Tech Exec 20 _Marco Giannitrapani

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In the dynamic realm of technology and data, leaders like Marco Giannitrapani, Vice President of Global Data & Analytics at Roche Pharmaceutical, are at the helm, steering organisations towards innovation and strategic growth. In this comprehensive exploration, Giannitrapani shares his insights, experiences, and visionary perspectives on the evolving landscape of technology, digital transformation, and the future of healthcare.

At Roche Pharmaceutical, Giannitrapani’s role as VP of Global Data & Analytics encompasses a wide-ranging portfolio, overseeing the orchestration of data, analytics, and technology initiatives that underpin commercial and go-to-market activities on a global scale. His responsibilities span across pivotal domains such as AI & Data Science, Business Intelligence, Data Management, Marketing Technology, and Business Planning. With a rich tapestry of experience spanning nearly two decades across diverse industries, including healthcare, insurance, education, and energy, Giannitrapani brings a nuanced understanding of data-driven strategies to the forefront of Roche’s operations.

Reflecting on his journey, Giannitrapani identifies three pivotal elements that have shaped his approach to leadership and problem-solving. Firstly, his exposure to a diverse array of technical use cases and industries has equipped him with a multifaceted perspective, enabling him to tackle real-life business challenges with agility and innovation, and empowered him to navigate the intricate intersection of technological knowledge and business acumen. Secondly, he underscores the importance of a problem-centric mindset, instilled since his academic research, emphasising the criticality of understanding and defining the problem and expected outcome, before delving into solution mode. Lastly, he underscores the importance of dedicating time to focus on people’s leadership. The opportunity to motivate, empower and reword people, fostering collaboration across teams and different organisational levels are multipliers of immense value in delivering concrete and tangible business outcomes.

Focus on digital value—

here’s where to find it

In our analysis, we show how scaling seven common digital programs inside a typical top-10 pharma company could be worth $1.4B-$2.2B in operating income over five years. Aside from the financial upsides, these programs offer significant opportunities for talent growth and strengthen the foundation on which future digital programs can be launched.

Get the analysis www.zs.com

Do more with data

Do more with data

ZS helps clients develop an approach that promotes faster and more useful analytics while building centralized capabilities and services. This allows teams to stay productive cross-functionally and enjoy the financial benefits of an unburdened data and analytics ecosystem.

As companies find themselves managing multiple complex data and analytics assets, ZS partners with clients to break down the silos that occur from traditional approaches. This results in a “one-stop shop” for data and analytics that lifts the burden from individual markets that needed to develop their own expertise and capabilities. Along with the natural efficiencies that come from this centralized and streamlined model, clients also enjoy greater cost effectiveness and increased adoption of data and analytics assets, literally making the use of their own data “pay off.”

ZS helps clients develop an approach that promotes faster and more useful analytics while building centralized capabilities and services. This allows teams to stay productive cross-functionally and enjoy the financial benefits of an unburdened data and analytics ecosystem.

As companies find themselves managing multiple complex data and analytics assets, ZS partners with clients to break down the silos that occur from traditional approaches. This results in a “one-stop shop” for data and analytics that lifts the burden from individual markets that needed to develop their own expertise and capabilities. Along with the natural efficiencies that come from this centralized and streamlined model, clients also enjoy greater cost effectiveness and increased adoption of data and analytics assets, literally making the use of their own data “pay off.”

Long term, this solution will set as the norm a new workflow for business operations that triages service needs from global markets, orchestrates execution and closes the loop with end users faster. In practice, this solution has already helped a large global pharma rapidly deploy global strategies in local markets and react faster to market events. In another example, a global client is leveraging centralized services to accelerate activation of omnichannel execution across all their markets, which would’ve been hard to do in a decentralized model.

Long term, this solution will set as the norm a new workflow for business operations that triages service needs from global markets, orchestrates execution and closes the loop with end users faster. In practice, this solution has already helped a large global pharma rapidly deploy global strategies in local markets and react faster to market events. In another example, a global client is leveraging centralized services to accelerate activation of omnichannel execution across all their markets, which would’ve been hard to do in a decentralized model.

www.zs.com | ©

Delving into the broader landscape of technology within organisations, Giannitrapani observes a paradigm shift towards recognising the tangible value of analytical skills in driving business outcomes. He highlights the increasing prominence of technological functions in executive decisionmaking processes, signalling a fundamental reorientation towards data-driven decisionmaking at strategic and tactical levels. Moreover, he emphasises the importance of holistic thinking throughout the entire lifecycle of technological initiatives, from ideation to building, testing, scaling and operations, stressing the need for defining clear prioritisation frameworks, with transparency on resource allocation processes, and rigorous monitoring on business value realisation.

Giannitrapani elucidates the pivotal role of digital transformation in shaping the future

of organisations, emphasising the imperative of aligning technological initiatives with concrete business needs and outcomes. He underscores the role of leadership in driving this alignment, cautioning against the pitfalls of either underestimating or over-engineering technological solutions. Drawing from Roche’s pioneering initiatives which leverage AI and immersive technologies to revolutionise customer engagement, he underscores the importance of fostering innovation while maintaining the customer benefits and needs at the centre of every initiative.

In driving innovation in data science teams, Giannitrapani emphasises the significance of diversity in skills and perspectives, fostering a collaborative environment conducive to innovation. Storming and diverging thinking is a key phase where every idea should be included, discussed and evaluated,

which should be followed by a forming and converging phase to ensure full team alignment and endorsement on the direction taken around a team shared purpose. Finally, Giannitrapani calls out the importance of a team operating model with people, processes and technological elements co-created, defined and aligned to support the outcome speed, quality and quantity, while unleashing talent potentials and development.

Looking ahead, he prognosticates transformative trends reshaping the healthcare sector. He predicts a convergence of data, analytics, and technology in clinical research and development processes, catalysing breakthroughs in understanding and discovery across biological and genetic domains, where significant patients’ benefits have still to be realised. Furthermore, he anticipates a proliferation of monitoring devices driving data collection around the patient (related to health and other areas), enabling a paradigm

shift in insights generation for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, envisioning a truly personalised healthcare, leveraging patient biometrics to tailor real-time treatments and interventions.

In conclusion, Marco Giannitrapani’s journey and insights epitomise the vanguard of digital transformation in the healthcare sector and beyond. His visionary leadership, coupled with a deep understanding of datadriven strategies, is a guiding beacon for organisations navigating the complexities of the modern business landscape. As organisations embark on digital transformation journeys, Giannitrapani’s wisdom offers invaluable insights, illuminating the path towards a future where technology and humanity converge to drive meaningful progress and innovation.