Innovation

Amid a shortage of women pursuing STEM careers, organizations must be committed to helping women who have chosen to enter the tech industry and are poised for success in key areas such as collaboration, creativity, innovation, leadership, and transformation. At Experian, we are an advocate for diversity, inclusion, and gender equality in technology functions and beyond. Showcasing the impact women have in the tech community, the Advancing Women in Technology (AWT) organization recently honored several Experian women at its 16th Annual Scholarship event. Keynote Presentation Experian’s president of partner solutions, Jennifer Leuer, was the featured keynote speaker. As part of her presentation, Leuer encouraged the audience to create a culture of confidence to advance women. “This year’s headlines marked a watershed year for women in the workplace. We need to keep that momentum going by creating a culture of confidence in the workplace, with our families and in our communities,” said Leuer. “One of the many ways we can do this is through mentoring. By providing more women with support and varied perspectives, we assist them with navigating new challenges with confidence.” AWT 2017 Outstanding Executives in Technology Award The Outstanding Executives in Technology award was given to Faith Gaudino, Experian’s senior vice president of corporate project management, for her successful career in technology. For nearly 40 years, Gaudino has worked on Experian’s strategic technology portfolios. Her work is key to maximizing Experian’s investments in technology, business expansion, security and business transformation. “What I enjoy most about my position is the diversity of projects that I work on,” said Gaudino. “My team gets involved in everything from acquisitions to rolling out the latest technology changes throughout the organization. This diversity allows me to constantly learn new things. I am proud to be recognized by the AWT and I hope to inspire other women to pursue and continue careers in technology.” AWT 2017 Rising Women in Technology Award The Rising Women in Technology award recognizes women who have successfully established careers in a variety of technical positions such as engineering, software development, business analytics and management. Five women from Experian were given this award: Becky Clay, marketing automation campaign manager - Clay is responsible for increasing response and conversion rates for the company’s enterprise marketing and internal communications campaigns. Sirisha Koduri, web development lead - Koduri leads the development of Experian’s global content management system. Thy Phan, senior marketing analyst - Phan works on email marketing for the B2B businesses across the Experian enterprise. Anjali Pipriya, software development expert - Pipriya helps develop and maintain the Experian lead capturing platform. Amber Garcia, expert project manager - Garcia manages technology projects for Experian’s online and mobile credit products. “In the technology industry, women have a lot of opportunity to have a voice and be successful,” said Garcia. “At Experian, I have gained confidence in my work, grown and found my voice. I feel this award is a milestone in my career that shows how far that I have come.” Experian puts significant effort in attracting a diverse workforce. We are one of 28 companies named to the Leadership Index of companies whose representation and development of women technologists is above the mean. We also participated in the 2017 Wonder Women Tech Diversity & Inclusion Conference and the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Technology Conference.

“I’ve been working with Turkcell for about six years now. I was on my way to have lunch with my main contact there, Elif, and I bumped into so many familiar faces. We agreed that you don’t often get that kind of long, trusted relationship in business. About two years ago, Elif explained to me that Turkcell needed help keeping customer communications fresh and relevant. Turkcell had a fixed weekly marketing plan, but a week is a long time in marketing. Customers were interacting with them all the time, across lots of different channels. These different types of customer communication cancelled out Turkcell’s planned weekly messages. They had to cancel more than half of their planned contacts. The marketing team were really frustrated – this was a complex challenge to fix. We wanted to create a marketing tool that meant Turkcell could speak to their customers every day instead of once a week. And so the right messages got to the right people at the right time. The team we got together on this project were based all over the world: Turkcell and an Experian team in Turkey, me and my team in Nottingham, our software development team in Bulgaria, our product development over in Washington, and Vusal in Monaco who helped us completely automate the process. Vusal’s fluent Turkish certainly came in useful. I flew over to Turkey a few times during the project. Being onsite made a big difference – it meant we could understand and fix issues in hours, rather than days. There’s one particular time that stands out. It was five weeks before the launch, so we had loads to get through. We worked non-stop for two weeks straight, right through the weekends, making sure nothing would stop us getting the daily marketing tool up and running. We’d each bring in different food and fruits for our ‘table picnic’ to keep us going. There was a lot of attention focussed on this project. When it finally went live, we had a ‘phew’ and a ‘wow’ moment. And then we saw the difference it made. It’s done exactly what we wanted it to do and Turkcell’s take-up rates have improved. And now we’ve won a Global Telecoms Business Innovation award for it. It’s a joint award, for both Turkcell and Experian – which feels right. It was hard work, but worth it.”

