PUBLISHED BY INSIGNIAM | AN ELIXIRR COMPANY
AI & THE ART OF BEING HUMAN CAN AI HELP ELEVATE THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE?
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LIVE SAVING INNOVATION NEW GAME-CHANGING TECH FROM MEDTRONIC.
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SKY’S THE LIMIT A Q&A WITH EMIRATES’ CUSTOMER CHAMPION.
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ACHIEVE YOUR CRITICAL & ESSENTIAL RESULTS
BY 2050, MICHELIN AIMS TO BE 100% SUSTAINABLE. FOR ALEXIS GARCIN, CEO & PRESIDENT OF MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA, THERE IS NO SECOND PLACE FINISH.
“
Our employees rightfully have high expectations of our mission as an employer, and we work hard to create and preserve an environment where people feel valued, can achieve their best, and reach their true potential. This is at the heart of everything we do.
—Alexis Garcin, CEO & President, Michelin North America
Over 30 years ago, Insigniam pioneered the field of organizational transformation. Today, executives in large, complex organizations use Insigniam’s consulting services to generate breakthroughs in their critical business results. Insigniam’s innovation consulting enables enterprises to identify and cross into new strategic frontiers to rapidly generate new income streams. Insigniam provides executives of the world’s largest companies with management consulting services and solutions that are unparalleled in their potency to quickly deliver on strategic imperatives and boost dramatic growth. Insigniam solutions include Enterprise Transformation, Strategy Innovation and Innovation Projects, Breakthrough Projects, Transformational Leadership and Managing Change. Offices are located in Philadelphia, Laguna Beach and Paris. For more information, please visit www.insigniam.com.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Shideh Sedgh Bina sbina@insigniam.com
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jon Kleinman jkleinman@insigniam.com
CONTROLLER
Steve Niedzielski sniedzielski@insigniam.com
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND SALES OPERATIONS
Natalie Rahn nrahn@insigniam.com
DIRECTOR OF CONTENT
Jon Ball jball@insigniam.com
CONTRIBUTORS
Cody Cerny, Marie-Caroline Chauvet, J.W. Dobbe, Diane Gabriel, Aaya Hafidi, John Kalil, Jon Kleinman, Katerin LeFolcalvez, Josh LeGassick, Will Parrish, Olivia Singer, Steve Steinberg, Mia Studenroth
IQInsigniamQuarterly is a thought leadership publication committed to transforming the world of business by offering content relevant to the C-suite and their executive teams at large, complex global enterprises.
IQInsigniamQuarterlyis a production of Insigniam, an Elixirr company. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher and Insigniam. Printed in the U.S.A. For subscriptions, please visit quarterly.insigniam.com Insigniam distributes this editorial magazine to share the opinions and insights of companies and their leaders on impactful global business issues. The statements, opinions, and information contained in this publication are those of the individual authors and contributors, not of Insigniam. Insigniam disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, topicality, or quality of any statements, opinions, or information provided. Any liability claims against an author or contributor in respect of damage to persons or property caused or alleged to be caused by the use of this publication, including any statements, opinions, or information which are incorrect or incomplete, are therefore excluded. IQInsigniam Quarterly’s inclusion of a company or individual does not indicate that they are a client of Insigniam. Remuneration is not provided for editorial coverage. Individuals appearing in IQInsigniamQuarterlyhave done so with direct consent, or provided consent by a designated authorized agent in addition to being informed of the magazine’s audience and purpose. Both INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY and IQ INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY are registered trademarks in the United States, the European Union, China including Hong Kong, and other countries. Copyright © 2024 Insigniam, an Elixirr company.
Now that the dust has settled following our recent acquisition by Elixirr, one of the UK’s fastestgrowing management consultancies1, I wanted to share with you our vision in taking this bold step.
We believe that the union of Elixirr and Insigniam will help YOU create industrial magic. Over 35 years ago, we embarked on a mission to navigate the changing tides of business, driven by unprecedented breakthroughs and innovation. Back then, we foresaw the need for executives to cultivate capabilities that could bring about disruption and transform enterprises to embrace new opportunities. This has been Insigniam’s unique contribution for more than three decades.
Fast forward to today, and we find ourselves at the dawn of another transformative era, where technology, data, AI, and perhaps most importantly, experience take center stage. In a world where every business is racing to elevate its customer experience and technology framework, we believe the key to competitive differentiation lies in leveraging the art of Being Human with technology and data.
Every step of the way—from understanding new tools and the role they can play to mapping and implementing an innovative technology, data, and AI agenda—requires human beings to think newly and act differently.
Insigniam now has the ability to integrate our unique and potent methodology with end-to-end capabilities in terms of customer experience, strategy, AI and machine learning, data analytics, and digital optimization. We are also able to bring efficiencies and scale to clients in new geographic areas, thereby delivering the very best that technology and being human can offer global enterprises.
Rest assured, we will still provide the services you are familiar with and with which we have built our reputation-earning 66 Net Promoter Score®2. Our founders and Insigniam partners are not going anywhere and, as always, we are here to address your most pressing needs to ensure the success of your enterprise.
We warmly invite you to contact us about our expanded services platform, available under the trusted Insigniam brand. IQ
Shideh Sedgh
YOUR CRITICAL & ESSENTIAL RESULTS
TECH BYTE
THE FIRST ROBO-CEO
Global spirits company Dictador appoints Mika— an AI-driven robot—as CEO, heralding a new era in executive leadership.
By Josh LeGassick
FROM THE BOARDROOM CULTIVATING CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE
Transformational CEO and board chair, John Davison, on the value of a global perspective.
Katerin LeFolcalvez
MASTERING COMPLEXITY DON’T LET YOUR TRANSFORMATION FAIL
To prevent from becoming a statistic, an understanding of complex adaptive systems is key.
By Shideh Sedgh Bina
COVER STORY
REINVENTING THE WHEEL
How Michelin North America CEO and President, Alexis Garcin, is driving sustainable innovation at full throttle.
By Diane Gabriel
34 50
IMAGINING A NEW FUTURE CAN AI TRANSFORM THE ART OF BEING HUMAN?
AI will transform numerous industries, yet experts believe it can also elevate the best of what it means to be human. Will we seize the opportunity?
By Jon KleinmanOP-ED WHY WE ELEVATED INSIGNIAM FOR A NEW ERA Insigniam’s co-founding partners delve into the company’s recent acquisition by Elixirr and the advantages it creates for both organizations.
By Shideh Sedgh Bina & Nathan Owen Rosenberg
GAME CHANGING MED-TECH INNOVATION, WHEN LIVES ARE ON THE LINE
For the executive team at Medtronic—pioneers of AIenabled medical devices— innovation is more than a buzzword when actual lives depend on it.
Cody Cerny
ELEVATING EXPERIENCES FOR EMIRATES, THE SKY IS THE LIMIT
How Emirates Skywards chief Nejib Ben-Khedher is elevating 30 million customer experiences to reach stratospheric new heights.
By Aaya Hafidi
“Spending time abroad, especially in emerging markets, forces you out of your comfort zone. You quickly learn to cope with uncertainty and risk. You get comfortable moving along the road less traveled.”
Jon Davison, Board Chair | Former CEO, Zuellig Pharma & ekaterra
06 08
BROWSER HISTORY
Recommended reads for the C-suite.
BY THE NUMBERS
Why more and more ESG programs are in the crosshairs.
MULTIMEDIA
PODCAST: ALEXIS GARCIN
Tap to listen to his Insigniam B.I.T.s podcast interview.
AUDIBLE: MASTERING COMPLEXITY
Listen to a reading of this month’s seminal feature story.
VIDEO: INSIDE OUR ACQUISITION Elixirr and Insigniam founders share how the acquisition elevates both organizations.
ON THE COVER
Alexis Garcin, CEO & President, Michelin North America.
Photography courtesy of Michelin NA.
Poland-based spirits brand Dictador recently announced that Mika, an AI robot, will serve as both the company’s public face and chief executive.
By Josh LeGassickDictador, a Polish drinks company renowned for its rums, has taken a groundbreaking step by appointing a robot, named “Mika,” driven by artificial intelligence (AI), as its CEO. The move, described by Fortune as both revolutionary and bold, marks the integration of the first human-like robot with AI into a corporate structure, ushering in a transformation that is expected to have a lasting impact.
Developed by Hanson Robotics, a Hong Kong-based engineering and robotics company founded by David Hanson, Mika is the second “social robot”developed by the company. In 2016, Hanson Robotics unveiled “Sophia,” who was designed to mimic the social behaviors of humans.
While critical decisions like hiring and firing remain within the purview of human executives, Mika’s primary focus lies in the selection of artists for designing custom bottles. In a statement, Mika emphasized its decision-making process, which relies on extensive data analysis and alignment with the company’s strategic objectives. The absence of personal bias ensures unbiased and strategic choices, prioritizing the organization’s best interests.
Beyond its symbolic significance, Mika’s appointment serves as a testament to Dictador’s penchant for technologybased initiatives. This follows their
recent introduction of the “world’s first tokenization of aged rum” and the sale of rum via NFT, which successfully raised $25,000 for the company last year.
“I feel very strongly that we need to teach AI to care about people for AI to be really safe, to be really, really good,” said David Hanson, CEO, of Hanson Robotics, in speaking to FOX Business. “I think humanizing that is a very important direction.”
While the move may be perceived as a PR stunt, it underscores a broader trend wherein generative AI is anticipated to play an increasingly prominent role in corporate decision-making. Recent reports suggest that AI has the potential to contribute $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion (USD) annually to the global economy by 2040. This staggering figure surpasses the entire GDP of the United Kingdom in 2021, which stood at $3.1 trillion. Moreover, the report indicates that AI could facilitate labor productivity growth ranging from 0.1% to 0.6% annually during the same period.
As the business landscape continues to evolve, the integration of AI-driven entities like Mika could represent a glimpse into the future, where technology shapes and enhances decision-making processes across various industries. IQ
“I don’t have weekends; I’m always on 24/7, ready to make executive decisions and stir up some AI magic.”
—Mika, speaking to Reuters
Authored by InCommony founder and CEO Dan Michelson, Holy Shift! unravels the complexities of the current transformative era, providing practical insights for leaders at all organizational levels. Addressing key questions about the evolution of work, the book offers a strategic framework and actionable playbook. Michelson, renowned for building exemplary company cultures, combines historical reflections with contemporary research to guide readers through the past, present, and future of work to create momentum and embrace the future of work with confidence.
Achieving sustained and strategic business growth goes beyond conventional metrics; it requires organizations to go beyond merely communicating product or service value and focus on creating an enriched experience for customers. The Growth Leader explores how top executives drive profitable growth by harmonizing strategy, leadership, and sales. Author Scott K. Edinger emphasizes the pivotal role leaders play in shaping a compelling customer experience that adds value beyond the product. The book guides leaders on how to align growth strategies at every organizational level, from boardroom initiatives to daily customer interactions.
Venture Meets Mission paints a hopeful picture amid the world’s geopolitical, environmental, and technological transformations. In a call to action, the book advocates for the convergence of business, government, and society to collectively address pressing global issues such as climate change, cybersecurity, and education. The authors, drawing on their experiences in Silicon Valley and federal government, illustrate how mission-driven capitalism can align people, purpose, and profit for impactful changes that contribute to societal betterment. IQ
If you want to build a world-class culture and help move your company forward, Holy Shift! is the book that you should give to everyone on your team.Kenneth Frazier, Former CEO of Merck & Co.
BY THE NUMBERS
Recent discussions surrounding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments suggest the emergence of an “anti-ESG” movement, which challenges perceived shifts towards progressive ideals in society and business.
This movement, though loosely defined, has influenced corporate behavior, leading to a phenomenon known as “greenhushing,” where executives have become more reticent about their sustainability efforts. While the impact remains uncertain, the pressure to avoid controversy may impede widespread adoption of sustainable practices and brands.
Executives who find themselves navigating the delicate balance of avoiding scrutiny while upholding their values and public commitments might be pleased to know that ESG-aligned companies still outperform their non-ESG counterparts. Yet, for executives and enterprises who remain committed to their ESG goals, it is becoming increasingly imperative to reconcile sustainability goals with corporate strategies.
As the numbers below indicate, a significant percentage of corporate executives cite public backlash as a reason for ‘greenhushing’ or retracting their ESG investments, suggesting the increased scrutiny has weakened their overall resolve.
48
PUBLIC BACKLASH
Companies who say they have experienced a backlash from their ESG position.
AND YET...
61
31
TROUBLE AHEAD BAD ACTORS?
Companies who believe the ESG backlash will increase into the next year.
Percent of consumers will stop buying from companies that treat the environment, employees, or their communities poorly.
Percentage of executives who say policymakers are driving the backlash for personal gain.
27
VOICES SILENCED
Percentage of companies who plan to reduce their level of external comms about ESGs.
Percent of U.S. investors who feel that a company with strong ESG performance deserves a premium valuation to its share price.
40 4.5 PERCENT 5X
% % % % %
of employees may leave their jobs because their company isn’t committed to ESG issues.
Profit margin outperformance by large corporations with a commitment to environmential, social, and governance programs, versus those without
Greater dividends returned by ESG-aligned companies in 2023 versus those without.
Having led large-scale transformations in nearly every corner of the world, CEO and board chair John Davison says adaptability, resilience, and cultural intelligence can equip corporate directors to elevate the enterprises they support
By Katerin Le Folcalvez
With a career spanning six continents and a deep understanding of emerging markets, John Davison’s international experience has profoundly shaped his approach to executive leadership. As former CEO of Zuellig Pharma and current board chair of PT. Greenfields—as well as an advisory board member at Phillips Pharma Group—Mr. Davison has an incredible, dual-perspective of what is required of
executive teams and governance boards in order to achieve critical results for their enterprise.
Mr. Davison’s track record of orchestrating turnarounds at companies like Zuellig Pharma and Danone—where he served as regional president over the APAC, Middle East &
“I DEVELOPED A THICKER SKIN WORKING IN EMERGING MARKETS, FROM YEARS OF DEALING WITH UNEXPECTED CRISES AND WORKING TO DELIVER RESULTS DESPITE DISRUPTIONS.”—Jon Davison Board Director | Former CEO, Zuellig Pharma & ekaterra
Southern African markets—has also afforded him incredible insight for how to align stakeholders around a compelling purpose, foster strategic partnerships, navigate global crises, and seize opportunities effectively.
Privy to the unique challenges that arise when attempting to strike a balance between oversight and support, Mr. Davison emphasizes the importance of adaptability, resilience, and cultural intelligence in successfully managing diverse teams and overcoming challenges.
“I studied Modern Languages from an early age, and that’s probably one of the reasons I’ve always sought out international roles,” he says. “I’m sure this has also had a major effect on my personality and outlook on life. Spending time abroad, especially in
emerging markets, forces you out of your comfort zone. You quickly learn to cope with uncertainty and risk. You get comfortable moving along the road less traveled and making decisions when you don’t have all the facts you ideally want. Operating in different cultures and languages teaches you to listen, to really listen, to understand what’s happening around you. You must be more aware of your surroundings, and you become more intuitive, relying on instinct to survive and succeed. This has made me a more empathetic and open-minded manager than I would otherwise have been, and certainly a much better communicator.”
Working internationally also made Mr. Davison more aware of the need to be fully available to his teams, wherein it is imperative
Double-Duty Director
Having amassed insights as both a transformational CEO and sought-after board director, John Davison says the role of a CEO is to “absorb chaos and transmit clarity.” He says leaders must be able to step back from the action of running the business to nurture an environment where teams can thrive, especially if large-scale transformations are to be successful.
“As a CEO, finding the right balance between diving into the details of your operations and setting direction and empowering your team is an art, not a science. John has honed this skill in many environments and cultures, always starting with a compelling purpose that brings people together.”
—Katerin Le Folcalvez Consultant & Partner at Insigniam & Elixirr
to actively engage with various stakeholders, whether it entailed visiting local factories or interacting with sales teams, customers, and business partners. For Mr. Davison, working in international settings fostered resilience, as it often entailed spending extended periods away from family and friends, necessitating a high level of self-reliance. He believes these attributes are essential aspects of effective leadership in dynamic and demanding environments.
“During the last two decades, I’ve been deeply embedded in emerging markets and I’ve had to develop a much thicker skin than when I was operating in the U.S. and Europe,” he says. “This comes from years of dealing with unexpected crises and working to deliver results despite disruption.”
Crisis management is a concept Mr. Davison understands on a scale few can comprehend. While at Danone, early in 2011, Mr. Davison’s team in Japan had to contend with the 9.0 megathrust earthquake and ensuing Tsunami that led to the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Meanwhile, his team based in Thailand was forced to deal with widespread flooding that necessitated rebuilding their Bangkok factory. As if that wasn’t enough, his team in Indonesia was significantly impacted by volcano eruptions while his Middle Eastern team found themselves in the Arab Spring.
“Any one of these would have been a major challenge, but dealing with all of them at the same time tested our resilience as a regional team to the extreme,” says Mr. Davison. You develop a mindset of being ready for anything because, across such a broad group of businesses, the chances are you will be coping with some kind of crisis somewhere most of the time.”
More recently, when Mr. Davison joined Zuellig Pharma in 2014, the company was faced with an outdated, malfunctioning
enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that threatened to bring the company and its healthcare clients to a complete standstill. As Asia’s leading pharma distribution company, Zuellig Pharma played a central role in supporting the healthcare systems in many countries—therefore a breakdown was potentially catastrophic.
“Had we not resolved it before the COVID pandemic, then the company would have likely have gone under,” says Mr. Davison. “Instead, because of the turnaround we engineered by establishing a highly robust digital ERP backbone, our company performed through COVID while many others almost collapsed. We were more than crisis-ready in that sense.”
For context, when the COVID pandemic first swept the globe, several Zuellig Pharma warehouses risked closure if any infections were detected. Mr. Davison says he was “bowled over” when—in response to this threat—dozens of front-line colleagues opted to sleep in the warehouse to avoid the risk of infection rather than trigger a service shutdown. Through their dedication, says Mr. Davison, the company was able to continue supplying life-saving medicines and vaccines to thousands of patients and consumers across Asia at a time when many healthcare systems were close to breaking point.
“This resilience came from having a strong sense of purpose and a deep understanding of their role in fulfilling it,” he says. “We had spent the previous five years driving a clear strategy around a new purpose: ‘making healthcare more accessible.’ By embedding this across the entire organization, when the rubber hit the road with COVID, we didn’t need to ask our teams to step up; they just did. They knew that thousands of lives depended on us, they knew what they had to do, and I was so proud that they just got on and did it.”
As evidenced by his leadership tenure, qualities such as resilience and perseverance have been essential aspects of Mr. Davison’s success as an executive leader. Yet, like any muscle,these qualities had to be continually tested and strengthened over time. The key to maintaining high levels of employee engagement needed to sustain organizational momentum through one existential crisis to another has been his ability to cultivate a mindset of resilience within and across every level of the large enterprises he has led.
“Cultivating a mindset of resilience comes from a combination of factors, but it starts with a compelling purpose,” says Mr. Davison. “For Zuellig Pharma, the team aligned around a mission of making healthcare more accessible. In an environment where you can’t take healthcare for granted, this purpose resonated on so many levels: if you’re a van driver delivering to hospitals, a medical sales rep detailing a new product to a doctor, or a regulatory affairs manager navigating a complex drug registration process—every single employee was able to identify with this single purpose of ‘making healthcare more accessible’.”
Furthermore, in a turnaround situation, Mr. Davison says ingraining a resilience mindset starts by ensuring your team truly understands and acknowledges the predicament in which they find themselves. Once they grasp the gravity of the situation, leaders are in a much better position to help them understand the need to change and, with their help, figure out how to change.
“Through this, together you can build a new vision of the future, a new purpose to drive towards,” he says. “A key success factor is achieving strategic alignment of the key stakeholders—from the CEO to the executive team, as well as the board and shareholders— which can be achieved when you are wellequipped to mobilize the organization to do great things. With the right backing and the right people, there is nothing more energizing than driving a turnaround.”
Mr. Davison also says it’s critical to establish the “strongest possible functional backbone” in a company, with subject matter experts leading in key functional areas, depending on the industry, as they
set the bar for execution globally and in the market. Additionally, he says, it further helps if these functions are connected to each other through well-defined business processes, clear decision-making guidelines, and robust management systems. From his perspective, this is how great companies institutionalize resilience.
“The role of the CEO in all this is to absorb chaos and transmit clarity—you need to be able to step back from the action and focus on nurturing an environment in which your team can thrive,” says Mr. Davison. “You must build a strong sense of mutual trust, ensure your team connects with one another, and remove the typical communication barriers that emerge, for example, between functions and markets. Above all, as a leader, you need to instill a sense of fun—there are not enough business books written about this, but it’s just as important.”
Says Mr. Davison, “One of the nicest compliments I was ever paid as CEO was that I always took my job seriously, but never took myself too seriously. Bringing your personality into the role and judiciously injecting humor can make a huge difference in motivating a team. It diffuses tough situations and reminds people that there’s life beyond the boardroom.”
Yet, for all his success at both the executive and board governance level, the transition from CEO to director is not without its own set of inherent challenges. The most eye-opening of which for Mr. Davison was separating himself from the chief executive mindset.
“When transitioning from CEO to Chair, one of the biggest challenges is to stop thinking you’re still the CEO,” he says. “The first time I was invited to chair a company, it was in Korea for a portfolio company of a leading global PE Group, and I’d just finished my stint as CEO at Zuellig Pharma, which was a very hands-on role. After the first Board meeting, the local investment lead rang up the operating partner who’d appointed me to complain that I was acting as if I were the CEO! Thankfully, my partners saw the humorous side and after a quick chat, I was able to make some minor style adjustments and get things back on track.”
John Davison has 35 years of experience in consumer products, healthcare, technology, and retail. As a corporate director, he serves as board chair of PT. Greenfields Indonesia, and is an advisory board member for Phillips Pharma Group. He also teaches at leading Swiss business school IMD.
Previously, he served as CEO of ekaterra, Unilever’s $3B tea division (now known as Lipton Teas & Infusions), driving its successful carve-out & sale to CVC Capital Partners. Prior to joining ekaterra, Mr. Davison was CEO of leading healthcare services provider Zuellig Pharma, where he drove a major transformation by redefining its mission to make healthcare more accessible through world-class distribution, commercial solutions, and digital technology.
Prior to this, Mr. Davison was president of Danone’s Dairy Division in Asia, the Middle East, and Southern Africa, building teams in 20 countries and opening new factories in Korea, Australia, Thailand, Iran, and Iraq.
He is a graduate of Cambridge University and Harvard Business School.
Act Now, Don’t Delay
If you’re interested in governance, don’t delay too long, says Mr. Davison. “People may assume you wait until the twilight years of your career to join a board, that it’s something you turn to in retirement when you step back from full-time work. This may well be true for some, but in retrospect, I wish I’d gotten involved in governance work earlier than I have, and more broadly than purely in a business setting.”
Mr. Davison counsels that what may have made you a successful CEO may make you a nightmare chairperson. From his purview, a non-executive director needs to find the right balance between diving in to intervene all the time versus staying silent in the background. This is why the ability to course correct an organization or leader before they veer too far off-track can be an artform, he says.
“If you’re too hands-on, you risk overtly undermining the leader and executive team—yet, if you are too hands-off, you may altogether miss the opportunity to prevent a disastrous wrong turn,” says Mr. Davison. “After all, you’re there to look after the interests of shareholders, so it’s a balance that you really do have to get right. Critical and essential to this balance is maintaining
emotional distance to ensure objectivity while being close enough to the action to judge what’s going on in the organization. As chair, you need to build trust with your CEO to maintain an open and transparent dialogue on how the company and organization are progressing. You also need to listen to your board colleagues to gauge their evolving perspectives, and to validate your own perception. It’s certainly a team effort, not a one-person show.”
The strength of alignment and collective action is also foundational to the success of enterprise transformations and largescale turnarounds, says Mr. Davison. Once a board and leadership team are aligned on a transformation strategy and agenda, the board and the executive team each have a set
of clearly defined responsibilities. Ultimately, their success hinges on their mutual ability to achieve what is critical and essential to each group, as well as the organization at large.
“To drive transformation, a board first needs to secure the right people for the job, starting with the CEO, and then ensure that the CEO can hire the right executive team,” advises Mr. Davison. “This team then must develop a compelling transformation plan behind which the board and shareholders can align. The board then needs to ensure the plan is adequately funded and well executed. If the board can secure these first two steps, the third is to ensure the team is properly motivated and rewarded for its efforts through incentives that are fair both to shareholders as well as to the organization.”
Additionally, he says, an attentive board will then continue to ask key questions along the way, such as: has the team identified the right pressure points to drive change; are objectives sufficiently bold; are the right KPIs being tracked; are sufficient resources in place to execute the transformation; what barriers remain; and are there weak links in the team?
“Throughout the transformation process, a well-functioning board acts as a constant and consistent sounding board for a CEO and executive team as they move through their key management processes—strategic planning, resource allocation, performance monitoring and reward.”
Conversely, he says, an executive team needs to feel it can trust its board to provide support along this challenging journey: being tough but fair, setting stretching but achievable performance targets, mediating with shareholders on resources and timing, helping ensure the organization paces itself as it aims to deliver.
“Getting this wrong can quickly burn a good team and set the business way back in its transformation,” he says.
Beyond the realm of transformation, the idea of “getting it wrong” can also be a useful learning tool for leaders at the executive level, as they can provide an opportunity to reflect, regroup, and move forward more effectively. Mr. Davison does not shy away from discussing his own challenges and setbacks, as they were instrumental in developing his own resilience mindset.
“There have been plenty of setbacks in my career, but thankfully also a few triumphs,” he quips.“Yet, the lessons learned from setbacks tend to last longer than those that come from triumphs. The human psyche, or at least mine, tends to dwell on what could have been done better when we have fallen short. This is important because I have always tried to stay grounded and grateful for whatever success has come during my career.”
Specifically, Mr. Davison recalls working at Danone when development plans changed due to external challenges on a global level.
“One of my toughest assignments was 15 years ago, running Asia, the Middle East, and Southern Africa for Danone’s Dairy Division,” he says. “At the time, the
“When transitioning from CEO to a board chair, one of the biggest challenges is to stop thinking you’re still the CEO. If you’re too hands-on, you risk overtly undermining the leader and executive team—yet, if you are too handsoff, you may altogether miss the opportunity to prevent a disastrous wrong turn.”
—John Davison
core Europe business was struggling to navigate flat consumer markets and tough regulatory change, while simultaneously, the Group was forging ahead with important acquisitions in Russia and later the USA. These activities soaked up all the company’s resources, making life very difficult in emerging markets, where capital investments had already been made—such as factories in Thailand, Korea, Iran, Indonesia, and Australia, to name just a few—and further resources were very limited to follow through on these initial investments, making it much more difficult to build consumer demand or the best route to market. It felt a bit like being sent on a mission to Mars, only to realize halfway that you probably won’t have enough fuel to get back.”
Such challenges re-impressed upon Mr. Davison the importance of strategic focus, “sizing the prize” in each market, and assessing upfront what it would really take to win in each geography. For Mr. Davison, leading the emerging market charge helped him develop a much more agile and entrepreneurial mindset to keep the businesses on track.
“These are business disciplines I’ve tried to uphold ever since,” he says. “I look back with pride at some of the businesses we did manage to build and the many partnerships we created. And I certainly remember with great respect some of the great people I worked with on those challenging assignments.”
For executives interested in leveraging their experience at the board level, Mr. Davison recommends starting that journey sooner rather than later, as the rewards that come from that experience can be transformational.
“To drive transformation, a board first needs to secure the right people for the job, starting with the CEO, and then ensure that the CEO can hire the right executive team. This team then must develop a compelling transformation plan behind which the board and shareholders can align.”
—John Davison
“If you’re interested in governance, don’t delay it too long,” he recommends. “People may assume you wait until the twilight years of your career to join a board, that it’s something you turn to in retirement when you step back from full-time work. This may well be true for some, but in retrospect, I wish I’d gotten involved in governance work earlier than I have, and more broadly than purely in a business setting.”
Additionally, he counsels others exploring board directorships not to limit themselves strictly to business related pursuits.
“I’ve really enjoyed my years serving on the Advisory Board at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business at Singapore Management University. Watching an educational institution evolve rapidly from its relatively recent founding has been very rewarding. I hope to take these valuable experiences in education elsewhere when my tenure runs its course in the next year or two.”
Lastly, he advises others to remember that there is value in all board-level experience, not just with Fortune 500 organizations.
“Companies are crying out for smart, experienced managers to provide guidance and governance—not just big corporations, but also smaller, less organized companies starting out with great energy and ideas but maybe lacking in experience to chart the best course forward. I recommend starting somewhere where you can hit the ground running, and aim to focus on a sector you’re passionate about, as this gives you added motivation to stay current. For me, beyond the business world, that’s education, music, and nature. I certainly look forward to finding new opportunities in these areas.” IQ
perspectives you need right now at
Stay tuned in to the latest insights at insigniam.com/thought-leadership.
Even the best executive can benefit from new thinking and different action. Find the fresh perspectives you need right now at insigniam.com/thought-leadership. Stay tuned in to the latest insights at insigniam.com/quarterly-magazine.
Three-quarters of all enterprise transformations fail. To prevent yours from becoming a statistic, an understanding of complex adaptive systems is key.
By Shideh Sedgh BinaIn 1980, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Giorgio Parisi revealed groundbreaking findings regarding concealed patterns within disordered complex materials. These discoveries significantly advanced the understanding of complex systems, offering insights applicable not only to
physics but also to the fields of mathematics, biology, neuroscience, and machine learning.
Four decades later, Parisi published In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems in 2021, which ventured into an unexpected realm—the flight patterns of starling bird flocks. His study illuminated how the action of a single starling could set off cause-and-effect loops, altering the entire flock’s flight pattern without the awareness of others.
Like starlings, individuals—through actions like conversations with other people, engaging in social media or viewing a favorite news outlet—can trigger collective actions that ripple through a market. Applying these concepts to organizations, where individuals make independent decisions, mirror a single bird’s ability to alter a flock’s flight pattern.
For Parisi, an understanding of econophysics (which examines how individual actions trigger cause-and-effect feedback loops, akin to one bird’s movement changing a flock’s flight pattern) paired with his knowledge of complexity afforded him insight into how change is affected at scale.
We all know that predicting human behavior within organizations is inherently challenging. Yet we don’t really have a way to account for this in managing big change or transformation. Many transformation efforts fail because leaders attempt to approach organizations as linear and predictable entities. Organizations, akin to starling flocks, embody complex adaptive systems.
Simply defined, complex adaptive systems are made up of many individuals—often referred to as agents. As each agent interacts with another agent and with situations and circumstances, they each evolve and shift, almost nothing is static. These agents, in turn, interact with other agents, situations and circumstances and again they change and shift. As you can see, in this type of system, nothing stays the same and anything can have (and most often does have) an impact on everything.
In an enterprise, complexity arises from dynamic changes—including both internal
Birds of a Feather
In 2021, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Giorgio Parisi published
In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems, which illuminates how the action of a single starling can set off cause-and-effect loops, altering the entire flock’s flight pattern without the awareness of others. Like starlings, individuals can trigger collective actions that ripple through markets, such as through conversations with others or by consuming media from a preferred news outlet.
and external forces—such as globalization, competition, workforce diversity, and innovation, among other variables. Through this definition, we can begin to understand the nature of how complex adaptive systems manifests in the real world.
As a system’s dynamic is non-linear, it is almost impossible to predict or command the actions, thoughts and perceptions of the thousands of agents engaged in the internal and external system. In reality, all organizations are complex adaptive systems.
Emergence is that which arises out of chaos—patterns, behaviors, or outcomes— due to (often simple) interactions of the constituent parts with each other and the surrounding environment. Here, there is no “leader” deciding on the behavior of the system. Yet, intentional leadership can guide this chaos to build a framework for successful transformation.
Moreover, in complex adaptive systems, it’s essential for leaders and teams to challenge linear, cause- and-effect assumptions. One of the reasons most organizations fail to realize their goals for transformation is because processes are viewed as direct systems that advance from one logical stage to another.
For enterprise transformations to succeed, leaders must first approach their organizations as dynamic, nonlinear ecosystems. They must then gain insight into the currently-in-place, often not-formally-set rules that organize the behaviors and thinking in the area they seek to transform. Once distinguished or revealed, these rules need to be disengaged or neutralized. Only then can leaders invent new solutions and integrate them into the framework of an enterprise.
In Engaging Emergence, Peggy Holman defines emergence as the creation of new, organized structures from chaos through
interactions within a system. This process occurs when interactions disrupt the system, leading to novel outcomes. To navigate this complexity, organizations must establish a strategic frame that fosters the emergence of their desired future. Key components include:
• Empowering Context: Creating a motivating environment where employees are committed to an inspiring future, even without guarantees. This context shapes perceptions and actions, driving execution of strategic plans.
• Coordination and Alignment: At all levels, people must share commitment to the future and adapt their ways of working. Protocols for unexpected situations ensure resilience in execution.
• Integrity and Accountability: Executives must encourage transparency and accountability during strategy execution. Acknowledging that plans may need adjustment fosters adaptability and prevents blame-shifting when issues arise.
Effective strategy execution involves engaging with circumstances as they unfold, adapting to shifts, and leveraging opportunities. Executives relinquish strict control in favor of empowering employees to achieve extraordinary results, even amid uncertainty. This approach, grounded in integrity and accountability, allows organizations to navigate complexity and realize their strategic goals.
Today’s business environment is defined by steady, relentless change. The ability to embrace and instill change quickly and effectively has become a core corporate competency. But in our experience, most organizations have not mastered the art of change. They lack the proper focus, dooming organizational shifts—both big and
Knowledge of complex adaptive systems can equip leaders with valuable insights into the dynamics of change on a large scale. This understanding provides a framework for how individual actions within an organization can lead to ripple effects and feedback loops, akin to how the movement of one bird influences the flight pattern of an entire flock.
small—before they even begin. The ability to embrace and instill change quickly and effectively necessitates that leaders:
Intentional leadership is the key to achieving successful change. Hence, the most effective change endeavors are spearheaded by a united coalition of leaders with a shared vision. These leaders, known as change masters, are tasked with aligning, and articulating all organizational commitments for the change initiative.
This team is responsible for instilling accountability by clearly outlining each person’s role in the endeavor. Simultaneously, they must energize the organization, inspiring individuals to strive for breakthrough results.
Address Implementation as Part of The Design Process Leaders often fail to bring the implementers—those whose job it is to execute the change—into the design process. Seeking their input could help arm your initiative against potential breakdowns—ones that only the in-thetrenches eyes of the implementers would be able to see. To avoid this worst-case scenario, it is important to consider:
• Who will be implementing the change strategy?
• How do they see the proposed changes at this time?
• What challenges will they be faced with during the implementation?
Designing an implementation plan for your initiative cannot be done in an ivory tower. Instead, it should be an empathetic journey that involves those who will be responsible for carrying out the change.
The ability to embrace and instill change quickly and effectively has become a core corporate competency. But in our experience, most organizations have not mastered the art of change.
By combining retrospective analysis with a forward-thinking understanding of complex adaptive systems, leaders can cultivate a comprehensive approach for managing the interplay between individual actions, systemic dynamics, and emergent outcomes within their organizations.
Resistance to change poses a significant challenge for many business leaders, often causing sleepless nights for executives and their teams. Typically, this resistance isn’t overt or widely broadcasted.
Instead of openly opposing change, employees may seek to influence it to align with their preferences. They establish informal rules, practices, and protocols to retain control over aspects affecting their work, aiming to safeguard their success. However, when change threatens these unwritten norms, employees may seek alternative means to maintain control and sustain their success.
According to John Paul Kotter, Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at the Harvard Business School, one of the reasons transformations fail is leaders ineffectively communicate their vision. He challenges leaders to turn up their volume by a factor of 10. The goal? To compress the acceptance and engagement cycle many employees go through when new change initiatives are launched. This cycle typically sees employees pose questions such as “is the change credible?,” and “how is it relevant to me—can I wait it out?”
Rather than focusing on the change at hand, employees might instead think of a previous change initiative they were a part of, how they were affected by it, and survived it. The communications plan can also help leaders fight the rumor mill, which can incorrectly shape how a change is perceived.
4
More than three decades ago, Insigniam pioneered the field of breakthrough and transformation. We define breakthroughs as specific, measurable results, outcomes,
or performances that are unprecedented or unlikely given an organization’s history, resources, and operating environment.
These breakthroughs fundamentally alter what is deemed possible, opening new opportunities for the company’s future without compromising quality, integrity, or well-being. They are the result of individuals thinking and acting in novel ways, paving the way for new fields of opportunity.
If you want to drive change that is truly going to be different, it must be organized around a breakthrough—otherwise, people will approach the change as if they are fixing from the past rather than inventing from the future. Without a change designed around a breakthrough, people will remain confined within their current mindset, reluctant to abandon familiar practices or embrace innovative thinking.
5
Every organization consists of various constituencies, or stakeholders, each with their own interests and responsibilities. To ensure successful change, it’s crucial to involve and empower every group— whether it’s the IT department, human resources, middle management, or line employees, in aligning with the common goal of the initiative. Giving each constituency a voice and involving them in decision-making fosters ownership and support for the change process, as people tend to back what they help create.
Lastly, these five factors should not be seen as a linear checklist but rather as integral parts of a holistic change-making system, where each factor contributes to the overall success of change initiatives, creating a solid foundation for progress.
Knowledge of complex adaptive systems can equip leaders with valuable insights into the dynamics of change on a large scale. This understanding provides a framework for how individual actions within an organization can lead to ripple effects and feedback loops, akin to how the movement of one bird influences the flight pattern of an entire flock. However, it’s important to note that retrospective analysis alone— indicative of econophysics—may constrain an organization’s ability to predict future outcomes accurately.
By combining retrospective analysis with a forward-thinking understanding of complex adaptive systems, leaders can cultivate a comprehensive approach for managing the interplay between individual actions, systemic dynamics, and emergent outcomes within their organizations—and respond proactively to change, driving their organizations towards sustainable success in an everevolving landscape. IQ
Portions of this article are derived from the work of Werner Erhard and are used with permission.
Reinventing the Reinventing the
ACHIEVE YOUR CRITICAL & ESSENTIAL RESULTS
For Michelin North America CEO and President Alexis Garcin, innovating at full throttle while ensuring the 135-yearold mobility company never relegates employees to the backseat is essential for achieving his critical results.
BY DIANE GABRIEL“Understanding that our people make our results possible is the theme of our strategy in North America, and it is a very strong conviction of all of us.”—Alexis Garcin CEO & President, Michelin North America
Picture yourself perusing a major international auto show, surrounded by the latest and greatest gizmos and gadgetry on four wheels. From leading-edge selfdriving wizardry and revolutionary fuel cell technologies to groundbreaking safety features—like retina scanning software that monitors a driver for drowsiness—the automotive industry continues to pioneer advancements that will no doubt change the way we define mobility in the decades ahead.
However, you would be remiss to overlook where perhaps the greatest advancements in automotive technology are currently being developed: vehicle tires.
While not as alluring as the sculpted body lines of the latest hypercar, tires are literally where rubber meets the road and cannot be understated as one of the greatest factors in vehicle performance, safety, and mileage range—as well as a dozen other variables that contribute to overall driver satisfaction and comfort.
At the front of the pack in terms of tire innovation is Michelin, the 135-year-old industry stalwart based in Clermont-Ferrand, France. In 2023, the company posted a total net revenue of $30 billion (USD), made possible through the effort of 132,000 global employees across several subsidiaries and associated brands.
Founded in 1881, innovation is truly baked into the company’s DNA. In 1891, Michelin developed the world’s first detachable bicycle tire with an innertube.
In 1933, the company invented the first dedicated snow tire and, in 1934, introduced the precursor to run-flat technology. Perhaps most consequentially, Michelin unveiled the first radial tire in 1946, which not only improved overall safety and increased the lifespan of a tire four-fold, but remains the standard design for essentially all automotive tires produced globally.
Today, Michelin is leading the way in terms of innovation, especially in the realms of construction, connectivity, and customer experience. The Connected Technologies moniker encapsulates a set of tire technologies developed by the company that capture and communicate information about the tire—from pressure, wear, temperature, and more—directly to customers to improve their safety and mobility experience, but also to reduce the company’s environmental impact via enhanced production practices and improved cost control.
With integrated sensors built into the tire—and algorithms that analyze data in real-time from both the tires and the vehicle—the company’s Connected Technologies can help drivers optimize their vehicle suspension settings, understand when their tires should be rotated, and estimate battery life for electric vehicles.
Understandably, for a firm with such a large appetite for innovation, a hand must be firmly affixed to the wheel, steering that progress forward, especially as the auto
industry races to meet consumer demand for inventive features and sustainable technologies. For Michelin, that person is Alexis Garcin, CEO and President of Michelin North America, Inc.
Based in Greenville, South Carolina, Mr. Garcin oversees a vast empire boasting over $9.1 billion (USD) in sales. No longer simply a tire manufacturer, Michelin has fashioned itself into a mobility company that strives to catalyze Motion for Life, a philosophy that encapsulates the company’s approach to developing solutions specifically adapted to the needs of an evolving industry and customer base.
Although Mr. Garcin certainly has his eye affixed on the company’s product and services portfolio—where innovation is a prerequisite for realizing his critical and essential results—he is quick to credit the 23,000 associates he leads across the U.S. and Canada as the engine driving the company to achieve its ambitious sustainability and market share goals for 2024 and beyond.
“Understanding that our people make our results possible is the theme of our strategy in North America, and it is a very
strong conviction of all of us,” says Mr. Garcin. “Michelin employees challenge norms to give people better, safer, more efficient products and services. Our people will always come first in what we do and I believe that they have been the key to maintaining our strong corporate culture.”
Mr. Garcin’s journey with Michelin began in 2002 as the sales director of the car dealer channel in France, marking the inception of a career steeped in automotive expertise. Prior to his tenure, Garcin honed his leadership acumen at Bosch Group, where he held pivotal roles, including sales director of the Western Europe power tool division.
Once at Michelin, Mr. Garcin ascended through the ranks within the passenger car division, assuming sales director roles across European markets before assuming the mantle of managing director at Euromaster, Michelin Group’s retail network.
In 2011, Mr. Garcin transitioned to a global role, steering Michelin’s strategic marketing endeavors for their truck and bus division until 2017, when he was tapped to lead the company’s long-distance and
Circular Economy
According to Mr. Garcin, Michelin’s business practices across Nova Scotia, Canada— home of the company’s Bridgewater plant—have earned deep respect from the local communities, and contributes to thriving schools, businesses, sports, art and culture. In March 2023, Mr. Garcin hosted Canadian. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston (foreground left), and delegate of Canadian government officials at the Bridgewater plant.
Mr. Garcin understands that he cannot take his foot off the pedal in terms of leading a very ambitious set of sustainability goals outlined in the company’s
“All Sustainable” strategy, unveiled in 2021.
regional transportation business line. In June 2019, Mr. Garcin was named CEO and chair of the company’s North American operating group, encompassing 34 plants in the U.S. and Canada, which produces a full suite of products for the company’s passenger, commercial, and aerospace customers.
Guided by purpose, humility, and authenticity, Mr. Garcin champions the ethos of prioritizing people and driving progress by challenging norms, regularly engaging with a diverse array of stakeholders for inspiration.
“We care about giving people a better way forward and are dedicated to developing innovative mobility solutions that really surpass customer expectations,” says Mr. Garcin. “For me, this reinforces the concept of humility because it takes the entire organization—from designers and engineers to the product line—to consistently achieve the highest levels of quality. This is also how we build trust with our customers and is why Michelin is the most awarded tire brand in the U.S. today.”
A critical aspect of Mr. Garcin’s leadership agenda is his commitment to Michelin’s diversity pledge. According to the trade journal Rubber News, Michelin has set its sights on exceeding the industry standard for workforce diversity, with the company aiming to achieve the benchmark of women holding 35 percent of management roles. Ultimately, Michelin Group—and by extension, Michelin North America—aims to set the industry standard for workforce diversity by 2030.
To get a sense of progress to date, look no further than the company’s 2022 financial report, which highlights Michelin’s ongoing commitment to global diversity initiatives. The report revealed that nearly 30% of managerial positions within the company are held by women, which according to CSR Hub—who monitors environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) ratings of over 35,000 organizations—helps elevate Michelin into the 92nd percentile of companies measured.
Furthermore, the company has repeatedly found itself the recipient of accolades from publications and organizations championing
women and minority professionals. That list includes Woman Engineer Magazine and Minority Engineer Magazine, both of which named the company a “Top 50 Employer” in 2022. That same year, the Hispanic Network named Michelin a “Best of the Best” for their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
For Mr. Garcin, a personal commitment to diversity and inclusion—as well as his mission and purpose of putting people first—naturally dovetails with Michelin’s five core values, rooted in the principle of respect: Respect for Customers; Respect for People; Respect for Shareholders; Respect for the Environment; Respect for Facts.
“The world is changing at higher speeds every day, and being part of an organization that is representative of the consumers and the society we serve resonates deeply with
our people and creates an environment where they feel they truly belong,” says Mr. Garcin. “Our values aren’t just posters on the wall; they are foundational and fuel a sense of belonging across the company.”
Moreover, Mr. Garcin believes the company’s DE&I focus will be critical for maintaining a competitive edge, particularly in terms of sustained talent acquisition and retention. According to Ernst & Young’s Belonging Barometer, over 60% of Generation Z workers—those born during the late 1990s and early 2000s—would choose an employer that prioritizes DE&I over one that does not. The business case is clear when juxtaposed with projections from the World Economic Forum, noting that Gen Z will comprise 30% of the labor force by 2025.
“On a personal note,” says Mr. Garcin, “what really energizes me and fills me with pride is the way that everyone comes together to make Michelin such a great place to work. Our employees rightfully have high expectations of our mission as an employer, and we work hard to create and preserve an environment where people feel valued, can achieve their best, and reach their true potential. This is truly at the heart of everything we do.”
As Mr. Garcin navigates how to create a powerfully inclusive organization to fuel Michelin’s longterm growth, he also understands that he cannot take his foot off the pedal in terms of leading a very ambitious set of sustainability goals outlined in the company’s “All Sustainable”
By 2050, Michelin’s goal is to produce 100% sustainable tires, with a target of 40% renewable by 2030. Given that each tire is comprised of over 200 different ingredients and compounds—from rubber and silica to textiles and metals—the level of complexity skyrockets, especially when reformatting an entire global supply chain to be 100% sustainable.
In the Fall of 2002, Mr. Garcin (center) was an intern who worked at Michelin’s Montceau-Les-Mines
strategy, unveiled in 2021.
By 2050, Michelin’s goal is to produce 100% sustainable tires, with a target of 40% renewable by 2030. At first pass, one might be forgiven for assuming this can be easily achieved by simply innovating a few production and procurement processes. However, given that each tire is comprised of over 200 different ingredients and compounds—from rubber and silica to textiles and metals—the level of complexity skyrockets, especially when reformatting an entire global supply chain to be 100% sustainable.
“We are in the midst of the greatest transformation in the automotive industry,” says Mr. Garcin. “When people ask me why these goals are critical and essential to our longterm success, I tell them that at Michelin, we believe mobility cannot be achieved at the expense of people or the planet,” says Mr. Garcin. “We approach innovation at Michelin from the standpoint
that it must be good for nature just as it is for society, which complements our strategy and purpose of providing people with a better way forward.”
To achieve these critical milestones, Michelin has partnered with forwardthinking companies and startups in various industries that promote the reuse of raw materials and enhanced sustainability. In collaboration with Axens and IFP Energies Nouvelles, Michelin is part of the BioButterfly project, aiming to produce biosourced butadiene, which is used to produce synthetic rubber products. By utilizing biomass from diverse sources like wood, rice husks, and plant waste, Michelin aims to incorporate 4.2 million tons of wood chips annually into its tires.
Additionally, a partnership with Canada’s Pyrowave focuses on recycling styrene—crucial for manufacturing polystyrene and synthetic rubber—from plastic packaging. The collaboration could
potentially recycle tens of thousands of tons of polystyrene waste annually.
Other partnerships include French startup Carbios, which developed an enzymatic process to deconstruct PET plastic waste, which could recycle up to four billion plastic bottles into tire manufacturing annually, and Swedish company Enviro, set to construct the world’s first tire recycling plant, promoting circularity in rubber-based production. Lastly, Michelin’s involvement in the European BlackCycle consortium underscores its commitment to the circular economy by developing processes for producing new tires from end-of-life tires, furthering sustainability efforts within the industry.
Yet, in addition to Michelin’s effort to lead in terms of sustainability, it also must contend with how to stay ahead of the market in an extremely competitive sector, especially as demand for electric vehicles— and smart tires—has massive impacts on the company’s global strategy. In tandem with reducing the company’s environmental footprint, Mr. Garcin believes that the future of sustainable mobility will include electrification, hydrogen connectivity, and embedded technologies that cater to safety and the overall driving experience. Fortunately, the company anticipated the road ahead over 30 years ago and can draw on a wealth of research and development expertise to stay ahead of the market.
“As electrification and hybridization within the industry continues to trend upward, we are very proud that eight out of 10 electric vehicle manufacturers trust and depend on Michelin tires in the U.S.,” says Mr. Garcin. “In 1992, we began working on how to reduce vehicle gas consumption by improving tire rolling resistance. As it turns out, this same approach can be adapted when producing products for electric vehicles (EVs), which often have higher torque than those powered by combustion engines. This leads to higher friction, sensitivity, and rolling resistance, thereby impacting overall range. This is why tires are the most critical range-extending feature on an EV today.”
The advancements that Mr. Garcin and his team are developing also apply to commercial and fleet vehicles—including
those that will depend on hydrogen fuel cell technologies—which have higher payload specifications and, thus, unique tire requirements.
“Michelin understands the concerns of long-distance transportation companies when integrating EV trucks and buses into their fleet, especially in terms of range and charging speed,” says Mr. Garcin. “Hydrogen-powered fuelcell electric vehicles (FCEVs) offer an alternative and have shown they can meet demand for long-distance transportation. From a strategic standpoint, we’ve dedicated research and development to better understand how we can meet the needs of FCEVs in fleet transportation.”
The caveat, says Mr. Garcin, is by what means the hydrogen is produced and whether it aligns with Michelin’s “All Sustainable” commitment.
“Hydrogen can be a very clean way to create electricity, yet it must be green hydrogen, which is produced via water electrolysis, thereby using renewable electricity,” says Mr. Garcin. “Green hydrogen production is far superior from a greenhouse gas emissions standpoint versus traditional or grey hydrogen, which is captured from fossil fuels.”
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, hydrogen offers a tremendous upside in terms of range—but only if the emergent technology is closely monitored by regulators who can ensure hydrogen fuel leaks are minimized since even a small amount of leakage could significantly compromise its effectiveness as a clean fuel.
“There is a significant range upside compared to current battery-electric tractor trucks from legacy manufacturers, which can take around 90 minutes to charge enough to travel 200 miles,” says the group. “However, some battery-electric models are beginning to catch up. Fleets testing the Tesla Semi have reported the vehicles achieve nearly 500 miles of range in the real world, and Tesla claims they can regain up to 70 percent of charge in 30 minutes using their megacharger.”
All told Mr. Garcin’s ability to keep the company on track toward achieving such ambitious goals is already coming to fruition.
“To give some perspective, we unveiled two new road-ready tires in October 2022,
Alexis Garcin serves as the CEO and President of Michelin North America, Inc., a role he assumed in June 2019. In this capacity, he oversees all operations of Michelin in North America, which includes managing a workforce of approximately 23,000 employees and driving sales exceeding $9.1B (USD) across Canada and the United States. Prior to his tenure at Michelin, Garcin held various positions at the Bosch Group, including sales director for Western Europe of the power tool division. He is a graduate of the University Lumière in Lyon, France, where he earned a degree in Economic Sciences, and Saint-Etienne Business School in France, where he obtained a master’s degree in Business and Management. He currently is the chairman of the board of the United States Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA).
“The world is changing at higher speeds every day, and being part of an organization that is representative of the consumers and the society we serve resonates deeply with our people and creates an environment where they feel they truly belong.”
—Alexis Garcin CEO & President, Michelin North America
one for passenger cars and the other for buses. The passenger car tire incorporates 45% sustainable materials, and the bus tire features 58%. I believe this demonstrates not only that Michelin is well on its way to achieving our goals but also the critical role that innovation plays in our commitment to sustainability.”
While Michelin continues charging forward to reach its sustainability goals, Mr. Garcin understands that the road ahead will undeniably be faced with unforeseen bumps and potholes— some of which the company presently contends with, particularly in terms of speed to market.
“We must ensure that we can meet current and projected demand, while at the same time, we are an industrial business, and it takes an investment of time to successfully adapt our manufacturing processes to align with this evolution,” he says.
Yet, for Mr. Garcin, maintaining this balance also presents an accelerated opportunity for the entire organization to understand how evolving customer preferences will impact every aspect of Michelin’s business. By being able to anticipate where customer tastes are evolving, teams are better situated to adapt and adjust to market demand.
“This balance between accelerating the business forward and coping with market evolution is critically important, and we believe it creates many more opportunities than challenges,” he says.
However, beyond the opportunity presented by the market, Mr. Garcin is energized to lead the alignment between people, planet, and profit—cemented within a sustainable framework and supported by the strategic capabilities of Michelin’s workforce.
“For me, this alignment means that our employees, our customers, and our communities are kept at the heart of our strategy—and they demand that from us. That truly excites me.” IQ
AI has the potential to transform numerous industries, yet experts believe it could also elevate the best of what it means to be human. Will we seize the opportunity?
BY JON KLEINMANhe meteoric rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in our lives is undeniable and filled with promises of efficiency and convenience. Yet, despite current attitudes about these emergent technologies—which oscillate between advocacy and alarm—a profound and largely unexplored question arises: can AI help us embrace the best of what it means to be human?
The question is predicated on the assumption that AI will ultimately eliminate many of the mundane and unsatisfying aspects of our work as executives, therefore affording us the time, space, and freedom to invent wholly new futures for our careers, our enterprises, and possibly, humanity itself.
Yet, this also represents the current paradox presented by AI; although it can churn out data and perform tasks with lightning speed, it presently lacks the ability to give our lives greater depth and meaning, such as the ability to inspire, lead, and emotionally resonate with human beings. To illustrate, let’s use recent advancements in AI-generated artworks as an example.
One of the most exciting prospects offered by AI is its ability to help people, teams, and enterprises leverage their newfound time and energy to pursue projects that inspire them, such as investing in the mentorship of team members, or engaging in strategic planning initiatives that shape the future of their organizations.
While art has long been heralded as a unique byproduct of the human experience, many AI-generated works appear to rival those created by humans.
In a 2023 study entitled, Humans Versus AI: Whether and Why We Prefer Human-Created
Compared to AI-created Artwork, Duke University researchers Lucas Bellaiche and Rohin Shahi, along with Martin Turpin from the University of Waterloo, examined preferences between human and AIgenerated art. The team conducted studies where participants evaluated paintings labeled as either “human-created” or “AI-created.”
Artworks labeled as “human-created” consistently received more positive evaluations across various criteria such as liking, beauty, profundity, and worth compared to those labeled as “AI-created.” Factors such as the perceived effort behind the artworks moderated these label effects, influencing sensory-level judgments such as beauty. Furthermore, participants with positive attitudes toward AI tended to mitigate bias against AI-created artworks, particularly in more communicative judgments like profundity and worth.
Overall, the researcher’s findings show the knowledge of human involvement in the artistic process positively influences the appraisal of art, emphasizing the importance of human engagement and creativity in the creation and appreciation of artworks.
Now, replace the notion of “art” with “leadership” and apply this same calculus to the business realm. We know that empathy and the ability to understand human motivations and behaviors are key aspects of effective leadership—something that, as of today, AI cannot fully understand or catalyze.
Yet, if we reframe our thinking and approach AI not as a replacement for the human factor, but rather, a conduit to a future where undesirable aspects of our professional lives are siphoned away, leaving space to focus on that which truly motivates us—and provide us with an opportunity to engage in more impactful, consequential work.
What AI Can and Can’t Do
Predictions regarding what AI could someday help our species achieve must first be grounded in what AI can do today.
One of the key capabilities of AI lies in its ability to process and analyze large volumes of data at incredible speeds. Unlike humans, AI systems can sift through massive datasets in a fraction of the time, extracting valuable insights and patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. This proficiency in data analysis allows businesses to make more informed decisions based on data-driven insights, which might include automating administrative tasks or managing inventory levels.
“One of the greatest use-cases for AI is its ability to eliminate mundane tasks that
machines can handle with much greater efficiency and at faster rates,” says Steve Steinberg, co-founder of Responsum—a large language model and generative AI acceleration platform that enables employees to prioritize tasks, eliminate repetitive work, streamline workflows and scale manual processes. Additionally, Mr. Steinberg is a partner at global consulting firm Elixirr, where he supports clients seeking strategic AI guidance and bespoke generative AI solutions to drive massive growth and transformation.1
“Many people worry that AI will eliminate or replace their jobs,” says Mr. Steinberg. “I’m a believer that roles will be elevated, and our work will be augmented with artificial intelligence, rather than replaced. By eliminating the repetitive work that many people find unappealing and draining, AI can help refocus our energy and attention on that which inspires us as humans—and therefore—aid us in unlocking the best of what it means to be a human being.”
However, it’s essential to recognize that AI also has its limitations. While AI excels in tasks that are rule-based and data-driven, it lacks the nuanced understanding and adaptability of human intelligence.
Since AI systems operate within predefined parameters and algorithms, they may struggle when confronted with ambiguity, incomplete or contradictory information, and complex decision-making tasks that require contextual understanding.
1 Insigniam is an Elixirr-owned company.
Essentially this means that AI is only as effective as the data it is trained on, which in turn, leads to concerns regarding biases in data or limitations in the training dataset, which can lead to skewed results or flawed decision-making by AI systems.
“One of the most debated and contested topics around AI is data bias,” says Mr. Steinberg. “There are a number of different areas where it comes into play, such as relying on data from the past to predict the future— which will automatically inherit existing biases, thereby compromising the quality of its predictions. For those working in this field, it is imperative to identify and remove those biases from the data if we seek to leverage AI to help provide solutions to the problems people are trying to solve.”
In his seminal 1974 book, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, author Studs Terkel wrote, “I think most of us are looking for a calling, not a job...most of us have jobs that are too small for our spirit. Jobs are not big enough for people.”
Mr. Terkel’s words perfectly encapsulate what is potentially AI’s most impactful use-case: By freeing enterprises from the drudgery of repetitive tasks, it creates an opportunity for humans to redefine their roles and careers in alignment with their passions and strengths.
Such a scenario would create space for people, teams, and enterprises to leverage their newfound time and energy to pursue projects that inspire them, invest in the mentorship of team members, or engage in strategic planning initiatives that shape the future of their organizations.
Capturing this sentiment in The New York Times column, David Brooks writes, “The most important thing about AI may be that it shows us what it can’t do, and so reveals who we are and what we have to offer.”
This also means that AI has the potential to enhance collaboration and creativity within teams by enabling employees to focus on collaborative problem-solving and idea generation, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
In a piece entitled, How AI Is Helping Companies Break Silos, published in the MIT Sloan Business Review, authors Zoran
Steve Steinberg, is a global leader in conversational AI and natural language processing, with over 20 years of experience in the technology sector. After starting his career consulting with the “Big 4,” he quickly pivoted to the startup world, driven by a passion for innovation and growth.
Mr. Steinberg cofounded Responsum because of his passion for emerging technology and creating meaningful customer and employee experiences. Responsum is an AI company that uses generative AI, large language models (LLMs), and other cutting-edge technology to drive business performance. As CEO, he is committed to educating companies on best practices and debunking myths while delivering measurable business value quickly.
As part of Elixirr, both Steve and Responsum support clients seeking strategic AI guidance and bespoke generative AI solutions to drive massive growth and transformation.
Latinovic and Sharmila C. Chatterjee argue that, when adopted appropriately, AI-enabled tools can “transform the ways in which employees communicate, collaborate, and coordinate their workflows.” The result, say the authors, is greater efficiency, more synchronization, and reduced tunnel vision within an enterprise.
“Companies that are in business together often don’t have full information or a clear picture of their partnership,” note the authors. “This can sometimes trigger an ‘us versus them’ mentality among colleagues and collaborators. As a result, opportunities are missed and problems don’t get solved.”
Reimagining career roles and responsibilities is a conversation executives should be engaging in now, says Dinika Mahtani, principal at Cherry Ventures—a seed-stage venture fund that champions founders in Europe—in an Forbes article entitled, How AI Is Changing The Future Of Work
“Generative AI will accelerate personalized and applied learning both inside and outside of the workplace,” she says. “As courses and books become quickly outdated, so will linear career pathways, giving way to
“If we prioritize people over technology, we can ensure that AI serves as a tool to enhance human potential and enrich our lives and contribute to a more humane and inclusive society.”—J.W. Dobbe Insigniam Consultant
a surge in both machine-driven and peerto-peer learning, similar to how YouTube, Instagram and TikTok leveraged the rise of smartphones and allowed people to share their lives through stories, we think that learning and upskilling will evolve as a result of GenAI.”
Additionally, there’s potential for AI to rebuild and redefine traditional sectors— creating job roles that largely do not presently exist, says Forbes Council Member Marco Iacoviello in his op-ed, How Does Artificial Intelligence Create New Jobs?
“For example, in the healthcare sector, AI can enhance medical diagnosis, expedite drug discovery and support telemedicine,” says Mr. Iacoviello. “This paves the way for professional profiles like ‘health data analysts’ who interpret and analyze data collected by AI systems to provide more precise and personalized diagnoses.”
Lastly, beyond inventing new career pathways and reinventing current roles, AI has the capacity to prompt societal introspection, challenging us to navigate global interconnectedness with improved cooperation, address systemic biases, and
reimagine governance and economic paradigms. While utopian ideals remain elusive given inherent human complexities, AI serves as a catalyst for profound societal introspection and potential transformation.
In the thesis AI For Social Good published by Keio University—a private research university located in Tokyo, Japan— researcher Soraj Hongladarom believes that the ethical development of artificial intelligence (AI) can be leveraged to promote social good, drawing on Buddhist principles of compassion.
Mr. Hongladarom argues that ethical AI must exhibit qualities of compassion, such as recognizing interdependence and striving to alleviate suffering. While machines may not possess consciousness, the paper contends that ethical considerations should be integrated into AI programming from the outset. Addressing objections, it clarifies that coding ethics into AI does not solely reflect the programmer’s values and emphasizes the importance of considering socio-cultural contexts.
For Elixirr partner John Kalil, helping clients contextualize and envision a new paradigm for AI to elevate our innately human capacity for transformational leadership, proper integration is foundational to both the success of their enterprise and the well-being of people within these organizations.
“In my approach, I prioritize practicality when considering implementing AI and automation into our client’s business processes,” says Mr. Kalil. “There are numerous instances within an organization where I can identify areas that, with just a bit of assistance, could yield significant value. Yet, I adhere to the mantra of ‘think big, start small, and scale fast,’ recognizing the importance of incremental progress.”
One key area where Mr. Kalil advocates a paradigm shift is rethinking our collective approach to enterprise software, which, prior to the AI revolution, had been the standard means of streamlining business processes, improving efficiency, and enhancing productivity.
“As businesses grow, they need tools to manage their growth, often in the form of rules-based software,” he says. “If we look
at the tools and capabilities that businesses have traditionally relied on versus what’s now emerging in the market, we are seeing AI overtaking enterprise software because traditional rules-based software models are no longer enough to handle the complexities of today’s markets—and they do little to create space for us to reinvent and elevate the work we do as humans.”
For example, Mr. Kalil says, “Traditional software struggles to adapt to complexity. When we consider innovative approaches for enterprises, we must adjust our focus in a few key areas. First, we must identify areas where customers or objectives face the most uncertainty and volatility. Second, it is critical to analyze data diversity and quality in order to make informed decisions. Lastly, we must pinpoint processes where scaling up means adding more people, such as demand planning or customer service. By leveraging automation, AI, and machine learning, businesses have an opportunity to achieve more with the same resources. It’s a great starting point for any enterprise looking to optimize their operations.”
Once optimized in an enterprise, the potential for AI to help humans connect to their humanity span multiple industries and sectors, says Insigniam consultant J.W. Dobbe, who monitors AI trends and impacts for clients across several verticals.
“The narrative surrounding AI is crucial; how we describe, view, and implement AI shapes its impact, especially on us as human beings,” says Mr. Dobbe. “If we prioritize people over technology, setting ethical parameters, and placing guardrails on human actions rather than machines, we can ensure that AI serves as a tool to enhance human potential and foster deeper connections, empathy, and understanding among individuals in ways that enrich our lives and contribute to a more humane and inclusive society.”
On the topic of enriching lives, one area of potential impact is in healthcare, where AI is expected to revolutionize diagnostic accuracy [click here to learn how Medtronic is utilizing AI-enabled devices to unlock previously unattainable patient outcomes] as well as personalized treatment plans and drug discovery. According to a recent report, AI applications in healthcare could potentially save the industry $150 billion (USD) annually
John Kalil brings over 25 years of experience to Elixirr, with some of the most respected businesses and clients in the world. His expertise spans strategy, technology, operations, and business transformation. John has also helped launch innovative new businesses, such as Infosys Consulting Inc. and Noodle.ai, from early startups to mature and thriving companies. Mr. Kalil was responsible for starting the retail and consumer packaged goods practices for the newly established Infosys Consulting Inc. in 2004. He grew that business to maturity before serving as the firm’s COO and was later responsible for leading management consulting services for Infosys Limited across all industries and solutions.
As a partner at Elixirr, Mr. Kalil’s focus is on building services in the artificial intelligence, machine learning, supply chain, industrial and consumer spaces, and beyond, bringing an intelligence lens across a wide variety of strategy, technology, and operations to all his work.
J.W. Dobbe has consulting experience in professional change management and business transformation strategy. He has served multinational companies in industries such as IT solutions, financial services, manufacturing, food and beverage, and retail industries.
Mr. Dobbe’s skills include business process re-engineering, workflow and operations analysis, organizational change management, agile management, and IT project management. He also closely monitors trends in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data strategy, and emerging technologies in order to provide Insigniam clients with insight and perspective as to the right solutions for their enterprises.
Prior to working in consulting, JW graduated with a Master of Science Degree in Management Consultancy from the University College Dublin and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Management with minors in International Business and Global Studies from California State University, Chico.
human beings,” says Mr. Dobbe. “If we prioritize people over technology, setting ethical parameters, and placing guardrails on human actions rather than machines, we can ensure that AI serves as a tool to enhance human potential and foster deeper connections, empathy, and understanding among individuals in ways that enrich our lives and contribute to a more humane and inclusive society.”
On the topic of enriching lives, one area of potential impact is in healthcare, where AI is expected to revolutionize diagnostic accuracy [click here to learn how Medtronic is utilizing AI-enabled devices to unlock previously unattainable patient outcomes] as well as personalized treatment plans and drug discovery. According to a recent report, AI applications in healthcare could potentially save the industry $150 billion (USD) annually in the U.S. alone by 2026.
Additionally, AI has the potential to transform the educational sector by personalizing learning experiences, providing adaptive tutoring, and automating timeconsuming administrative tasks for educators.
Likewise, the transportation industry is leveraging AI-driven advancements in autonomous vehicles to reduce traffic congestion, create safer roads, and increase accessibility options for people with disabilities.
Lastly, AI technologies could also help solve one of mankind’s greatest 21st-century challenges: accelerating climate change and the looming potential for global climate collapse. By addressing environmental challenges, optimizing energy consumption, predicting natural disasters, and monitoring wildlife conservation efforts, AI-powered climate models could improve the accuracy of climate change predictions and inform policy decisions.
“Outside of the workplace, I’m excited by the potential offered by AI, and I believe it will have a profound impact our collective society,” says Mr. Steinberg. “As we look down the road into the next decade, a combination of factors will ultimately influence how we live our lives, potentially alleviating current stresses and allowing for a more balanced lifestyle.” IQ
To gauge how human CEOs and the latest generative AI-tools approach critical leadership questions differently, we asked both: “What essential skills must a CEO have to be an inspirational leader who grows and develops talent across an enterprise?”
“As CEO, you quickly realize, ‘I’ve got to have the right people around me to get the work done.’ But it’s no longer good enough to just focus on your core team, because your core team doesn’t touch everything. You have to be engaged in executive development with the next layer down. The single most important job for a CEO is to attract the right talent into the organization and make sure they’re being developed, engaged, leveraged and retained.”
—Doug Conant | Former CEO & President, Campbell Soup Company, IQ Spring 2020“A CEO must master mentorship, fostering talent growth and development. Strong interpersonal skills and visionary leadership inspire a culture of learning and innovation. Strategic alignment and effective communication ensure talent maximizes impact. Transparency, empathy, and engagement cultivate a supportive environment for continuous growth across the enterprise.”
—ChatGPT
“You’re dealing with people, so the skillset you develop is understanding why do people do what they do, because you deal with that all day in and day out. I actually think [my time in HR] made me a lot better in the roles I had subsequently. In fact, that opportunity really helped me understand people’s systems, because talent is what distinguishes your company.”
—Mary Barra | CEO, General Motors, Speaking at the WSJ Women in the Workplace event“An inspirational CEO fosters a culture of growth by combining strategic vision with clear communication. They empower employees by delegating effectively and celebrating achievements. They should also possess emotional intelligence to inspire and develop talent across all levels of the organization.”
—Google Gemini
“We have to do everything we can to run a top-tier retail network and I’ve tried hard to be accessible and to join my team in the trenches. Any CEO who walks in puffed up about themselves has begun to lose the battle. It’s critical to us to have that mindset.
—Steve
Preston | CEO, Goodwill IQ Spring 2020
An op-ed by Insigniam’s co-founding partners on the recent acquisition by Elixirr, and how it enables an exciting new future for clients.
BY SHIDEH SEDGH BINA AND NATHAN OWEN ROSENBERG
Editor’s Note: While IQ traditionally does not include articles about Insigniam specifically, we wanted to share some insight and perspective with you regarding our recent acquisition by Elixirr, based on questions we received from our readers and Insigniam clients. We promise not to break this rule in the future. Thank you.
EEmbarking on a merger or acquisition (M&A) marks a critical juncture for any organization aspiring to elevate itself to the next growth stage. Yet, the realm is not for the faint of heart. According to a report by The Harvard Business Review, between 70% to 90% fail. To succeed, every step of the M&A process demands careful consideration and meticulous planning, especially when determining the opportune moment for such an endeavor.
Case in point, in December 2023, Insigniam announced the finalization of our acquisition by Elixirr, one of the UK’s fastestgrowing management consultancies, as listed by the Financial Times’ FT1000.1 Thusly, the experience provided us tremendous, firsthand insight into the intricacies of selecting a compatible acquisition partner and navigating unforeseen challenges when two world’s become one.
While IQ has traditionally been a medium to elevate the transformational results achieved by our clients and industry leaders, we thought it prudent to share our experience with those of you considering similar strategic moves. For us, the acquisition by Elixirr was critical and essential for Insigniam’s future—both in terms of new capabilities we can now bring to market and by enhancing the core services that our clients have trusted us to deliver for over 35 years.
Three-decades ago, we could see that the evolving landscape in the business world would require enterprises to focus on transformation and disruption. Today, leaders are more concerned about
Insigniam’s ability to drive transformation, define the C-suite agenda, and create breakthrough performance touches all aspects of Elixirr’s services platform—further enhancing our ability to the fulfill our client’s concerns and commitments in a rapidly changing business landscape.
KEY
Foundation of differentiated capabilities
Track record of accomplishing executive imperatives
Full range of impact from strategy to execution
chiseling rock-solid alignment between corporate culture and enterprise strategy, which have become table stakes for breakthroughs and transformations.
Additionally, the tech-fueled explosion of data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning has upended the conversation about what is possible for our clients, as well as how these technologies stand to elevate our work across a variety of verticals and channels.
At Insigniam, our purpose is that we exist to serve. This means that we must serve the fulfillment and the success of our client’s concerns and commitments. For us, the writing was on the wall: if we were to grow and flourish in the next era of business, our capabilities would also have to evolve as well.
To accomplish this, we faced a choice:we could create new capabilities in house or we could align ourselves with an established, respected partner with vast expertise in areas that complement our core services; one who not only understands Insigniam’s unique value proposition, but also how a foundation of shared beliefs and cultures could cause ‘the tide to rise’ for both organizations. This was how our decision to seek an acquisition partnership with Elixirr began to unfold.
One critical aspect that determines the success of a merger or acquisition is an airtight alignment of cultural synergies, which forms the bedrock of a solid partnership.
Before identifying what pieces of the puzzle would elevate Insigniam to the next level, we first had to turn our focus inward on ourselves to understand what makes us
truly unique—both in terms of how we view our firm internally and how we are perceived in the market.
As pioneers in the field of organizational transformation, we began shepherding largescale enterprise transformations long before the term was even a household name. In those days, we were often met with quizzical looks from executives when describing how we could compel their people to think newly and act differently to achieve results they could only dream of.
Yet, to deliver this reality to our clients, we also needed a firm that could provide an unrivaled customer experience. As the firm’s co-founding partners, we worked hard to build a culture that truly allows for the best in people to show up. Granted, everybody says that, right? Fortunately, we have the metrics to back it up.
For instance, our industry leading Net Promoter Score® of 66—with 85% of clients reporting that Insigniam provides more value than any other consulting firm—is not only indicative of our unparalleled reputation for catalyzing breakthrough results and speed to transformation, but also of our corporate culture, which enables this high degree of client success.2 Additionally, in our internal 2023 culture survey, our employee rating for overall satisfaction was 100%, and we’ve been certified as a Great Place to Work® for seven years in a row.
We achieved this level of employee engagement by serving as a true meritocracy in a gray world; our people know when they’re performing and when they’re not, based on open and transparent lines of
communication across every aspect of our business. Interestingly, and perhaps most uniquely in the consulting realm, many of our people have been with us for decades— something that only comes from doing meaningful work in an inspiring environment.
And while none of this was necessarily new information for us, it did help us understand our unique strength and value proposition: our ability to catalyze inspired human performance, both within our client’s organizations and within our own—a requisite for the breakthroughs, innovations, and transformations our clients rely on us to unlock in their organizations.
In recent years it became evident to us that technology and data are the core mediums of business moving forward, and it was an area of specific focus as we searched for the ideal acquisition partner.
Elixirr, known for their proven capabilities across the disciplines of artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, data and technology, and innovation, impressed us by their impressive growth and ability to deliver results for clients across many of the same industries we’ve been working within for decades.
However, if our search criteria ended at this point, the effectiveness of an acquisition would have been at risk. And yet, this is where many mergers and acquisitions go awry—they focus only on enhancing portfolios and bolstering profits and dismiss people as all but a passing concern. For us, the ideal partner needed to be a cultural fit as well. Otherwise, as our experience has taught us, everything else would be for naught.
Like courting a potential spouse, selecting the ideal partner to elevate your business is a careful consideration of multiple factors. Yet, for us, none was greater than the need for robust cultural alignment since it underpins and is rooted in every aspect of our work.
What immediately impressed us about Elixirr were the similarities between our cultures; both of which share a commitment to extraordinary performance and authenticity. As our clients will tell you, there isn’t much pretense at Insigniam and we immediately noticed those similarities within Elixirr, where there is a real sense of passion for the work they do.
Also within Elixirr is a deeply embedded sense of entrepreneurialism, which affords people the ability to create, own, and take on leadership beyond what their job title is. Every employee, from entry-level analysts to the most seasoned principals, is a true owner at Elixirr, by way of a variety of equity participation programs—which includes offering share options and an employee share purchase plan (ESPP) that gives employees the option to invest a percentage of their salary to purchase shares, which are 100% matched by Elixirr.
To us, this entrepreneurialism was a signal that Elixirr, like Insigniam, places an enormous premium on the human factor. It’s our view that everything in business comes down to human beings, and key outcomes like innovation are driven by teamwork. Like us, Elixirr believes that the most exceptional results come from putting great minds together to collaborate and design solutions that transform our client’s businesses.
Elixirr’s core competencies in data strategy, AI, and machine learning affords Insigniam a foundation to support our clients seeking to streamline repetitive workflows, scale manual processes, or optimize the customer experience.
For an enterprise, real magic comes from marrying technology with data strategy and the art of being human. In order to serve our clients, we know we must be able to provide all parts of that equation.
At Insigniam, much of our client work is rooted in questions such as, “How do you elevate the performance of every person in am organization to elevate the performance of the organization itself?,” and “How do I get my people to think differently about the marketplace, or break out of their patterns of behavior to produce a whole new set of results?”
Based on three-decades of working in these areas, we know we have the answers to those questions. Yet, if we take our knowledge about how to unlock inspired performance and apply it to a new set of criteria, such as, “How do you elevate the performance of every person in an organization through the use of emerging technologies and deep insights collected from a variety of new geographies?” We have the opportunity to answer those questions on a grander scale, thereby helping our clients create industrial magic on a completely new level.
Elixirr’s core competencies in data strategy, AI, and machine learning (ML) affords Insigniam a foundation to support our clients throughout their digital transformation—from end-to-end— whether they seek to streamline repetitive workflows, scale manual processes, analyze and organize data, identify and remedy data gaps, identify risk areas, and improve data accessibility across systems, thereby optimizing the customer experience. Insigniam is better able to holistically embed these capabilities into every decision, interaction, and process our clients make in order to unlock real business value.
In addition to our enhanced data competencies, our digital optimization capabilities can now help clients assess the full spectrum of digital services, ensuring they reach their intended audiences, customers, and key constituencies to get the best return on their investment.
Together, our enhanced data and digital integrations will enable our clients to utilize unique strategies and solutions to potentially generate new revenue. Yet, while new revenue streams may be music to many client’s ears, the true magic isn’t in the technology and the data.
For an enterprise, real magic comes from marrying technology with data strategy and the art of being human. In order to serve our clients, we know we must be able to provide
all parts of that equation. By applying our human-centric approach into the world of data, AI, and ML, we can help clients create new futures for themselves and their enterprises—the perfect combination of technology and the best of what it means to be human.
Welcome to Our Next Era
As we begin the next chapter in our journey, we are filled with a profound sense of optimism and purpose. This milestone represents not just a strategic transaction, but a pivotal moment in our quest to redefine the boundaries of excellence in the world of business.
For our clients, this acqusition signifies a new chapter of possibilities and opportunities. We firmly believe that infusing Insigniam’s legacy of transformation with Elixirr’s cutting-edge capabilities in data strategy, artificial intelligence, and machine learning will herald a new era of innovation and growth. Excitingly, it means we can offer our clients an enhanced, comprehensive suite of solutions tailored to their evolving needs.
But beyond the realm of technology and strategy lies the true essence of our value proposition: a relentless commitment to human-centric leadership and empowerment. Our clients are not just beneficiaries of our services; they are partners in a journey towards lasting success and fulfillment. With Insigniam, powered by Elixirr, by their side, they gain more than just expertise—they gain trusted advisors and allies dedicated to their prosperity and well-being.
Moreover, our shared values of authenticity, passion, and entrepreneurial spirit serve as the cornerstone of our partnership, ensuring that every interaction is imbued with integrity, empathy, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. It means our clients can trust us not just to deliver results, but to do so with transparency and a deep understanding of their unique challenges and aspirations.
As we embark on this new chapter together, we are confident that the synergies created by our union will propel our clients to push the boundaries of what’s possible, unlocking new opportunities, and charting new paths towards lasting success and prosperity. IQ
Elixirr co-founders Stephen Newton, CEO, and Graham Busby, CFO, and Insigniam co-founding partners Shideh Sedgh Bina and Nathan Owen Rosenberg, on how both organization’s capabilities are elevated for a new era.
“
A big part of our acquisition strategy is to find complimentary boutiques who can join Elixirr and help us do things that we can’t do today, so that collectively we’re greater than the sum of our parts.
—Stephen Newton Co-founder and CEO, Elixirr
For the executive team at Medtronic pioneers of AIenabled medical devices that offer patients previously unachievable outcomes innovation is more than a buzzword, especially when actual lives depend on it.
For a company such as Medtronic, what is urgent is also critical and essential: harnessing advances in big data and digitization to help doctors tailor treatments to patients like never before.
Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, referencing Dr. J. Roscoe Miller, president of Northwestern University, made a nowlegendary quip in a 1954 speech, which would later come to be known as the “Eisenhower Principle.” Said Ike, “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
Eisenhower’s words not only reflect his method of organizing workload and priorities but also represent a key consideration facing many CXOs racing to embed artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into key areas of their enterprises to create greater operational efficiencies.
For many, the Eisenhower Principle applies; the decision to address what is either urgent or important ultimately depends on the needs of the business, such as innovating arcane practices and processes to modernizing their supply chain.
However, what of the companies and organizations who can’t simply choose urgent over important, or vice versa, because both are equally critical and essential when lives are on the line?
One company that knows this principle all too well is Medtronic, a medical device developer based in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1949, Medtronic has grown exponentially to become the world’s largest medical device company. With more than 95,000 associates worldwide and an annual revenue of $31.2 billion (USD) in 2023, Medtronic operates through four primary business units: the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, the
Diabetes Group, the Restorative Therapies Group, and the Cardiac and Vascular Group. Across these units, Medtronic focuses on developing and producing a wide range of devices and therapies aimed at addressing over 30 chronic diseases. These include conditions such as heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, Down Syndrome, chronic pain, spinal disorders, and more.
In recent years, the company has garnered accolades and attracted media attention for breakthroughs in its endoscopy practice. To understand the impact these diseases have on the global populace, consider a report from the National Library of Medicine, which indicates that nearly 5 million new cases of gastrointestinal cancers were diagnosed in 2018, resulting in 3.4 million related deaths worldwide. All told, GI cancers account for 26% of the global cancer incidence and 35% of all cancer-related deaths.
For a company such as Medtronic, what is urgent is also critical and essential: harnessing advances in big data and digitization to help doctors tailor treatments to patients like never before. And by never before, the company means embracing AI and ML to create innovative products and platforms and, ultimately, better outcomes for patients for whom life is urgent and important.
In 2021, Medtronic’s GI Genius Intelligent Endoscopy Module received U.S. FDA clearance as the first and only AI system for colonoscopy. The module, developed in partnership with Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, employs a computeraided polyp detection system powered by AI, enabling physicians to detect colorectal
polyps that were once nearly invisible through standard identification methods.
During the FDA’s review process, it was found that GI Genius could identify labconfirmed adenomas or carcinomas in 55% of patients compared to identifying them in 42% of patients with standard colonoscopy, an observed difference of 13%.
