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Luigi Vassallo, Director of ICT and Digital Innovation at Italian insurance company, Sara, talks about the business’ ongoing digital transformation. Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Tom Barnes 2
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c n e i r e p x e f o s r a e y 0 2 r e v o i v b With o o e h t t o n s a w o l l a s s a r t l a Luigi V t i g i d e h t d n a s n o i t a r a p m o ICT ope c e c n a r u s n i t a e c a l p g takin
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aving never worked in insurance before, Luigi brought a strong technical background in IP networking and network development, web application development, cloud platform, internet business model, service innovation, system integration and enterprise systems, but little knowledge when it came to the insurance market. Luigi explained, “When I started at Sara, I was totally new to insurance work, but I had lots of experience in different fields. The General Manager of the company was actually looking for someone with no experience in insurance, who would be able
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to offer a different approach. The idea was to bring about a disruptive change, as the company was quite traditional in its ICT systems.” By transferring all compartments of the business to the cloud, Sara’s digital transformation is a project involving every segment of the company, not just its IT department. Once complete, Luigi believes the impact will be significant. He said, “At our company headquarters, we are now using different tools such as Skype, video conferencing and digital signature, we are using a different operating model, and
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Luigi Vassallo
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Our collaboration with Sara Assicurazioni insurance company mainly focused on:
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we are working in a whole, new different way. The next phase will be for our sales people to connect to the company system using tablets. We will be able to visit the customer to sell a product using a tablet thanks to open connectivity, and the new functionality of the digital signature means we won’t need to bring in the customer to sign contracts, as we will be able to offer paperless contracts. In becoming digital, we are providing a much more efficient and user-friendly service, which, in turn, will make life easier for our customers.” The first project of the company’s digital transformation saw a
change in its collaboration and communication platform, which could not have taken place without the commitment of Sara’s General Manager. Luigi continues, “This was only the beginning of the story. Every member of staff spent around three hours in a room with the Google suite to familiarise
d n a s p o h s k r o w d l e h “We e v i g o t s e i t i v i t c a f ran lots o d n a n r a e l o t e m i t people ” s l o o t w e n e h t d n understairector of ICT and Digital Innovation ,D
Luigi Vassallo
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y g o l o n h c e t s i h t g n i s u d e t r a n o i “We st t a m o t u a h t i W . s y a w f o e l p u e m a co i t n o n w o d t u c o t e l b a e r e s we w e s s e c o r p e v i s n e p x e , g n i m u s con n I . s l a u d i v i d n i f o s t o l g n i v l o v v e in d o t s u d e w o l l a s a h I A , n o i addit ” e c i v r e s n o i t c e t e d d u a r f tion r a u v o o n In l a it ig dD ctor of ICT an , Luigi Vassallo
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themselves with the tools, and now all the workforce at our headquarters can use them. The reaction at first was not wholly positive because people are often adverse to change – you get used to working in a certain way. But, now that the workforce
understands the platform and can use it effectively, they agree that all the effort was worth it in the end.” Sara’s General Manager, with the support of the company’s HR department, took the initiative
d l r o w e c n a r u s n i e h t n i s r e y a l o p s g , i n b o e i t h a t l m l r A o “ f s n a r t l a t i g i d g n i o o g o t r e e d b n d u l e u r o a w t i , e m a s e h t o d t ’ n d i d a r if Sa ” s r a e y w e f a n i ovation h n t In i l a w it ig e D t d a l f ICT an o r o t c e ir D , o all Luigi Vass
to bring in professionals to fully explain the project to staff. Luigi added, “We held workshops and ran lots of activities to give people time to learn and understand the new tools. Each employee was given a tablet because we couldn’t assume that everyone 10
was used to using one. With my different background, this was difficult to understand for me at the beginning, because many people were not digitally-minded.” The timing for Sara’s digital transformation was crucial. The General Manager gave
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o t d e t t i m m o c g n i e b n i r e v e i l e h c i h ry big b w n i e m a g a y a l p o t e v a h rk. You ” y g e t a r t s e h t f o t r a l Innovation igita
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his commitment because he understood the benefits, as well as the risk of being left behind if the company continued with the same ICT systems. Luigi explained, “All the big players in the insurance world are undergoing digital transformation, so if Sara didn’t do the same, it would be too late within a few years. In the past, only businesses with pots of money could sustain the financial effort of digital transformation, but, today, with companies moving to the cloud, they can undergo digital transformation within budget. This is only possible due to the cloud technology, as an upfront investment is no longer required, making it much more affordable.”
So, why choose Sara for your insurance needs? Luigi answered, “We keep a close eye on our competition. We are unique insofar as we are a small operation and work very fast. Our decision process is extremely efficient. We know that larger companies have ideas and strategies, but it will take longer for them to implement them. A competitor may have the same strategy as us, but we will differ in its implementation. This year, we are developing what we call our ‘magic flying carpet’. Once we have completed the fundamentals, we will be able to develop new applications and a new business model for customers. We could not have done this kind of preparation with the old infrastructure. The change has enabled us to develop our
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of Head of Group IT Infrastructure. Luigi said, “At VimpelCom, there were around 40 different nationalities represented. My boss was from India, and I had colleagues from the Ukraine, Sweden… You name it! You learn many different things from a variety of cultures. We are all so very different.” services to enhance the customer experience.”
This celebration of the multicultural working environment is one of Luigi’s keys to a successful AI and machine learning have team, as well as a strong belief in played a huge part in enabling the the job you are undertaking. Luigi company to boost its efficiency. added, “I’m a very big believer in Luigi explained, “We started using being committed to your work. You this technology in a couple of ways. have to play a game in which you With automation, we were able are part of the strategy.” to cut down on time-consuming, expensive processes involving lots And as far as the future of the of individuals. In addition, AI has insurance world is concerned, Luigi allowed us to develop our fraud concluded, “The introduction of detection service.” the autonomous car is going to have a tremendous impact on the And Luigi is relishing the challenge industry.” of overseeing Sara’s digital transformation, drawing on It will be fascinating to see how his management experience insurers such as Sara provide of large teams in multi-cultural solutions for tomorrow’s environments. Prior to his move technological advances. to Rome, Luigi spent two years in Amsterdam at telecommunications For further information on Sara, company, VimpelCom, in the role visit www.sara.it
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e h t f o n o i t c u d o r t n i a e “The v a h o t g n i o g s i r a c s u o m o � y r t s auton u d n i e h t n o t c a p m i s u o d tremen l Innovation a
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Luigi Vassallo
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48 +39 06 47477 www.sara.it