E100 - Craig Price - Perfecting Customer Experience by Perfecting Customer Engines with Data Science

Imagine getting served a burger but it’s all bun and patty. Nothing else.

Weird, but not bad, I guess - especially if you’re hungry.

Now, imagine if your server strides over and adds on all your favourite toppings and fixings. Some tomato slices, cheese, a cold beer on the side, maybe even a cookie for dessert.

This is what you came for! This is what will make you come back!

But how did they know all your favourites?

Well, this isn’t your first time here. They’ve been paying attention to what you like and what you don’t, and they’ve been taking note.

The plain burger is customer service, but this is customer experience. All the little notes they’ve been making as you come in everyday, that’s where customer engines come in.

Meet Craig Price

Craig’s Role as a Data Science & AI Leader at Suncorp Group

Craig Price is the Group Head of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence at Suncorp Group. For over 100 years, the Suncorp Group has been building futures, offering insurance, banking and wealth products and services through some of Australia and New Zealand’s most recognised financial brands. Their portfolio of brands includes AAMI, GIO, Suncorp Bank and Vero. Suncorp Group Limited is a top 50 ASX-listed company with over 9.5 million customers and 13,000 employees. They have been an ‘Employer of Choice for Gender Equality’ for six consecutive years, and in 2019, were awarded Silver Employer Status at the Australian LGBTI Inclusion Awards and the Susan Ryan Age Diversity Award.

Craig’s Other Work in Finance, Actuarial, and Data Science at Suncorp Group​

Craig works with The Data Science & AI Centre of Excellence at the Suncorp Group to maximise the value that Suncorp gets from its investments by turning data into tangible business value. He manages a team of data scientists and analytics professionals building innovative solutions for market leading brands like AAMI, Suncorp, GIO, and Apia.

Prior to this role, in Craig’s 20+ years with the Suncorp Group, he has taken on the roles of the Principal Actuary for Workers’ Compensation & CTP as well as for Motor Insurance, the Executive Manager of Personal Insurance Pricing Analytics, Modelling Acceleration, and Data Science. More recently, Craig was the Head of Data Science for Analytics & Business Engagement. Outside of work, Craig is passionate about making a difference in community development, disaster relief, and educating children through opportunities from STEM.

Customer Engines, Customer Experience, and Intelligent Automation

In this exclusive analytics podcast episode, Craig shares:

His experience volunteering at ADRA Australia

His role as the Group Head of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence CoE at the Suncorp Group

The importance of having the Centre of Excellence model for data science and AI at an organisation like Suncorp

What the financial service industry can do to win the long game

If models like Next Best Action and Next Best Offer to reduce the churn rate could be incorporated into the next generation of customer engines and

experience

Embedding data analytics for better customer experience

How this is different from traditional customer segmentation

How the role of intelligent automation converges with his work in perfecting the customer experience

Putting together multiple teams to create a powerful customer engine

How FSI can replicate the customer experiences of big companies like Google and Amazon

If these points will become important add-ons for the Customer Data Platform in the near future

His advice for other companies in the industry to get started using intelligent automation and data analytics to build better customer experience

Key lessons from his experiences in building these customer engines a