Q&A: CIO Annabelle Bexiga on TIAA-CREF's Response to Consumerization

Over the past few years, rapid consumer adoption of communications technologies, especially those related mobile, anytime/anywhere computing, has reshaped customer expectations. Accommodating these expectations has profound implications for technology and process within the insurance and financial services enterprise. In a recent exchange with Insurance & Technology’s executive editor, Anthony O’Donnell, TIAA-CREF (New York, $464 billion in assets under management) CIO Annabelle Bexiga talked about how the provider of financial services to professionals in the academic, medical, cultural, governmental and research fields is responding to the consumerization trend.

[For more on Annabelle Bexiga, a 2011 I&T Elite 8 honoree, see related story.]

How has consumerization accelerated customer orientation? Does your company feel greater pressure to adapt to changing customer expectations?

Bexiga: Customer expectations are constantly changing; now even more so with the widespread adoption of mobile applications. Customers now have an increased ability to drive what we do on the technology front. TIAA-CREF has recognized this trend and is shifting support models and investments so we can respond more quickly to customer needs and provide them with a better customer experience.

How is consumerization driving new interaction between the CIO and the business?

Bexiga: Technology continues to develop as a delivery mechanism, and a marketing and sales tool. Consumerization has required CIOs to integrate with virtually every organization in a business, particularly marketing. By more tightly coupling IT and Marketing, we are able to deliver better client experiences and solutions in a more efficient and effective way.

What is the role of IT in a consumer-oriented insurance company? Will consumerization make CIOs more important in strategic discussions?

Bexiga: Today, customers expect their online experience to be simple and productive and mobile device applications are growing in number. This trend has made the technology function in every organization critical, which means the CIO and the technology organization must be integrated into the overall business strategy at a number of different levels. To ensure leaders across the business understand what’s coming down the road, CIOs are also expected to provide insight into technology trends. Staying current on written research, technology news, and peer and competitor activity is critical in order to provide useful input in business strategy discussions.

How is consumerization affecting IT investment priorities in order to be able to support communications on mobile devices, develop mobile apps, gather and process data from social media, etc.?

Bexiga: TIAA-CREF made a collective business decision to build a number of mobile apps for our clients. Our clients want their information on-the-go and we provide that experience for them. It has become a key element of our business strategy. We use social media to get feedback from our clients and also to let them know about various mobile applications we have available.

What are the technology architecture and infrastructure implications of consumerization?

Bexiga: The CIO needs to build a corporate information architecture that maximizes how information is delivered to both the business and the client end user. The advent of the desktop PC, for instance, created a revolution in the development of corporate information architecture because it exponentially expanded the number of people that need access to information systems. Mobile devices are doing the same thing, which means that an organization that has a scalable and flexible IT architecture has a natural competitive advantage because it can react faster to changing market conditions and meet client demands.

How has consumerization affected how insurers think about technology innovation? Has it once again become fashionable to introduce technology in search of a business case?

Bexiga: I wouldn’t say it is fashionable as much as it is necessary to differentiate yourself. What’s interesting about the mobile trend is that the cost of entry for innovation has lowered dramatically. For instance, for very little cost, you can develop a mobile application that provides enormous value for your customers. It is not good enough today to simply ask clients what they need; you need to go a step beyond and be creative in your development process to provide mobile apps that not only differentiate you from the competition, but give your clients something more useful than the tools they’ve used in the past.

What are some of the challenges of prioritizing mobile- and social media-related initiatives and measuring their success?

Bexiga: The biggest challenge is figuring out, among dozens of possible mobile and social media initiatives, what makes the most sense for your business and what’s going to give you the best ROI. When technologies are in their infancy, it is sometimes difficult to measure exactly what success looks like. The key is identifying what your customers are going to benefit from the most.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio