Global Chief Information Officer, Axis Capital Holdings
Search every verified Stephen Lord interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Stephen Lord, Global CIO of Axis Capital, has discussed the company's approach to balancing innovation with the maintenance of existing systems. He described a "twin mandate" of investing in new technologies while optimizing current infrastructure, comparing the cost of replacing legacy systems to buying a new car versus maintaining a reliable older one. Lord stated that modern technology allows the firm to extend existing investments and achieve benefits similar to a full replacement without the associated upfront cost and disruption. Lord has also highlighted the use of the Unqork platform to augment existing systems)Skip. He noted that Unqork reduces the effort needed to set up core functionality and user interfaces, allowing the team to focus on business capabilities rather than foundational architecture. In the North American business unit, Lord said the company is using Unqork to augment a system called Encor, aiming to provide a user experience that blends automation, AI, and workflow capabilities. He cited positive prior experiences with the platform as a reason for its continued use.
“Because Unqork reduces the amount of effort and investment to set up some of the core functionality and the user interface elements, it basically leaprogs us to focusing just on the actual business capabilities and spending less time working on foundational architecture and other foundational elements.”
“To us it's a wonderful modern platform on which we can project the needs of our business partners.”
“We've made huge investments in these existing systems and they tend to work pretty well. In many ways it's like automobile ownership. It always costs a lot more to buy the brand new car off the lot than it does to keep one that's in good condition still running.”
“With the technology of today, we can extend and expand those investments and get most if not all of the benefit of a brand new replacement without the incredible upfront investment and disruption of tearing something out and replacing it entirely.”
“We're taking Encor even further. We have a need in our North American business unit which Encor is uniquely suited for to actually augment an existing system and provide a state-of-the-art user experience that blends automation AI as well as workflow capabilities.”
“We didn't think twice about using Uncork based on our positive experiences using it elsewhere at access to date.”
“I'm Steve Lord. I'm the global CIO of Axis Capital.”
“Innovation to me is in many ways the antidote to tech debt in that making those kinds of investments usually brings new capabilities, new technologies into the enterprise, and in a way it can be used at the same time to retire some of that tech debt.”
“We have a twin mandate of innovating with new capabilities and technologies but also ensuring that what's already there is optimized and works most efficiently over time.”
“It's like automobile ownership — it always costs a lot more to buy the brand new car off the lot than it does to keep one that's in good condition; with the technology of today, we can extend and expand those investments and get most if not all of the benefit of a brand new replacement without the incredible upfront in...”
“Because uncquark reduces the amount of effort and investment to set up some of the core functionality and the user interface elements, it basically leapfrogs us to focusing just on the actual business capabilities and spending less time working on foundational architecture.”
“We're taking Encort even further — we have a need in our North American business unit which Encort is uniquely suited for to actually augment an existing system and provide a state-of-the-art user experience that blends automation, AI as well as workflow capabilities.”
“We didn't think twice about using Uncorked based on our positive experiences using it elsewhere at Axis to date.”
Stephen Lord, Global CIO of Axis Capital, shares how innovation and modernization can go hand in hand with Unqork.
Stephen Lord, Global CIO of Axis Capital, outlines a dual mandate to invest in new technologies while optimizing the systems ...
Stephen Lord, Global CIO of Axis Capital, on Unqork's power to augment an existing system and a modern UX with automation ...
Stephen Lord, Global CIO of Axis Capital, shares how innovation and modernization can go hand in hand, retiring technical debt ...
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