Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Global Head of Technology & Operations, Voya Financial
Search every verified Santhosh Keshavan interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Santhosh Keshavan, Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Global Head of Technology & Operations at Voya Financial, has described the company's digital transformation as an ongoing journey focused on simplification, data management, and cloud adoption. He stated that Voya has consolidated its core systems, including reducing 46 instances of its record-keeping platform in wealth solutions, and has migrated from data centers to a hybrid cloud environment, with plans to move further toward public cloud over the next three to four years. Keshavan emphasized that blindly moving applications to the cloud can lead to higher expenses and unintended consequences, and that understanding the purpose of cloud migration is critical)Skip. He also highlighted the launch of the "my Voyage" digital platform, which he described as a first-of-its-kind personalized financial guidance tool that integrates workplace benefits and external accounts, and noted that the consolidation efforts enabled its development within a year rather than the three to five years it would have otherwise taken. Keshavan has stressed the importance of data as a foundation for digital transformation, stating that without a good understanding of data and the ability to create intelligence from it, digital transformation cannot succeed. He said Voya has built a scalable platform to ingest, transform, and feed data based on a "build it once and use it many times" principle to reduce data quality issues. He also discussed the company's focus on hyper-personalization and solving the "last mile problem" to help customers execute on guidance, as well as its efforts to innovate by integrating financial planning around health and wealth. Keshavan noted that talent is a critical aspect of progress, and that Voya's focus on employee well-being, diversity, equity and inclusion, and ESG priorities helps attract and retain employees. He added that information security is becoming increasingly important as the business connects with more partners.
“We have migrated from having data centers into public cloud or private Cloud. We have taken a position to really consolidate our core systems in all the businesses. For example, in our wealth Solutions we had 46 instances of our record keeping platform and that was very complex and expensive to manage.”
“Digital transformation for Voya comprises many aspects, the first and most important component is data. Without having a good understanding of data and the ability to create intelligence from the data, digital transformation cannot succeed.”
“Managing data is a constant battle. We have built a scalable platform to ingest, transform, and feed data for downstream customers, focusing on the principle 'build it once and use it many times' to reduce data quality issues.”
“Blindly taking all applications to the cloud as-is may have unintended consequences including expenses going way up and not having the ability to take advantage of all functionality and native cloud capabilities.”
“Going to the cloud to lower expense rates generally is not a good idea because at times running applications or workloads in cloud could be more expensive. Really understanding the why is very critical.”
“My Voyage is a first-of-its-kind personalized financial guidance and connected workplace benefits digital platform. It offers a one-stop solution providing individuals with a complete view of their financial picture including workplace benefits, savings accounts, and integration of external accounts.”
“During annual enrollment, employees spend on average six minutes picking their plan but 60 minutes deciding which Netflix movies to browse. This shows the challenge of too many choices and the need for better tools that explain actions in simple English.”
“Consolidating our core systems and simplifying our overall footprint was massive but enabled us to launch the first version of my Voyage within a year, from inception to market launch, which would have taken three to five years otherwise.”
“We have strong partnerships with technology providers and fintechs, some relationships lasting over 15 years, which help us quickly adopt and deliver new technology solutions to our customers.”
“Digital transformation is an ongoing journey. We are focusing on hyper personalization and solving the last mile problem so customers can easily execute on guidance and make transactions real, matching experiences they have outside financial services.”
“Voya focuses on the retirement for all Americans and better quality after retirement. We are laser focused on growth and on our asset management, employee benefits, health business, and wealth business. Technology plays a very key role in my role within the organization.”
“Digital is the way our customers, the employees and employers, can get in touch with us and the way we can serve them. We are becoming a mobile-first, cloud-first company, really thinking through the lens of the customer and trying to take the right tools to our customers through their preference.”
“Simplification is a very strategic focus for us because it feeds into innovation. Simplification allows us to bring solutions to market faster, reduces expense, and creates better hygiene for us to support going forward. Reducing our footprint as much as possible makes us that much more nimble.”
“To get to the right spot for simplification, it is important to catalog capabilities, define what are table stakes versus differentiators, and decide what to build internally versus rent or partner. Culture and discipline around leveraging existing solutions and learning to live with 80% fit is key.”
“Data is extremely important for success. We focus on transactional information and building technology behind the scenes to gather data efficiently. Hyper personalization is becoming a differentiator, and it is possible through having a good understanding of our data and the ability to store and use it.”
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