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Northwestern Mutual Engineering

To build intelligent, secure technology platforms that deliver exceptional financial experiences and enable clients to achieve lifelong financial security

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To build intelligent, secure technology platforms that deliver exceptional financial experiences and enable clients to achieve lifelong financial security

Strengths

  • PLATFORM: Robust secure financial planning technology infrastructure
  • INTEGRATION: Seamless advisor-digital hybrid experience capabilities
  • EXPERTISE: Deep financial domain knowledge embedded in systems
  • SECURITY: Industry-leading data protection and privacy standards
  • TALENT: Strong engineering culture with financial services expertise

Weaknesses

  • LEGACY: Technical debt in core insurance administration systems
  • AGILITY: Slow deployment cycles compared to fintech competitors
  • TALENT: Gaps in specialized AI/ML and data science capabilities
  • COORDINATION: Siloed development teams affecting integration
  • COMPLEXITY: Intricate compliance requirements slowing innovation

Opportunities

  • PERSONALIZATION: Enhance client experiences with data analytics
  • EFFICIENCY: Automate advisor workflows to increase productivity
  • EXPANSION: Extend platform capabilities to new customer segments
  • ECOSYSTEM: Build API ecosystem for third-party financial integrations
  • INTELLIGENCE: Deploy advanced analytics for financial insights

Threats

  • COMPETITION: Fintech startups disrupting financial planning space
  • CYBERSECURITY: Increasing sophistication of security threats
  • REGULATION: Evolving compliance requirements affecting development
  • EXPECTATIONS: Rising customer digital experience benchmarks
  • TALENT: Fierce competition for top engineering talent

Key Priorities

  • MODERNIZE: Accelerate legacy system transformation
  • INTELLIGENCE: Develop advanced data analytics capabilities
  • EXPERIENCE: Create seamless omnichannel client journeys
  • SECURITY: Strengthen cybersecurity resilience
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To build intelligent, secure technology platforms that deliver exceptional financial experiences and enable clients to achieve lifelong financial security

MODERNIZE CORE

Transform legacy systems into a flexible tech foundation

  • ARCHITECTURE: Complete microservices migration roadmap for 3 core systems by Q3, with implementation plan approved
  • TECHNICAL DEBT: Reduce critical legacy code by 30% in policy administration systems through refactoring
  • CLOUD: Migrate 50% of on-premise applications to cloud infrastructure with 99.99% availability
  • DEVOPS: Increase deployment frequency by 60% while maintaining quality through CI/CD pipeline enhancements
POWER INSIGHTS

Deliver intelligent data capabilities across platforms

  • PLATFORM: Launch unified data analytics platform serving 80% of enterprise data needs by end of Q3
  • MODELS: Implement 5 new ML models for financial planning with 90% accuracy in production environment
  • TALENT: Hire and onboard 12 specialized data scientists and ML engineers across key strategic areas
  • ENABLEMENT: Train 250+ engineers on data science fundamentals with 85% certification completion rate
ELEVATE EXPERIENCE

Create seamless digital journeys clients love

  • ENGAGEMENT: Increase digital platform daily active users by 25% through UX improvements and new features
  • OMNICHANNEL: Implement seamless cross-device experiences across 90% of client journeys with high satisfaction
  • PERSONALIZATION: Deploy intelligent recommendation engine reaching 70% of clients with 40% action rate
  • ACCESSIBILITY: Achieve WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across all digital properties with 95% conformance score
FORTIFY TRUST

Build world-class security and reliability

  • RESILIENCE: Implement zero-trust architecture across 75% of critical systems with 100% compliance
  • MONITORING: Deploy advanced threat detection covering 100% of production environments with 5min MTTD
  • COMPLIANCE: Automate security verification for 90% of releases with no critical findings in production
  • RECOVERY: Reduce disaster recovery RTO/RPO to under 2 hours for all critical systems with full testing
METRICS
  • CLIENT DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT: 75% monthly active rate (62% current)
  • PLATFORM RELIABILITY: 99.99% uptime across all critical systems
  • DEPLOYMENT VELOCITY: 3x increase in production deployments per month
VALUES
  • Doing what's right
  • Client-first focus
  • Excellence through innovation
  • Long-term perspective
  • Strength through integrity
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Align the learnings

Northwestern Mutual Engineering Retrospective

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To build intelligent, secure technology platforms that deliver exceptional financial experiences and enable clients to achieve lifelong financial security

What Went Well

  • REVENUE: Premium revenue grew 8% YoY exceeding financial targets by 2%
  • RETENTION: Client retention improved to 96%, highest level in 5 years
  • DIGITAL: Mobile app engagement increased 28% following new release
  • EFFICIENCY: Tech investments reduced policy processing time by 40%
  • SECURITY: Zero major security incidents despite increasing threats

Not So Well

  • PROJECTS: Three key platform initiatives delivered behind schedule
  • ADOPTION: Advisor adoption of new planning tools below expectations
  • INTEGRATION: API strategy execution slower than competitive benchmark
  • COSTS: Cloud infrastructure expenses exceeded budget by 15%
  • TALENT: Engineering talent acquisition fell short of hiring targets

Learnings

  • COMPLEXITY: Need simpler, modular architecture to increase agility
  • COLLABORATION: Cross-functional teams yield better client outcomes
  • FEEDBACK: Earlier advisor input critical for successful adoption
  • DEPENDENCIES: Legacy system modernization blocking innovation pace
  • PRIORITIZATION: Need clearer alignment between tech and business KPIs

Action Items

  • ARCHITECTURE: Accelerate API-first strategy and microservices adoption
  • TALENT: Implement engineering excellence program to attract top talent
  • GOVERNANCE: Create streamlined tech decision-making framework
  • MODERNIZATION: Develop 18-month legacy system transformation roadmap
  • OPTIMIZATION: Establish FinOps practice to control cloud spending
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To build intelligent, secure technology platforms that deliver exceptional financial experiences and enable clients to achieve lifelong financial security

Strengths

  • FOUNDATION: Established data governance and infrastructure
  • INSIGHTS: Rich proprietary financial planning data assets
  • VALIDATION: Proven AI models in risk assessment applications
  • ADOPTION: Strong executive sponsorship for AI initiatives
  • EXPERIENCE: Success with initial advisor-facing AI assistants

Weaknesses

  • TALENT: Limited AI engineering and data science specialists
  • FRAGMENTATION: Disconnected AI initiatives across departments
  • EXPLAINABILITY: Challenges in transparent AI for compliance
  • SCALE: Current AI solutions not enterprise-ready at scale
  • INTEGRATION: AI models not fully integrated with core systems

Opportunities

  • ADVISORY: AI-augmented advisor intelligence and productivity
  • PERSONALIZATION: Hyper-personalized client recommendations
  • PREDICTION: Advanced risk modeling and financial forecasting
  • AUTOMATION: Streamlined underwriting and claims processing
  • ENGAGEMENT: Conversational AI for client self-service

Threats

  • ETHICS: Ensuring responsible AI use in financial decisions
  • COMPETITION: Fintech AI innovation outpacing traditional firms
  • REGULATION: Uncertain regulatory environment for AI in finance
  • SECURITY: AI-powered cyber threats targeting financial data
  • TRUST: Client skepticism about AI in financial planning

Key Priorities

  • ACCELERATION: Establish unified AI strategy and Center of Excellence
  • CAPABILITY: Build specialized AI engineering talent pipeline
  • INTEGRATION: Embed AI throughout the client-advisor experience
  • TRUST: Develop transparent, ethical AI governance framework