Seizing the opportunity in disruption
A new organizational structure!
As the world begins to emerge from the worst of the pandemic, some companies have returned to former ways of working, while others have ripped up the playbook completely.
In between these two extremes, many companies have realized an opportunity to stop and rethink their approaches and strategies, and to challenge the status quo. At RNA Analytics, we have reconsidered our objectives in our own ‘new normal’ – recognizing the need to respond to change both within the company and beyond.
Within RNA itself, an extended period of growth and development led us to rethink our internal structure – one that is better adapted to the breadth of our expertise, and the extent of our global reach today, as well as our future growth objectives.
In the past two years, we appreciate that many firms have adapted – at least to some degree – to a remote/hybrid approach. Whilst some countries have recently removed the majority of their COVID-related rules, some travel restrictions are still in place around the world, and there is generally a greater inclination to meet remotely, rather than in face-to-face meetings.
These two influences led us to recalibrate our teams from regional axes to function-and role-based hubs.
“The ‘new normals’ that are emerging in companies everywhere offer an opportunity to seize the disruption of past two years to create better outcomes,” explained Javier Alvarez, Managing Director, EMEA, RNA Analytics. “This was a chance to respond to macro changes by pivoting our teams towards specialist-centric hubs, rather than the regional team’s approach that served us so well when business travel was much more prevalent.
“Our new organizational structure, which has been very carefully considered amid a period of great change, will also allow us to implement our business strategy more effectively, providing the right balance between continuous, high customer service levels, and developing our offering in new markets.”
RNA’s new structure is now focused around two main functions.
The Product Management Team is split into two hubs responsible for actuarial modeling and software development.
Led by John Bowers, Actuarial Product Director, on the actuarial modeling side and Neil Collins, CTO & Head of Product Management, on the Software side, the Product Management Team will prioritize the company’s roadmap and developments and will provide expert support for ongoing projects, responding to our clients’ sophisticated modeling queries.
The Go-to-Market Team comprises consulting, sales and marketing – specialists that will coordinate customer requests and respond to market demands. Leading the consulting team, Matthieu Soulas, Consulting Associate Director, will focus primarily on client project delivery, providing both actuarial modelling and technical consulting services.
“We have seen considerable growth in our consulting team – particularly throughout Spain – in the past few years,” Matthieu Soulas said. “We have also expanded our offering to the non-life market and grow our partnership networks. We are now reflecting this progress in the way we operate and strategize.”
In the coming weeks, RNA Analytics will be presenting a number of improvements to the market, as part of our roadmap, which will improve outcomes for clients transitioning to IFRS 17, as well as for Solvency II and LDTI. We will also be announcing several improvements for clients looking to develop their cloud and collaborative environments, automatically store results in a database, and enhance reporting integration.
“Our careful approach to change is an ongoing commitment,” Alvarez concluded. “Our new structure also better reflects the way we have always worked, which is what brought us to where we are today and made us who we are as a team. And what better time to embrace change than now?”
Meet the team
Neil Collins was instrumental in the creation of the original RNA Analytics software whilst at Watson Wyatt in 1996 and has since designed a number of new functionalities to anticipate the growing demand for speed, agility and flexibility.
John Bowers is RNA Analytics’ most expert modeler. Since he joined the team in 2010, John has managed all model package development, including standard code and regulation-specific model packages.
Matthieu Soulas joined the team in 2011 to take on the role of Actuarial Modelling consultant as part of the global consulting team. After developing his technical skills, Matthieu has focused primarily on client account management and business development.