This is a profile from the 2022 version of the DataIQ 100.
The latest list is available here.
3. Anita Fernqvist, chief data officer and director of operations, Zurich Insurance UK
What has been your path to power?
At the outset of my career, I was fortunate to spend time at both Hewlett Packard and IBM, both of which gave me a passion for the corporate world and the limitless opportunities that technology can bring. After qualifying I decided to join the insurance industry and have spent the last 17 years delivering change of all guises.
Ranging from delivering simple technology change, implementing pan-European policy administration platforms, building robotics and continuous improvement capabilities, and driving organisational design initiatives, everything has a common thread: data. The reliance on data, creation of data, the value of data and the damage that can be done by not respecting data.
Several years ago I was asked to use my transformation experience to pick up the data topic at Zurich. A strategy turned into a delivery roadmap, which in turn led to creating a data function, building a data asset and developing a data culture across the organisation, which has led to a 7-year stint in the amazing world of data leadership.
Since then, multiple new teams and capabilities have been added to the function, moving into leading at scale and running the strategy and delivery of all operational shared services to the UK organisation.
What impact has the pandemic had on the role of data in your company/organisation?
The role of data continues to grow, as does the pressure to evolve and keep pace. The pandemic simply served to further speed this up as the organisation needed readily accessible data and insights at its fingertips to ensure continued excellent delivery for our customers. Whilst this invariably introduced pressure, it has also served as a catalyst for continued evolution of our data transformation as well as progress and innovation across the broader organisation.
Does data now have a seat at the table during strategic discussions? If not, what will it take to get it there?
Data absolutely comes out loud and clear as a top priority and vital enabler during strategic discussions. This is evidenced by our strategy and supporting investments over the last years, in which data has had significant continued investment. Discussions have shifted over the years from being a hard sell many years ago to a heavy business pull on data as a fundamental part of the strategy. The job is not done however; the onus is on all of us to keep data front and centre of people’s field of vision, priority and passion, while ensuring the clear link between business strategy and data strategy is understood and valued.
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