Gould Applies Transition Skills

Having served as CIO of Aetna and Aetna US Healthcare during multiple movements of operations in the '90s, R. Max Gould-who recently was named head of outsourcing operations for Mellon Financial Corp.'s (Pittsburgh) Human Resources Services Sector-is an old pro when it comes to transition. Gould successfully managed the movement of Aetna's P&C systems to Travelers and the integration of Aetna and US Healthcare's systems. So it's no surprise that he took his latest transition-from his most recent role as division CIO, Towers Perrin-in stride.

Gould has also served as senior human resources officer for Citibank's International Banking Group. Although he has held a variety of technology and operations positions throughout his career, the financial services veteran finds that no matter the role, the tenets of good customer service are always applicable. "You must start with being client- and quality-focused," Gould explains. "Also, you can only manage what you measure, so it's important to measure your customers' expectations."

Once a broad base of understanding is established, relates Gould, automation can be applied. "I will be using technology to improve quality of service at Mellon Financial, while improving efficiencies," he says.