Bill Pappas, global head of technology and operations, MetLife
Bill Pappas is MetLife’s global head of technology and operations and a corporate executive and member of the company’s executive leadership team. Bill has been a key leader at three Fortune 50 companies, including General Electric and Bank of America. He is using this unique background to help make significant changes at MetLife and the insurance industry as a whole — an industry not typically known for innovation.
Bill leads a global team of more than 43,000 people and is responsible for leading a 155-year-old company through digital transformation and adoption of emerging technologies while striking the right balance between high technology and high customer touch. Under Bill’s leadership, MetLife continues to improve its digital self-service options and launch new products to meet changing customer expectations.
What role does technology play at MetLife?
Technology is an integral part of how we deliver on MetLife’s purpose – always working with you to build a more confident future – meeting our customers’ needs how, when and where they want. It allows us to meet the needs, expectations and wishes of our customers to create and deliver innovative and secure solutions. We combine high-tech solutions with high-quality care to increase the speed and efficiency of transactional business so that we can serve our customers during the most important moments in their lives. An important function of technology is to be the creator and protector of customer and company trust. At MetLife, we continue to cultivate a culture of innovation and build a modern workforce that drives our purpose forward.
At MetLife, we continue to cultivate a culture of innovation and build a modern workforce that drives our purpose forward 
By embracing the potential of technology and creating innovative customer-centric approaches, we continually explore new ways to deliver greater value to our customers. It allows us to be agile, responsive and forward-thinking, allowing us to better meet the needs of our customers and communities around the world.
What are the most important aspects for technology leaders to consider when delivering new technology?
When delivering new technologies, leaders must put customers at the center of everything they do. The goal should be to provide a seamless experience that enhances their entire journey.
Businesses that put customers at the heart of their strategy build resilient and lasting customer relationships. In a world where customer preferences and sentiments are constantly changing, lifelong customer advocacy is extremely beneficial. From that point forward, companies that can balance being highly digital while still serving customers (through cross-channel experiences, customer service, etc.) will lead in technology transformation and operational resiliency.
What does it take to create a culture of innovation?
Innovation doesn’t happen in silos. Cultivating a culture of innovation means creating an environment where collaboration and continuous learning lead.
At MetLife, we recognize that innovation requires diverse perspectives to thrive. To encourage the sharing of ideas, we have implemented several measures to promote collaboration and continuous learning. For example, we recently hosted our first annual global hackathon, where more than 2,700 employees participated, developing and demonstrating more than 300 unique solutions. We also created a Global Experimentation Fund to give all employees the opportunity to submit experimental ideas across MetLife.
Technology leaders must focus on and invest in their employees. Your cultural needs include employee upskilling and retraining so that you are ready for new technologies and providing opportunities for employees to learn and grow.
How should other technology leaders approach their digital transformation journey?
Digital transformation is not about reviewing innovation frameworks or integrating the latest and most exciting emerging technologies on the market. Technological changes should be intentional and customer-centric. The bottom line goal is to bring new and improved value to customers – this is what defines innovation success.
As technology professionals, part of our role is to stay on top of the latest trends and emerging technologies, both inside and outside our organization. Cross-industry networks play a vital role here, as conversations around the future of technological innovation are crucial for learning, development and successful implementation of new technologies.
What new technology are you most interested in?
While artificial intelligence is not entirely new, it is rapidly evolving and equally exciting. The true power of artificial intelligence lies in how humans and machines enhance each other’s strengths. MetLife recently hosted our 5th At our annual Triangle Tech These discussions focused on industry responsibilities regarding gender equality and provided ground-breaking discussions on factors that all business leaders should consider in their digital transformation.
