted. It helped to have the support of a fantastic team of experts, now part of Trendrating, a leading provider of advanced analytics and leading-edge technology for equity investing.

investment decisions. After long years of hard work and having seen the benefits of this approach, I decided to leverage my know-how and become an entrepreneur in fintech to serve the asset management industry, which badly needs to evolve and adopt new generation tools.

What are the key challenges for asset and wealth managers in today’s markets?

Performance is the main challenge. According to the SPIVA reports (S&P), a large part of mutual funds underperforms the benchmarks year after year. The results of many asset managers and wealth managers are not different. The stock markets dynamics changed and old-school investment methodologies cannot handle a fast-evolving environment.

“Many analytical tools make sense, but do they also make money? It is time to bring real value to fund managers.”

Keeping this vision in mind, Rocco founded Trendrating with the goal to provide innovative analytics and firstclass technology that deliver alpha in a measurable, actionable, repeatable and unquestionable way.

The price trend of individual securities is influenced by new forces at work. Rapid economic developments, social media influence, investors sentiment evolutions, growing momentum investing contribute to creating and accelerating up and downtrends, and reduce the relevance of fundamentals.

Inspired by his unconventional thought-process, we at CIO Look caught up with him to learn more about his journey.

Below are the highlights of the Interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Trendrating. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?

I started my career as a portfolio manager, and soon, I realized the many pitfalls and traps of being human in a business that requires discipline and objectivity. Therefore, I decided to develop models and a pragmatic methodology capable of providing a sanity check to my

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Managing portfolios risks and maximizing performance is difficult without the ability to incorporate analytics specifically designed to discriminate and validate the actual trends, providing a sanity check of assumptions and opinions.

How do your customers use your solutions?

We have many use cases as our solutions can easily fit into different tasks and approaches, complementing markets and portfolios intelligence.

We support ranking and validation of investment ideas, risk control of portfolios, comparative analysis across markets and sectors, tactical allocation, alerts on trend reversals, and the design, test, and optimization of investment strategies.

So what is the solution?

Acknowledging and capturing price trends is the essence of successful equity investing.

Intelligent data and new generation tools can help active portfolio managers and advisors to capture trends and reversals, enriching the investment decision framework.

What is your vision for the industry?

It is an exciting time for those investors that appreciate the evolving market dynamics, have a pragmatic attitude, and are open to reinvigorating their investment strategies, adding the new data and the innovative tools available today.

The solution is bringing more advanced intelligence and some well-tested discipline to the investment decision process. Professional investors should rejuvenate the analysis and decision framework, massively run a robust historical test and validate the strategy to be used in actively managing a portfolio.

Active portfolio managers have the opportunity to consistently beat the benchmarks by exploiting the substantial performance dispersion that can be observed in any investment universe.

How can people expect to achieve different, better results if they continue to do things the same way?

Intelligent data is the new gold and a critical edge for smart minds.

What is the mission of Trendrating?

Our mission is to deliver a new paradigm of value to our customers. Asset and wealth managers deserve better content and tools to master a very difficult job and produce the alpha that they are expected to generate.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the Advanced Analytics sector?

Just a few points. If you want to succeed, make sure you are offering something of real, demonstrable value across different market cycles. Forget the buzzwords, stick to rock-solid, proven concepts and run massive testing before launching.

Our mission is to provide last-generation analytics and technology whose added value is measurable and repeatable. We stand out from the mass of research, data, and tools whose real value is questionable and often impossible to test and validate.

And be prepared to face and deal with the two main enemies of innovation – skepticism for new things and inertia or preservation of the status-quo, the key obstacles to improvements and excellence.

Our “trend discovery” model offers a rating metric to discriminate bull vs. bear trends across stocks with reasonable accuracy (statistics available). Investors can spot new risks and opportunities by monitoring the downgrades and upgrades across 17,000 stocks, 3,600 ETFs, and 330 indices.

Who are your customers?

Our solutions are today part of the investment decision process at 200+ top firms, including asset managers, mutual funds, wealth managers, and RIAs on a global scale. We also have partners like Bloomberg and Euronext promoting our unique methodology to rate price trends.

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Tim Hardcastle CEO and Co-founder

INSTANDA

Tim Hardcastle Leading with Awareness and Innovatively Bridging the Gap in the Insurance Industry

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ne cannot contribute substantially to the world without extending their horizons. Making a difference in the world is possible by going beyond shallowness and taking a fearless approach to high-value decisions.

Making this decision a reality with an evolving solutionoriented approach to improve the systems and processes for the better, business leaders are leading the charge.

mined to find a better, more reliable route for insurers to drive their businesses forward and create an insurance industry fit for the future, another cofounder of INSTANDA and Tim gave up the comfort of corporate life and set up a technology consultancy.