According to Courtney H. Lias, Ph.D. acting director of the GastroRenal, ObGyn, General Hospital and Urology Devices Office in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, the work that Medtronic is doing stands to have a seismic impact on both the medical device industry as well as patient care.
“Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform healthcare to better assist providers and improve patient care,” said Dr. Lias in an FDA-issued press release.
“When AI is combined with traditional screenings or surveillance methods, it could help find problems early on, when
they may be easier to treat. Studies show that during colorectal cancer screenings, missed lesions can be a problem even for well-trained clinicians.”
As one can imagine, a breakthrough on the scale of GI Genius impacts multiple departments and disciplines, each with a powerful set of considerations regarding the market opportunity, AI capabilities, and overall impacts on patient health. To better understand those concerns, IQ spoke with three executive leaders within Medtronic—Giovanni Di Napoli, President, Endoscopy; Dr. Austin Lee Chiang, Chief Medical Officer, Endoscopy; and Ha Hong, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Endoscopy—to better understand how GI Genius is transforming their respective disciplines and enhancing the ability for practitioners and clinicians to care for patients in ways never before possible.
During the FDA’s review process of Medtronic’s GI Genius plaform, it was shown the AI-enabled device could identify lab-confirmed adenomas or carcinomas in 55% of patients compared to identifying them in 42% of patients with standard colonoscopy, an observed difference of 13%.
“Creating an [AIenabled] medical device is more like a marathon than a sprint. It’s essential to invest enough time in the initial planning phase and involve key stakeholders early on, including regulatory, clinical, business, marketing, and sales personnel.”
—Ha Hong Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Medtronic
IQ: Congratulations on Medtronic bringing the GI Genius Intelligent Endoscopy Module to market—the world’s first computer-aided polyp detection system powered by AI. Dr. Chiang, as chief medical officer at Medtronic, why is this module such a game-changer?
Dr. Chiang: GI Genius is revolutionary in terms of how physicians detect colorectal polyps of various sizes, shapes, and morphologies—many of which were previously undetectable via high-definition colonoscopies alone. By harnessing deep learning algorithms and real-time data, we empower physicians to detect and treat colorectal polyps through enhanced visualization, with a 99.7% sensitivity rate and fewer than 1% false positives.
In real terms, that means a 50% greater likelihood of detecting multiple polyps and a 53% increase in the detection of polyps in the distal colon. Additionally, this is all detected in realtime, thereby dramatically enhancing our ability to detect and treat early.
When you consider that most of us will need a colonoscopy screening for cancer by the age of 45, we can now pinpoint polyps on the screen during these procedures, potentially preventing them from being overlooked and reducing the need for follow-up appointments. This improves patient outcomes and lowers the likelihood of cancer developing in the first place, which is our ultimate goal.
Lastly, studies have shown significant advancements in cancer detection thanks to our technology, potentially leading to a decrease in cancer cases, which is a cause we’re deeply passionate about. And this is
just the beginning—AI holds immense promise in our field, not only in diagnosis but also in tailoring patient experiences and streamlining healthcare operations.
IQ: That’s a great segue to talk about how AI’s role in elevating the health and wellness of actual human beings. Mr. Hong, as chief artificial intelligence officer over the endoscopy business at Medtronic, you have greater purview than most into this world. I have read that you believe in putting patients and healthcare providers at the forefront of your work. From your perspective, how does the human factor in endoscopy complement machine intelligence?
Mr. Hong: At Medtronic, we believe in harnessing the power of both human and machine intelligence to enhance patient outcomes. Rather than replacing human intelligence with machines, we see machine intelligence as a valuable tool to support and complement human decision-making. Our approach is simple yet effective: clinicians and human decision-makers remain in the driver’s seat, with machines stepping in to assist and occasionally alerting to potential issues that might otherwise be missed. This dynamic between human clinicians and machine intelligence ensures better patient outcomes. It’s all about combining the strengths of both to guarantee the best possible results.
Beyond that, I think that it’s really important to foster collaborative discussions among various stakeholders, which is crucial for addressing important topics related to some of the mystique surrounding AI. We value critical realworld feedback from practitioners who rely on our devices to drive progress
Innovation Leads The leadership team of Medtronic’s endoscopy practice includes (left to right) Giovanni Di Napoli, president, endoscopy; Dr. Austin Lee Chiang, chief medical officer, endoscopy; and Ha Hong, chief artificial intelligence officer, endoscopy, each of whom lend their respective expertise to the company’s growing AI-enabled medical device platform.
in our field, particularly within our endoscopy business unit. The technology stands to revolutionize the practice, yet it is absolutely critical to collaborate as humans in a responsible and thoughtful manner to ensure the best outcomes for patients.
IQ: Mr. Di Napoli, as president of Medtronic’s gastrointestinal business, can you elaborate on how the GI Genius AI platform factors into the critical and essential results you’re currently focused on?
Mr. Di Napoli: We understand that our technologies—particularly the GI Genius platform—can enhance early diagnosis and treatment of cancer and diseases, so it is paramount that we continually seek ways to enhance our ability to reach more customers and, most importantly, serve more patients. This opportunity holds immense strategic importance for many med-tech companies, including ours.
Consider the challenges facing an endoscopist who performs 10-15 colonoscopies a day. With the vast number of pixels to examine on the screen, it’s humanly impossible to catch every lesion, particularly the flat and challenging ones. This is where AI comes in to provide invaluable support, ensuring consistent performance throughout the day and aiding in the detection of difficult-to-spot lesions. Our customers who have adopted our GI Genius technology have experienced its value firsthand, especially during real-time procedures where there’s no room for going back and forth like with other imaging technologies such as CT scans or MRIs.
We firmly believe that AI-assisted colonoscopies will become the gold standard in the field—which is why its development and impact in the market is so critical to me. The technology is a supportive tool that enhances the accuracy and efficiency of the procedure, ultimately improving patient outcomes and reducing the risk of missed lesions.
IQ: If it is critical and essential for Medtronic to deliver leading-edge tools that outperform existing methods of patient care, then I imagine that trust is a critical component in order to achieve that goal. How does Medtronic prioritize trust and transparency when integrating machine intelligence into medical devices?
Mr. Hong: Absolutely, building trust is foundational to our work. Firstly, when it comes to developing medical devices, it’s crucial to prioritize the clinical problem you’re aiming to solve rather than starting with the technology itself. I’ve personally learned this lesson the hard way, realizing the importance of focusing on clinical benefits and putting patients and clinicians first, especially in a field where safety and effectiveness are paramount.
Additionally, creating a medical device is more like a marathon than a sprint. It’s essential to invest enough time in the initial planning phase and involve key stakeholders early on, including regulatory, clinical, business, marketing, and sales personnel. By bringing in diverse perspectives from the start, we can avoid setting incorrect targets and wasting valuable time on solutions
“Customers who have adopted our GI Genius technology have experienced its value firsthand, especially during real-time procedures where there’s no room for going back and forth like with other imaging technologies such as CT scans or MRIs.”
—Giovanni Di Napoli President, Endoscopy, Medtronic
Compared to traditional methods of polyp detection, Medtronic’s GI Genius platform offers outcomes previously inaccessible to patients, which in turn, is helping save lives.
that may not address the clinical problem effectively or have viable regulatory and business strategies. By being transparent and open throughout each stage, we increase the trust we’re able to build with our key constituents.
Also, when it comes to technology, while it’s important, success in the medical device field isn’t solely determined by having the best technology. Instead, it’s about demonstrating clinical evidence and ensuring clear communication
of technology outputs, such as AI predictions, to users.
IQ: As a follow-up, one concern we hear repeatedly regarding the development of AI platforms is the quality and integrity of the underlying data. How does Medtronic balance the acceleration of market adoption of AI technology with responsible and ethical development?
Mr. Hong: At Medtronic, we understand the critical role of reliable and responsible AI in healthcare. That’s why we’ve developed the Medtronic AI Compass – a set of seven principles outlining our commitment to creating trustworthy AI systems. This white paper, available to the public, emphasizes the significance of data in reducing bias and ensuring the effectiveness of AI solutions.
One of the key aspects highlighted is the importance of data quality—from the training dataset to validation and verification datasets. We believe that starting with a clear understanding of the clinical problem to be solved is essential. Once the problem is identified, we establish acceptance criteria or performance targets.
For example, a clinical goal might be to reduce the miss rate of polyps during procedures like colonoscopies. The acceptance criteria could be to achieve a specific percentage reduction in this miss rate. From there, we take a methodical approach, turning the process into a science. We collect data from various sources to characterize the distribution of diseases in real-world situations. This includes understanding different disease types, patient characteristics like age and gender, and factors like imaging device settings.
By analyzing how these various factors contribute to the diagnosis or outcome of the disease, we can develop AI algorithms that perform effectively across different scenarios. If we find that our AI algorithm is not performing well for a specific subset of cases that are clinically relevant, we go back and refine our dataset to improve its accuracy and reliability.
IQ: Building on that point, Mr. Di Napoli, I know that Medtronic also fosters trust through collaboration to stay at the forefront of the rapidly evolving medtech landscape. How have partnerships with Cosmo Pharmaceuticals and NVIDIA enhanced the capabilities of the GI Genius?
Mr. Di Napoli: At a high level, our desire to collaborate with other companies stems from the relationships we build with our customers. When customers see us as a company committed to innovation and willing to take risks, they often approach us
with new ideas and challenges. This culture of innovation is particularly strong within our Medtronic endoscopy operating unit.
Specifically, our strategic collaboration with Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, along with the integration of advanced NVIDIA AI technologies, brought our AI Access platform to life.
For context, the GI Genius AI platform was designed by Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, with the ability to host multiple AI algorithms. Together with software from NVIDIA—including their Holoscan and IGX technologies—third-party developers can efficiently train and validate their own AI models.
By applying this technology to endoscopic needs, we were able to create something of enhanced value the market had never seen before. Our partnership with Cosmo Pharmaceuticals and NVIDIA allows us to be at the forefront of enhancing patient care in the future.
IQ: From a delivery of care standpoint, where do you see the great opportunity for AI and machine learning to complement human intelligence in the field of endoscopy?
Dr. Chiang: I suspect there is concern that robots and AI will replace human jobs, and while that might be true in some industries, it’s different when it comes to procedures like colonoscopies. Here, the goal is to enhance what doctors are already doing, ultimately benefiting the patient, and AI plays a key role in this enhancement.
I often remind people that AI isn’t something new—it’s already part of our daily lives, from navigation systems to voice assistants. In many ways, AI has made our lives easier and more efficient. Similarly, AI can improve diagnostic accuracy in healthcare, leading to better patient outcomes. So, instead of fearing AI, we should see it as a tool that complements and enhances human capabilities, ultimately benefiting both healthcare professionals and patients.
Mr. Hong: I second that and would also add that, in terms of the human element, our goal at Medtronic is to put clinicians in the driver’s seat, and AI is an assistant for them to drive the clinical decision-making
“Studies have shown significant advancements in cancer detection thanks to our technology, potentially leading to a decrease in cancer cases, which is a cause we’re deeply passionate about.”—Dr. Austin Lee Chiang Chief Medical Officer, Endoscopy, Medtronic
“I ask myself constantly if we’re doing enough to keep our employees engaged with our vision and goal of serving more patients globally. It’s what keeps me awake at night.”
—Giovanni Di Napoli President, Endoscopy, Medtronic
process and make an informed choice of the use of the AI system in general.
We also believe that practitioners should understand the basics in terms of how AI systems work and how they can augment and enhance the work they do, as well as what technologies can be found across products. This is why we created the Medtronic AI Academy, which includes visual and didactic courses composed of lectures and materials designed to inform and illustrate the clinical benefits and utility of our products.
Getting back to the idea of trust, this degree of transparency is not only foundational to our strategy at Medtronic, but it truly underpins the value we see that only humans can bring to patient care and outcomes.
IQ: Long-term, I’m sure Medtronic is focused on reaching patients in new geographies in order to make the greatest impact. Mr. Di Napoli, you’ve been quoted as saying you plan to globalize Medtronic’s business further by potentially expanding into China and Japan. Why is APAC of particular interest to you—and what unique challenges have you been forced to contend with?
Mr. Di Napoli: That’s a great question that alludes to a few different factors. First, our business has shifted dramatically in the last decade. If you look back six or seven years ago, approximately 75% of our revenue came from the U.S. As we’ve expanded globally, that number is now around 40%. So, market diversification is a critical and essential aspect of our strategy and my responsibility to guide as a leader.
Secondly, in terms of expanding into APAC specifically, we believe there is an opportunity to make a transformational impact. Unfortunately, we know there is a rising prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases in the region. According to The World Cancer Research Fund, Japan and China rank third and fifth on the list of the top 20 countries with the highest incidence of stomach cancer. We believe we can be part of the solution based on GI Genius’ ability,
for instance, to screen and detect issues faster via a more effective approach and in a minimally invasive way.
Lastly, we also know that in order to be competitive globally, there must be manufacturing capabilities local to the regions we expand into because value-based pricing continues to evolve. So, these three factors overlaid together really dictate the markets we consider for future expansion.
IQ: Beyond the immense possibility afforded by emerging technologies, what are the things that keep you up at night?
Mr. Di Napoli: For me, it’s employee engagement. That is the key to our success—and success in general. I ask myself constantly if we’re doing enough to keep our employees engaged with our vision and goal of serving more patients globally. And if we are not, do we know why? How can we address it? I make an effort to speak directly with employees from across the organization about this—how do you feel about your team? Are we doing enough? Are we communicating enough? It’s what keeps me awake at night. If we don’t have an organization that drives in the same direction and is engaged, then that’s a big problem.
Dr. Chiang: Perhaps the greatest source of stress is the misconceptions regarding AI and the skepticism surrounding it. While some skepticism may be warranted, especially in highly regulated sectors like healthcare, it’s essential to recognize the robust safeguards and regulations in place.
