Jacinto Martínez, CIO Mutualidad de la Abogacía: "We must be a transmission belt, proposing solutions to new services, products, customer approach and efficiency"
About Jacinto Martínez Bardeci
Jacinto Martínez has an extensive experience in the financial and insurance sector, always linked to technology, having served as head of insurance technology and digital transformation projects at Banco Santander Spain and Portugal, Liberbank, Aegon Seguros and at the Spanish subsidiary of Aviva.
In 2019, he joined Mutualidad de la Abogacía as head of IT and project management and, later, as head of Technology. Martínez has a degree in Business Sciences from the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid, as well as a Higher Technician in Administration and Finance and a Professional Expert in European Financial Consulting from the Techrules Business School.
Mutualidad de la Abogacía is a non-profit entity that offers professionals in the world of Law and Engineering and their family’s solutions to cover all their forecast, savings and investment needs. With more than 200,000 mutual members (they have become the leading professional social security entity in Spain) and at the end of 2020 it had managed more than 8,500 million euros.
What could be considered Digital Innovation in Life Savings insurance?
Savings life insurance has not changed in its essence for a long time. It cannot be said that it is an innovative product in itself. What is innovating, and the Mutualidad de la Abogacía group is there, is in the way in which product information is made available to the client and access to operations through the different digital channels, as well as in helping our members in the form of saving.
We continue to develop our Digital Onboarding process, through which a 100% online contract can now be made from our digital channels
We continue to develop our Digital Onboarding process, through which a 100% online contract can now be made from our digital channels. In addition, in 2021 we have launched the #Yosíahorro service, which is a new form of micro-savings based on personal objectives through which the amounts saved are incorporated into the savings product.
Your next challenge is to be perceived by the market as a modern, digital and efficient insurance company. The talent of the technology department is the lead of this transition. How are you preparing to acquire this relevant position?
Certainly, the concept of Mutualidad Digital is, today, not only a strategic objective, but a fundamental axis for the development of the entity in the coming years.
Regarding talent, at a corporate level and led by the People Department, we have the #Sumastalento program, with countless training actions that each employee configures based on their position. In addition to this, in Technology we are very aware that the equipment has to be updated and we additionally support with ad-hoc certifications. Where the knowledge is very specific, we have partners who help us acquire these skills.
"It is not possible to solve today's problems with yesterday's solutions." In this sense, what type of strategy should an entity such as Mutualidad de Abogacía follow to reorganize and improve its technological processes?
When we talk about technological processes, we talk about transversality and corporate culture, not just one area. The functions of a Technology area of an insurance company are diverse, with many systems, applications, etc., and very different activities that in the future will be assumed by other areas just like today; for example, each employee, in our day to day, performs functions that in the past were performed by departments of Informatics.
Currently, in any major transformation process, we have to be aware of the ambition horizons of each asset, what stage it is in, and apply the appropriate measures.
At present, the CIO is spoken of as an interlocutor close to the business to capturing value. Does this new paradigm turn IT teams into agents of change?
We must be a transmission belt, constantly proposing solutions and approaches to new services, products, customer approach and efficiency
Technology must be at the service of Business, in all aspects, which means being at the service of the customer. We must be a transmission belt, constantly proposing solutions and approaches to new services, products, customer approach and efficiency. We must add value to any action in this regard.
Acting as a driver of change is not a choice, it is part of our DNA. That closeness to business from our position, certainly, facilitates that role.
What do you think will be the technological trends that will see the greatest growth in the insurance sector in the coming years?
Without doubt, in order to be successfully implemented, new technologies must be considered as solutions to specific needs. As long as we are able to put them into practice, it will become a trend in the sector.
In the short term, we are seeing it, and it seems that there will be a consolidation of online channels, mobility and a real vision of omnichannel, as well as the development of innovative services.
In the medium term, there are three technologies that are going to set the path in the coming years and are going to have enormous development due to their practical application in the sector: Big Data, AI and Blockchain, in key aspects of the management of entities in the sector, such as Knowledge of the client, Customized offers, Payment for consumption, Prediction of accidents, Robotization, Online certifications, etc.