They spent several years working with clients to test and eventually proved their hypotheses on market needs. That consulting time was essential, and it baked in their thesis regarding what was needed.

Realizing the loopholes in the insurance industry, Tim Hardcastle took much-needed efforts to bridge the gap with innovative ideas to deliver better solutions. As the CEO and Co-founder of INSTANDA, Tim has built an insurance platform built for insurers, by insurers with a mission to digitize the insurance industry. INSTANDA is solving challenges for all insurance providers, enabling them to offer an unrivaled customer experience at a efficient cost.

Underpinned by sophisticated under writing and distribution capabilities, INSTANDA gives insurance teams the ability to innovate at scale and deliver solutions to markets at lightning speed.

Recognizing the Gap in the Insurance Industry INSTANDA’s beginning is much like many other technology breakthroughs – born from a frustration of how legacy systems were holding back insurance productivity. Its founders knew there had to be a better way. Before INSTANDA, Tim was working at Hiscox as the CIO. Despite Hiscox being perceived as one of the market leaders in technology, Tim quickly realized that insurance technology had a long way to go. So, deter-

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Changing Insurance for the Better

availability in the market. Tim notes, “There is still so much further to go; while it might have run a risk of burning bright and fizzling out 3-4 years ago, a firework display, now it is clear that its transformation is a small sun, it will burn brightly forever, we need the sun to be as big as the whole industry.”

INSTANDA is a digital policy administration platform built because of the core belief of its co-founders that insurance can and must change for the better.

INSTANDA provides a seamless and straight-through experience for customers, businesses, and clients. Its platform is designed to be ‘no code,’ allowing business users to build and launch products quickly and efficiently without IT intervention. With INSTANDA’s expertise, Carriers and Managing General Agents (MGAs) can rest assured that INSTANDA’s platform is built to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the insurance industry.

Continuing the March to Digitalization The insurance industry will see more deployment of AI in the coming times since it is getting smarter every day and will enhance or replace what were people-managed processes. Increasing connectivity (e.g., real-time IoT) will allow for advances in loss avoidance and, where it does happen, accelerated claims settlement.

Having Deep Level of Expertise in Insurance and Technology Services

Tim says, “The march to digitalization will continue, increasing personalization and streamlining of operations using INSTANDA!”

INSTANDA’s senior leadership team has a deep level of expertise in insurance and technology services, with over 300 years of combined industry experience among them. They guide a team of 150+ highly-talented professionals globally.

Being at the Forefront of the Change The direction of travel for all software is simpler to use, flexible, and of great value. Insurance core platforms are not that today. In the longer term, they will be, and given INSTANDA is the first ‘no code’ platform, it will be at the forefront of that wave of change.

INSTANDA is now live in 14 countries across 2500 products, with over £1bn going through the platform.

The numbers speak for themselves. The deep domain insurance expertise that the team has is backed by the design thinking that went into the platform. It is inherently insurance, and Tim knows that gives INSTANDA’s clients absolute confidence that it is the right solution for them.

INSTANDA’s vision is that every progressive insurer and MGAs in its key markets will use the INSTANDA platform.

Preparing for Large Scale Success

Creating New Possibilities for Incumbents and Insurtechs

Tim advises aspiring entrepreneurs in the software sector, “If your software will be sold B2B and it’s a core application, your plan must have a long run-up. Bootstrap to generate revenues and then find an intelligent, patient capital partner. Large scale success will follow.”

The great thing about insurtech is that it continues to develop in all significant hubs globally. Some of the models that emerged from Asia accurately, such as Ping An, are impressive. The appetite among insurtechs to collaborate has also fuelled the progression. This maturing of Insurtech is what is starting to open doors and create new possibilities for both incumbents and the larger insurtechs such as INSTANDA. Shining Brightly Forever The momentum for change is broader and deeper than years ago when the insurance industry was early in its

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Zac Schindler Director of Information Technology (IT.)

doeLEGAL, A Questel Company

Assisting Clients in Reaching their Business Goals

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any leaders may fall into the classification “jack of all trades,” but only exceptional leaders become the master of all trades.

Developing expertise in almost every domain of their businesses, they successfully oversee the multiple teams with their all-around abilities.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Tell us something more about doeLEGAL and its mission and vision. doeLEGAL started as DOE Technologies and evolved into the leading legal technology service provider over 50+ years. The mission is always to provide solutions and services that help our clients excel and grow while reducing expenses. By focusing on client success, doeLEGAL solutions help clients reach more business goals, regardless of their challenges. Clients rely on us as a trusted responsive partner, that augments their capabilities and works as an extension of their in-house team, increasing productivity. This is why doeLEGAL leads the market.

