8CIOReview | | SEPTEMBER 2024IN MY OPINIONI'm a little over a year into my current role as chief digital transformation officer at Allstate. It's been a great opportunity for me to re-center on what transformation means, and re-baseline what impact requires. I like to begin with a playful story of my mandate, which is to "Accelerate Digital Transformation." As part of the interview process, I asked "What does this mean for Allstate?" And the By Christopher Paquette, Chief Digital Transformation Officer, AllstateA PROGRESSIVE, PROVEN OUTLOOK TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONreply was something like "Well, we were hoping you could tell us." An exciting proposition for one of the nation's largest insurers, but one with a lot of leeway for how to proceed!As I got going, I could have anchored on "new and flashy". I could have started by incubating bleeding edge technologies or applying Generative AI to the max. But instead, I started at the beginning. I started with the outcomes we were trying to achieve and the pragmatic steps to drive these outcomes. This is because real transformation requires a real re-think based on what creates value ­ starting at the beginning. I framed it around the why, the what, and the how; and I think it's an ever-green and instructive way to think about digital transformation.The "why" for digital transformation generally boils down to two things: protecting the core--revenue, expense, control, risk, customer and employee experience, and disrupting--new business models, new products and services, new markets, entrenching with ecosystem partners. Protect and disrupt. These should directly flow from the enterprise strategy. Often, you have to earn the right to disrupt by protecting first, but you need at least a bit of both. It's no secret that P&C insurance is getting hit hard by inflation and loss costs ­ so improving margin is our protect focus. But, we are also investing in new technology, products, and services that will disrupt.The "what" should follow squarely from the "why". "What" is the portfolio of digital initiatives that will deliver on the intended protect and disrupt outcomes? I used a few techniques to ensure that we were pursuing the right things. First, I incorporated both right brain (i.e., creative, design, experience) and left brain (i.e., structure, process, organization) thinking to generate a broad set of potential initiatives. Second, I evaluated and narrowed this set by leveraging the powerful viability-desirability-Christopher Paquette
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