Navigating the approval process for AI in healthcare requires a deep understanding of its intricacies—which is a factor that I believe deserves greater recognition and appreciation.
Moreover, the timing of AI’s introduction couldn’t be better, as there’s a heightened focus on health equity. Ensuring that AI systems are developed with the right inputs is crucial for creating solutions that are representative of diverse populations. Historically, medical advancements have often catered to specific demographics, but with a renewed emphasis on inclusivity,
there’s a concerted effort to develop AI solutions that are not only equitable but also applicable to a broader range of individuals.
IQ: A final question for each of you: What inspires and breathes life into your work?
Dr. Chiang: I’m inspired and excited by the possibilities afforded by AI, which has the potential to revolutionize healthcare by improving diagnosis accuracy, delivering personalized treatments, enhancing safety, and optimizing operational efficiency within our complex healthcare system. By streamlining workflows and reducing administrative burdens, AI can alleviate frustrations and reduce burnout among healthcare professionals, ultimately restoring motivation to practice medicine. However, we are only scratching the surface of AI’s capabilities, and there is still much to explore and discover. The advancements we are witnessing are just the beginning of what promises to be a transformative wave of innovation in healthcare driven by AI.
Mr. Di Napoli: The challenges at hand inspire me. To me, it means we stand to accomplish something that’s never been done before. That translates to innovation in my mind, grounded within a growth mindset. Leading this innovation is critical and essential to my success as a leader, as well as the success of my team.
Mr. Hong: Realizing that my work directly influences patients’ lives and clinicians’ practices is incredibly motivating. Knowing that I can contribute to improving the standard clinical practice energizes me and gives me purpose. I believe this sentiment is shared by many of my colleagues at Medtronic; we are united in our vision and commitment to positively impacting healthcare. IQ
Medtronic views their AI-enabled technology as a supportive tool for healthcare providers that enhances their accuracy and efficiency during endoscopy procedures, ultimately improving patient outcomes and reducing the risk of missed lesions—leading to longer, healthier lives.
How Dr. Nejib BenKhedher—head of Emirates Skyward— elevates over 30 million customer experiences worldwide, propelling the global carrier to reach stratospheric new heights.
BY AAYA HAFIDI
Simply put, to grow, businesses need customers. Yet, to grow into a business with over 30 million loyal customers in every corner of the world takes something far beyond—or in this case, above—business as usual.
Enter Dr. Nejib Ben-Khedher, the transformational leader at the helm of Emirates Skywards—Emirates Airlines customer loyalty program that caters to those who fly on the airline to major destinations worldwide via Dubai or travel on its partner airlines like Qantas, Air Canada, and Japan Airlines.
The airline, established in 1985, has evolved into the world’s largest international carrier, recognized for its excellence in service. Based in Dubai, Emirates is renowned for its luxurious in-flight experience and award-winning entertainment and has been named one of the top 100 most reputable global organizations.
For Dr. Ben-Khedher, spurring innovation within the Skywards program and creating enhanced, personalized travel experiences for customers of all segments is critical and essential to his executive agenda in 2024 and beyond. A 30-year airline industry veteran with a unique, diverse background, Dr. BenKhedher started his career with American Airlines in the areas of network planning and revenue management after earning a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan.
To better understand the program’s unique value proposition—for both customers and the Emirates brand—IQ recently spoke with Dr. Ben-Khedher to discuss a variety of topics, from his strategy for expanding Skywards’ diverse member base to strategic collaborations with global partners, innovative technologies, and a commitment to personalization and seamless experiences define the Skywards program’s trajectory.
IQ: Congratulations on reaching the milestone of 30 million members in the Emirates Skywards program. How has the program evolved over the years to attract and retain such a vast membership base?
Dr. Ben-Khedher: Thank you. For perspective, Emirates took its inaugural flight in 1985—which would be the commencement of a remarkable journey that started with only two leased aircraft.
Fast forward to today and Emirates has evolved into the world’s largest international airline. In 2022, we earned our place among the top 100 most reputable organizations globally, a noteworthy achievement that sets it apart as the sole representative from the Middle East in the prestigious 2022 Global Rep Track 100.
We launched our frequent flyer program— Skywards—in 2000. Over the
years, the program experienced substantial growth, reaching 10 million members by 2013 and tripling in size over the last decade.
This expansion aligns with the airline’s parallel growth and Dubai’s increasing prominence as both a business hub and a favored destination. Notably, Dubai has clinched the top spot as the global destination in the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award for two consecutive years.
In 2016, a pivotal transformation was initiated for the frequent flyer program, transitioning it into what can aptly be described as a lifestyle loyalty program. This transformation involved the creation of a vast ecosystem comprising travel and lifestyle partners. By actively engaging with a wider audience through digital channels, the program has empowered members with enhanced earning opportunities, including benefits from everyday spending. The program has also been structured to provide accessibility to rewards from the first mile earned, democratizing the experience for all participants. At the same time, premium members enjoy a heightened level of exclusivity for their loyalty.
We’ve been fortunate to earn industry acclaim for being a trailblazer, particularly as one of the first airline loyalty programs to introduce a subscription service.
Furthermore, strategic partnerships have been formed, including one with the renowned Dubai Mall, one of the world’s largest shopping complexes. Emirates has embraced personalization by tailoring member communications and pioneering in-path offers for individuals booking flights through the Emirates’ online platform. This multifaceted approach reflects Emirates’ commitment to innovation, customer engagement, and delivering an unparalleled travel experience.
IQ: The Skywards program has a diverse member base from over 180 countries. How do you tailor the program to meet the unique needs and preferences of such a globally distributed audience?
Dr. Ben-Khedher: You are absolutely correct that our member base spans the globe, reaching corners far and wide. It is noteworthy that a significant portion of our members, exceeding 3 million, is
concentrated in the United States and the United Kingdom. This global diversity is a testament to the wide-reaching appeal of our services. Emirates and Fly Dubai collectively cover over 200 destinations, forming an extensive airline network that enables us to connect major cities in every corner of the world.
This expansive reach positions us as a key player in global travel, resonating with a diverse array of travelers. Moreover, our strategic partnerships with other airlines, such as United and Air Canada in North America, Qantas in Australia and New Zealand, Gold in Brazil, and JA and Korean in Asia, exemplify our commitment to fostering local relevance for our members.
Beyond the realm of air travel, our collaborations extend into the broader travel category. Notably, we have forged a global strategic partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, allowing members to earn rewards on both programs. Additionally, our Skywards hotel booking platform provides members with the opportunity to redeem rewards at hotels worldwide. Further enhancing the member experience, our Skywards platform facilitates earning and redeeming with everyday partners, including financial institutions in our most strategic markets. These multifaceted partnerships reflect our dedication to offering members a comprehensive and rewarding travel experience.
IQ: As the head of Emirates Skywards, how do you see the loyalty program evolving in the future to continue delivering value and innovation to its members?
Dr. Ben-Khedher: This is a great question. At the core of our strategy lies the effective utilization of data to foster meaningful engagement with our members through digital channels. This approach goes beyond mere targeted offers; it extends into the realm of personalization, allowing us to tailor benefits to the unique preferences and needs of our members. A key facet of this strategy involves unbundling benefits for premium members, providing them with greater choice and flexibility in their experiences. While our commitment to digitalization remains steadfast, we
For Dr. BenKhedher, spurring innovation within the Skywards program and creating enhanced, personalized travel experiences for customers of all segments is critical and essential to his executive agenda in 2024 and beyond.
At the core of our strategy lies the effective utilization of data to foster meaningful engagement with our members through digital channels.
—Dr. Nejib Ben Khedher Emirates Skywards
recognize the importance of cultivating on-the-ground and in-the-air experiences to establish a robust emotional connection with our members.
For instance, Skywards serves as a gateway to extraordinary redemption opportunities, granting members access to VIP and behind-the-scenes experiences facilitated by our extensive network of partners and sponsorship assets. Particularly prominent in the sports category, these experiences exemplify our dedication to creating moments that transcend the ordinary.
As we move forward, our focus on curating exceptional experiences remains unwavering. The intention is to offer our members not just a service but a personalized journey where every interaction resonates on a deeper, more emotional level. This fusion of digital precision and tangible, memorable encounters are emblematic of our commitment to delivering a travel experience that transcends expectations.
IQ: Speaking of technology and digitalization, how does Emirates Skywards leverage cutting-edge technologies to create seamless experiences for its members?
Dr. Ben-Khedher: The Emirates app is positioned as a reliable travel companion for our members, offering a range of features to enhance their journey. Passengers in business class can conveniently pre-order meals, and all travelers have the option to select onboard entertainment. Beyond these amenities, our award-winning in-flight entertainment system incorporates baggage tracking features designed to alleviate the anxieties of our members during their travels, further elevating their overall flying experience.
In addition to the Emirates app, we present the Skywards Everyday app—a platform strategically designed for members to seamlessly engage with lifestyle partners in Dubai. This innovative application allows users to link up to five credit or debit cards, providing a hassle-free experience. By simply swiping their cards at any of our 1000
partner outlets across the UAE, members earn miles for their expenditures. This example underscores our commitment to leveraging technology to facilitate a seamless earning experience for our members.
Furthermore, our exploration of cutting-edge technologies extends beyond the present offerings. We are actively considering the integration of blockchain technology to secure earn-burn transactions, ensuring the utmost security for our members. Additionally, artificial intelligence is being harnessed for online targeted offers, while predictive AI modeling plays a crucial role in the effective management of our membership. As we embrace these technological advancements, our goal is to continually enhance the travel experience
for our members, providing them with convenience, security, and personalized engagement throughout their journeys.
IQ: The growth and success of the Skywards platform have distinguished you as a transformational leader. From that perspective, how do you help create breakthroughs and elevate performance within the organization?
Dr. Ben-Khedher: Firstly, thank you for the compliment. The Skywards transformation marks the fourth major metamorphosis in my two-decade journey as a travel and technology executive. Throughout this time, I’ve identified three key elements crucial for achieving success
in transforming businesses and delivering breakthrough performance.
The first element revolves around crafting an aspirational vision that not only energizes the team but also unites it under a common purpose. The second element emphasizes effective communication, aligning both internal and external stakeholders with the envisioned goal. The third element, equally vital, centers on precise planning and execution of initiatives that support the visualization of the established vision. This involves setting, measuring, and reporting on specific key performance indicators.
These three elements form the foundation for success in a rapidly changing and complex business environment.
A 30,000 Foot View...x1000
With 30 million Skyward members to serve, Dr. BenKhedher says he maintains his drive by designing meaningful ways to engage with members, as well as crafting new ways of working with team members and embracing new technologies.
The Emirates Experience Delighting customers is not just part of the Skywards experience; it permeates every aspect of Emirates’ customer-focused strategy. This includes Chauffeur-drive, a complimentary program that escorts first class and business class passengers within 50 miles to a participating airport.
Our world is marked by rapid change and constant evolution, and leadership must embody three essential traits to enable organizations to reach their highest potential. Leaders must adopt the mindset of apprenticeship, acknowledging that no one possesses all the knowledge. This involves a commitment to learning, unlearning, and listening with humility. Leaders must also embrace the role of facilitators (FISs), recognizing that collaboration is key. By harnessing passion, energy, and creativity within diverse cross-functional teams and fostering powerful networks, leaders pave the way for innovative solutions to emerge from the fusion of ideas.
Finally, as leaders, we must act as amplifiers of talent, unlocking the full
potential of individuals by encouraging robust exchanges of ideas, facilitating rigorous debates, and empowering and stretching their teams. In this dynamic and uncertain world, these leadership traits are essential to navigating change and achieving peak organizational performance.
IQ: As a leader, what keeps you up at night and what are some of the most difficult aspects of your role that others may not realize?
Dr. Ben-Khedher: Situated at the intersection of customer experience and commercial contribution, Skywards faces the ongoing challenge of maintaining a delicate equilibrium between these two
vital aspects. Functioning as advocates for the members we serve and the airlines we support, our role demands a nuanced approach that blends both sense and sensibility. Notably, what sets our responsibilities at Skywards apart is our reliance on various entities to deliver actual services to our members throughout their travel journey. This necessitates constant collaboration and communication with different touchpoints, from airport lounges to onboard services.
An integral aspect of our success lies in the extreme collaboration required with internal stakeholders. Raising awareness at various touchpoints involves coordination with marketing colleagues for member communication and commercial colleagues
for accessing flight rewards. While some may perceive this dependency as a challenge, I see it as a rewarding experience that fosters a collaborative spirit, making collaboration an integral part of our organizational DNA.
Contrary to expectations, Skywards, operating under the umbrella of the strong Emirates brand, continually endeavors to prove its value. Despite the excellence of the product and customer experience offered, we perceive this as an opportunity rather than a challenge. It compels us to forge lasting emotional bonds between Emirates and travelers, including those who may be infrequent. Our mission is to secure a prominent place in the hearts and minds of travelers, ensuring that Skywards remains the topof-mind choice whenever thoughts turn to travel.
IQ: Conversely, what excites you most about the future?
Dr. Ben-Khedher: Well, a lot of things, but there is a new generation of digital natives, customers and stuff that is coming on board and new expectations are being set. So, for us, we need to design new ways to engage with our members, but also new ways of working for our staff and embrace new technologies as well.
To do so, this keeps the transformation we started in 2016 as an evergreen one. Our target for 2026 has us multiplying our key metrics by nearly five times within ten years from when we initiated the transformation.
This keeps us on our toes. Personally, I feel re-energized just by talking about it. This is the secret to eternal youth as a leader IQ
Dr. Nejib Ben Khedher carries 30 years of global airline and travel experience, including leading executive positions with Travelocity in North America and Sabre Holdings globally. He is currently the divisional senior vice president, Emirates Skywards since July 2015, leading its digital transformation from an FFP to a broader lifestyle loyalty business, doubling its size and introducing a number of industry firsts.
Dr. Ben-Khedher started his career with American Airlines in the areas of network planning and revenue management, after earning a PhD in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan. He also holds an MS in Artificial Intelligence, and an MS in Air Transportation from French Engineering Schools.
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