Zac Schindler is one such leader who has developed abilities to handle multiple teams with his extensive experience and expertise to deliver the best services to the clients.

Joining doeLEGAL in 1999, Zac began designing and building the company’s data center, an effort that continues as technology and best practices evolve.

Over the years, he developed and managed the company’s litigation support offerings and client help desk teams. He has deep experience with and has implemented technical solutions from many of the most influential vendors in the technology industry, including Cisco, Extreme Networks, Microsoft, VMware, RSA, E.M.C., Dell, Hitachi, NetApp, Citrix, VeriSign, Entrust, AccessData, Summation, LexisNexis, Concordance, and Ipro Eclipse litigation support review systems.

doeLEGAL strives to be the go-to resource for LegalTech solutions for eDiscovery and Enterprise Legal Management.

Focusing on extensive technical experience managing and maintaining the superior technology, software, and infrastructure environment that doeLEGAL is known for, Zac transitioned to Director of Information Technology in 2015. He oversees multiple teams of software, hardware, network, data, service, and software experts. Zac applies his hands-on experience and expert training with the most advanced technology available to provide the highest security, performance, and availability of services to doeLEGAL’s global customer base.

In an interview with CIO Look, Zac Schindler shares his journey and contribution to the data collection industry through doeLEGAL.

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Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the Early Data Assessment niche through your expertise in the market.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

Our experts continually evaluate leading technologies for every aspect of the eDiscovery spectrum. doeLEGAL provides each client with access to software that performs at peak levels. Providing expertise earned over 24+ years in eDiscovery management, our clients trust us to provide the tools to find the most responsive data that gives them the most visibility on documents that meet their search criteria. During eDiscovery, Early Data Assessment plays a large role at this stage. Our tools and processes catalog and categorize data, so users can visually group data sets to understand the subject matter threads in the documents they collect before processing begins. Our team of experts guides client teams through this stage.

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Technology is not the only way doeLEGAL provides value. Our long history of client success, coupled with our outstanding service model, has proven to make our process more attractive to prospects. As I discussed before, we continually evaluate our process to ensure clients access the best-of-breed tools available. doeLEGAL never sits still; we develop new tools, evaluate new technologies, and find new ways to leverage the features of existing solutions. The end goal is to find the right mix of LegalTech features and benefits that add unmatched value for our clients.

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If given a chance, what change would you like to bring in the EDD Processing The processing of mobile data formats is an area that can be improved within the EDD processing realm. While we can collect and process mobile data, the format of mobile data per platform is something that always needs to be considered ahead of time so that the output for review can be as close a representation as possible to the mobile format.

What, according to you, could be the next big change in Data Collection industry?

How is doeLEGAL preparing to be a part of that change? doeLEGAL currently outsources Data Collection to trusted partners. I foresee data culling and collection (Traditionally part of the EDD or Early Case Assessment process in Review Databases) will continue to become a more upfront operation done at the client locations, rather than after the data has been eDiscovery software image from Ipro ADD Review collected and sent to an eDiscovery vendor for additional culling and processing. Typically, when data is collected from a client, a wide net is cast, and providing advanced software while lowering costs and often too much data ends up being collected. Time drives our solutions’ roadmap. With Questel resources is spent moving the large collection to an eDiscovery behind us, we offer our expertise to a global market. vendor for further culling and promotion to a review position. For example, we are looking to Ipro with their Questel also increases our technology portfolio to Live EDA solution as a way to provide us with another provide a complete LegalTech solution to any business tool that can be used to reduce costs on the collection, regardless of geographic location. Our goal remains to culling, review, and production. With some setup at the provide the superior solutions, services, and support client location, Live EDA will allow us to index and that leads the service provider market. search all of the client’s data on-prem and perform a more targeted collection. Only documents that are What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs found to be relevant can then be collected and who aspire to venture into the IT sector? promoted for document review. Live EDA can be re-run later as needed to pull any new documents if collection I believe in trusting your instincts, specific talents, and requirements change. the people you work with to determine a key or specific problem that your company can contribute to solving Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, while also still staying nimble and resilient to changes in and what are your future goals for doeLEGAL? market forces and technology. A long-term outlook for planning and commitment to multiple years of work doeLEGAL strives to be the go-to resource for with those same people in the same space - are keys to LegalTech solutions for eDiscovery and Enterprise finding, building, and growing a successful and stable Legal Management. Focusing on increasing efficiency enterprise and career. www.ciolook.com

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