Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Jackson Financial
Search every verified Michael Hicks interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Michael Hicks, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Jackson Financial, discussed the company's technology strategy in a September 2024 interview. He stated that Jackson's technology organization is primarily centralized under "Jackson Enterprise Technology (JET)" to drive standardization, with a few minor exceptions for federated teams. Hicks noted that Jackson maintains a model of segregating duties between the CIO and CTO, with the goal of allowing the CIO to focus on innovation and business value rather than day-to-day production. He also said the company has fully transitioned to Agile delivery and runs quarterly planning events to align with strategy. Hicks described Jackson's customer focus, stating that the company treats financial advisors as customers while respecting that advisors own the relationship with end clients. He said customers in the industry are demanding easy-to-understand solutions and that the company is competing with recent digital experiences from companies like Amazon and Netflix rather than past insurance experiences. Hicks also commented on the role of CIOs, saying they must be prepared to lead conversations during technology disruptions such as generative AI, and that building authentic relationships and understanding business strategy are key to success.
“Technology is primarily centralized to Jackson, our technology organization at the Enterprise level we refer to it as Jackson Enterprise Technology or JET.”
“For the most part we've brought technology together at the organization really to drive standardization but just given the velocity of change that's happening we want to keep the entire Enterprise moving forward so that we have competitive leads in every one of our businesses.”
“Jackson has maintained a model of segregating duties between the CIO and CTO; the goal is to ensure the CIO role is not burdened by day-to-day production and really is focusing on driving innovation and business value.”
“An annuity provides tax deferred growth and lifetime income, helping bridge the income gap between savings, Social Security, and other retirement plans to fulfill the full retirement need with the income people require during that time of their lives.”
“As a Retirement Solutions company, we don't manufacture a physical product; ultimately, our product is trust. Our machinery is technology, and our associates are the secret sauce.”
“We have fully transitioned to Agile delivery across all of our technology organization, allowing us to be really customer-centric in everything we do, and we run quarterly PI planning events across the entire company to ensure alignment to our strategy.”
“We recognize that financial advisors are directly servicing their customers, and we treat them as our customers as well, but we respect that the advisor really owns working with that customer on their retirement or financial plan, so providing high-quality data that fits within that advisor model is critical.”
“Customers in our industry are demanding solutions that are easy to understand, simple to buy, and want to work with companies that are easy to do business with. The intersection of CX, hyper-personalization, and omni-channel powered by AI is enabling amazing customer experiences.”
“We're no longer competing with a customer's last insurance experience; instead, we're competing with their most recent digital experience like Amazon, TikTok, Netflix. In five years, insurance will become a broader data-driven ecosystem heavily driven by AI models at both financial advisor and individual customer level...”
“Disruption is coming whether we want it or not, and the ability to pivot and change is not just a nice to have but a matter of survival. Companies that turn disruption from a negative into an opportunity will be the winners, like Netflix or Apple, versus those that don't, like Blockbuster or Blackberry.”
“I believe CIOs must think and believe they deserve a seat at the table and be bold enough to bring value beyond just being the tech leader. Building authentic relationships, staying abreast of business strategy and financial drivers, and being an active listener are key to success.”
“When technology disruption happens, like generative AI and ChatGPT, everyone at the executive table looks to the CIO to provide perspective and lead the conversation. CIOs must be prepared to take advantage of these opportunities.”
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