AI success isn’t about tools.
Jill Coffer is vice president of product and technology, people management and communications at EIS, a global insurance technology company. She works with executive leaders to align people, operations and technology with business goals.
Coffer has led organizational transformation, AI adoption, employee learning programs and large-scale technology initiatives throughout her career. Her work has also given her opportunities to travel, connect with professionals across different cultures and bring new perspectives back to her teams.
She recently shared lessons on AI adoption, innovation and organizational change at Ragan’s AI Communications Virtual Conference. Before joining EIS, she held leadership roles at Rulesware, Pegasystems and MCI Corp.
What was your first job in communications, and what is something you learned then that you still refer to now?
I first recognized the importance of communications in a people management role.
The communication of strategy and ensuring people understand where we’re going and why will directly influence the success of achieving the strategy. That is why communications is so important to me.
I believe people need to have a good understanding of what the strategy is, what the goals are and who’s doing what in order to feel that their work is meaningful. They want to understand how their work aligns with the strategy.
I also own the town halls, which bring together nine different countries to make sure we’re all on the same page. We want everyone to understand and feel like they are part of the overall company strategy and vision. We’re all in this together, instead of feeling like they’re out there on their own.
That started when I joined EIS 12 years ago and was in an operations role working with so many different countries. I would travel to the different offices and be a part of what they were doing, but I also understood that they needed to feel like and know they were part of this bigger picture.
What have you learned about leading people through uncertainty?
People want transparency. Sometimes we get tripped up and say, “We don’t know the answer yet, so let’s not have the call.” I like to have the call, have the communications and let people know where we’re at with our answer. Otherwise, people feel like we’re not being honest and transparent.
I understand leaders who want to wait to have the call when we have the exact answer. I think it’s easier for me because I’m not a perfectionist. I’m the type of person who is OK with saying, “Let’s tell them where we’re at with it, and let’s just be honest.”
If we don’t have the metric 100% defined, let’s talk about the four different angles we’re looking at right now and why we haven’t come up with our exact answer. We’re still thinking through these things, but at least they know the four different angles we’re looking at.
Transparency is something communications leaders need to understand that people want. They want the honest answer, even though it may not always feel good.
And yes, there is a balance. We don’t want to waste someone’s time if we don’t have enough information to share. But I also believe the majority of that group would rather jump on a call to know where we’re at instead being in the dark.
What is one mistake leaders make when introducing a new tool or process?
Instead of simply rolling something out, we need to create an environment where people can experience it. That’s when it truly resonates with them.
If we can say, “This is what it is, and this is what it does for you,” we need to quickly go into, “Here’s the effort we’ve set up for you to actually experience it.” I’ll give an example with our hackathons. We rolled out AI and came up with specific business cases that people could sign up to work on for the competition. They also had the opportunity to come up with their own business idea or business scenario.
In our first AI hackathon, we had over 25 new ideas to bring to market with our own product. We had people in technology who knew our customers better than anyone and knew our technology better than anyone.
When they coupled that with AI, we had some amazing deliverables and they were able to engage more quickly with what we were rolling out. If you’re rolling out something new, make sure your users, or the people you hope will receive that information, have an opportunity to experience it. A phrase I coined as we prepared the budget for our hackathons was, “Innovation that isn’t experienced might as well not exist.” Experiencing it helped make the communication of a rollout truly heard.
What is one career risk you are glad you took?
I would definitely say joining EIS. One of the reasons is that I was able to travel to different countries and experience different cultures. It was new technology, meeting new leaders and traveling to different countries.
Open your eyes and be willing to take risks.
What are you currently curious about, professionally or personally?
Exactly where AI is taking us, how roles are going to evolve and what the future is going to look like for my daughter, who is 13. We’re already seeing how AI is changing everyone’s role, how people can best leverage. There’s so much to know and experience with AI, so I’m incredibly curious about that.
What is one skill outside your job that has made you a better leader?
Probably parenting. You definitely have to be willing to learn from your mistakes. You have to be able to forgive yourself, and you have to always keep in mind the long-term plan.
Isis Simpson-Mersha is a conference producer/ reporter for Ragan. Follow her on LinkedIn.
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