The UK is home to some of the brightest minds in the Fintech sector. It is a hive of innovation that is starting to deliver consumer services which challenge conventional thinking about the role and function of traditional service providers. During the last few years we have seen customers develop ever-increasing expectations when it comes to digital services. People are demanding engaging content with useful and simple functionality which delivers a great user-experience. And it is the new entrants into the marketplace, the disrupting Fintechs, who appear to be most effective at meeting this need at present. Start-ups also have the advantage of agility and speed. And the impact of the rapidly evolving Fintech community should not be underestimated. Although we are one of the biggest companies in the world, Experian’s own pioneering application of data, analytics and technology plays an important role in finding new innovative solutions too – from helping consumers understand and improve their financial situations, to supporting the growth of businesses, managing risk and protecting against fraud. Now we’re looking to discover and support a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs who will change the future of finance. That’s why we’re so delighted to be working with Tech City UK on the FinTech4All competition. The Experian Spotlight Award is designed to recognise a particularly outstanding concept, product or service from all those who enter the contest. It’s our intention to build the award package with the people who win it, depending on what they need – whether that’s mentoring, advice, access to our own expertise, or something else. It’s a hugely exciting project and it’s going to be really interesting to see what kind of original ideas emerge. Interested? Part of a start-up that wants to make financial services work for everyone? Then visit FinTechForAll to enter.

For the fourth consecutive year, Experian has been named to Forbes Magazine’s Top 100 list of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies.” At Experian, we are proud to foster a global culture of continuous innovation, from finding breakthroughs around better utilizing data to identifying ways we can make access to credit faster and simpler for millions around the world. The recognition as a top innovative company is a testament to our employees’ focus on putting the consumer and our customers at the center of what we do, and powering innovative opportunities to secure better, more productive futures for people and organizations. This past year has been a year of significant milestones, including our partnership with Finicity, the introduction of our Text for Credit product, and our drive to create a more open and adaptive technology environment by implementing API capabilities across the Experian network. In March, we were among the first companies to digitize the mortgage underwriting process. We partnered with Finicity to join our new Digital Verification Solution with their data aggregation and insight platform, creating technology that easily verifies consumer assets and income. This new service enables us improve data accuracy and reduce fraud risk for lenders, and removes the hassle and piles of paperwork for consumers, accelerating the loan underwriting process to as little as 10 days. In July, we introduced the first-ever credit solution that enables consumers to apply for credit with a simple text message. Utilizing patent-pending mobile identification through our Smart Lookup process, consumers can be recognized by their device credentials, bypassing the need to fill out a lengthy credit application. Our Text for Credit product enables consumers to apply for real-time access to credit while standing in line to make their purchases, or before entering an auto dealership. We’ve also implemented application programming interfaces (APIs) across the Experian network. This works to improve the transfer of data, speed up the pace of innovation and foster a more collaborative environment, enabling us to create a more efficient and targeted platform for our customers. Additionally, understanding that healthcare is becoming the “new retail” environment, Experian launched price transparency and patient estimate tools that provide health systems with real-time eligibility and insurance coverage to help patients avoid the sticker shock associated with unforeseen medical expenses. An industry’s greatest innovators are successful not only because they deliver superior products in the present, but also – and perhaps more importantly – because they continuously solidify their place in the future through a culture of discovery that encourages modernization and disruption. As author Greg Satell outlined in his new book, Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age, the work we do in our DataLabs – and throughout Experian – shows our commitment to being inventive and agile in an increasingly competitive market. Experian embraces a culture of discovery that enables us to grow and evolve while remaining at the forefront of innovation.  Of course, the key is to never stop questioning, evolving and innovating.  And we won’t.

The real-time economy is all around us. With the swipe of a finger, we can order a car, find a babysitter or make a mortgage payment.

Believe it or not, my personal journey as a woman in data science started with physics. I was always very curious by nature and tried to understand what happens around me. I studied for both a master’s in physics in Spain and a Ph.D. in astrophysics in the Netherlands before making my shift from academia to industry (first in a Big Four consultancy and later in Experian). Gradually, I realized that I liked the academic side of working with data and applying the scientific method to solving problems, but I wanted to do something faster-paced that had more tangible impact. So, before finishing my Ph.D., I joined a data boot camp to further develop my skills, and after defending my thesis I transitioned to data science. Now I’m a full-fledged data scientist at Experian DataLabs. The world is at a very interesting time in terms of technology and innovation, and STEM fields are only going to continue growing. As a data scientist myself, I may be biased, but I think the future of this field is particularly interesting. I can see data being applied in such a variety of ways – from self-driving cars to early medical diagnoses and beyond. In fact, I don’t see the momentum slowing down any time soon, which means that data scientists will continue to be in high demand. I want to do something about the disproportionate amount of men to women in science, showing girls that STEM is for them, too. There’s no quick-fix solution, but I think it’s essential to start educating girls when they’re young about STEM – both at home and in school. Young girls should be encouraged to be curious, to try and fail! For me, data science isn’t about getting it right the first time; it’s about the path of discovery and innovation along the way. The sooner and the longer that girls are encouraged to explore and play with less-conventional toys, like computer games, construction toys or logic puzzles, the likelier they may be to choose careers based on what they personally enjoy doing and not what society expects them to do. Gender stereotypes can be really constraining, especially for children. So, what can a diverse workforce offer that a narrow one can’t? The answer is easy: different approaches, different views and different solutions. With more women in fields like data science, everyone benefits. No one should have to automatically rule themselves out of a career path based on gender.

For any company to remain competitive in today’s rapidly changing marketplace, innovation must play an integral role in its business model. Industry’s greatest innovators are successful not only because they deliver superior products in the present, but also – and perhaps more importantly – because they continuously solidify their place in the future through a culture of discovery that encourages modernization and disruption. The amount of data is expected to increase up to ten times the current amount by 2020, and Experian looks to innovation to bring answers to the problems such increases can pose. We’re finding new ways to help business across a multitude of industries integrate the latest in data technology into nearly every aspect of their operations. Data is powering everything we do.  A great example of our commitment to continuous improvement through innovation is Experian’s DataLabs operation, which Greg Satell profiles in his new book Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age. At Experian, we saw opportunity to innovate and adapt, and proposed the creation of a separate division with the sole purpose of pursuing disruptive opportunities where there was no existing market to measure – we called it DataLabs. As Satell notes, Experian DataLabs was designed to work with our customers to map out their problems, identify new opportunities, build solutions around those opportunities and develop new capabilities for the company. With an increasingly competitive market, Experian is committed to being inventive and agile. Embracing and sustaining this innovation has worked.  In the United States alone, DataLabs has launched eight products, and has another twelve in development. We continue to work with our customers to address new problems and remain agile so we can develop new capabilities. These insights have real world application that can help tens of thousands of Americans. As an example, small businesses - the classification of businesses that create nearly two-thirds of net new jobs in the United States - notoriously struggle to obtain loans to grow because of a perceived lack of data on their credit worthiness. Without access to credit, these businesses aren't able to grow further, preventing them from hiring more people. DataLabs' latest experiment concerned whether social media sites can help businesses obtain credit. By looking at social media sites we were able to help small businesses with credit verification. DataLabs also works to help companies more efficiently use resources to target the right consumer. As an example, Experian's DataLabs scientists analyzed billions of credit and debit card transactions to understand how population segments spent money and then used that information to build predictive behavior profiles. With this information in hand, credit card companies were able to market credit cards to specific population segments and make rewards programs more attractive to consumers in the   process. Perhaps more importantly, though, DataLabs ensures that Experian has a place in tomorrow’s economy by keeping Experian relevant in an ever-evolving marketplace. To quote Satell, “every enterprise is a unique combination of business model, strategy and culture.” Experian is the manifestation of a culture of discovery that enables us to grow and evolve while remaining at the forefront of innovation. Experian’s innovations continue to be recognized and we are proud to be included in Greg Satell’s  insightful book. To read the complete profile of Experian, including more information on its formation, work to-date and plans to continue disrupting the future, check out Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age here.

Bernard Marr, who LinkedIn recently ranked as one of the top 10 business influencers in the world (just behind Bill Gates and Richard Branson), recently published a story on Forbes about how Experian is using machine learning to cut mortgage application times to just a few days. In this article, Experian’s Global CIO, Barry Libenson, discusses how Experian is well-positioned to pioneer technology in this field, due to the fact that banks, insurers and public sector bodies all routinely come to it for its data. “Now the large financial institutions don’t want you to dictate to them how they consume information, they want to tell you how they want to consume it, and you have to deliver it to them in that way. So they can say ‘hey, Experian, we have a simple question we want to ask and we expect a simple response, and we want it in real-time, and we want to be able to get it 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world.'” Check out the full article: How Experian Is Using Big Data and Machine Learning to Cut Mortgage Applicatoin Times To a Few Days

We developed CrossCore to make the industry’s fraud and identity solutions work better for everyone. We wanted to help organizations prevent more fraud while making it easier for their good customers to do business with them and nearly a year after the launch we’re proud of the reception we’ve had from clients, partners and the industry. Our latest honor is a bronze and gold medal from the American Business Awards for Identity and Access Security Solution Product of the Year and Product Management Department/Team of the Year. “We developed CrossCore to help our clients get the strength they want with the flexibility they need for more effective fraud management,” said Kathleen Peters, Global Vice President, Product Management, Fraud and Identity at Experian. “These latest Stevie Awards validate the feedback we’ve received from the market, and more importantly, from our clients.” CrossCore helps organizations with the ever-changing, complex and challenging world of fraud prevention. Businesses readily add solutions from us, other providers, and even their own solutions, to connect, access and orchestrate decisions across multiple systems. To make this possible for our clients, our teams worked around the clock in offices all around the world. They brought experiences and perspectives together to build and test code in packages that could be installed anywhere and everywhere. Using this “immutable infrastructure” approach, the team built, configured, connected, tested and monitored over 20 different systems to ensure everything was working. And they did it in less than nine months. The Stevie Award judges recognize the efforts of this team and the power of CrossCore. Here are just some of the positive comments we received: “The deployment of a global project such as CrossCore in only 9 months is remarkable, especially with 20 different systems being interconnected to deliver the service. Lots of hard work from the team, congrats!” “Seems like the strongest and the best solution in fraud prevention. Experian is already the industry leader in its respective industry, however CrossCore seems to be a great service, with a beautiful and intuitive UI.” “A good write up on what appears to be a useful platform. This is a great accomplishment and the nomination sounds like a talented team of product developers and software engineers.” “Congratulations on delivering an ambitious product in a relatively short timeframe!” We’re excited about how CrossCore could fit into your fraud strategy and would love to talk to you about it. Learn more ways CrossCore can help your business prevent fraud.