2019 CEO survey: Data in driver’s seat for top execs

Data use has gone from theory to fact, our survey of the nation’s top CEOs reveals.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims. Picture: AAP

ACCC chief Rod Sims will increasingly use control of data as a key metric in deciding whether a merger breaches competition rules — and this year’s business leader survey shows data use has gone from theory to fact.

READ MORE: The 2019 CEO Survey

The survey of 73 business leaders shows increased use of artificial intelligence, with Magellan’s Hamish Douglass saying: “Magellan uses data science and machine learning to improve many processes in our business.”

CBA’s Matt Comyn said the bank was “using analytics to help our 7 million digitally active customers better understand and manage their finances, or to connect them with a range of benefits they may be entitled to.”

QBE’s Pat Regan said: “Things like artificial intelligence and robotics are helping speed up claims-handling and strengthen our fraud detection capabilities, for example. We’re using data better and exploring more ways that we can better capture that to deliver more tailored customer solutions.”

Geoff Culbert from Sydney Airport said: “Data analytics are becoming increasingly important and we’re using it to look at everything from improving aircraft taxi times to faster baggage processing.”

Mr Sims wanted consumers to be aware of what was happening, even if they did not object, and said that when they realised how Google was making money from their data they might be more concerned.

“The ACCC digital platforms inquiry focused on Google and Facebook’s control over data and how it was obtained, often without people knowing about it.

“Outside the big platforms business is using data extensively for their own purposes.”

AGL’s Brett Redman said: “We embed innovation in everything we do, making it hard to quantify separately. It includes creating a dedicated business unit called Future Business & Technology with a seat at the exec table and investing around $100m in global R&D funds.”

Australian Unity’s Rohan Mead said: “We established a dedicated customer and digital function in 2017 with executive committee representation. This function is charged with driving research and innovation, testing new technologies and exploring new business models across the company’s operations.”

Perpetual’s Rob Adams said: “In Perpetual Corporate Trust, we have invested in data analytic capabilities to deliver insights over $2.4 trillion of loan data to our clients in the financial services sector.”

BHP’s Andrew Mackenzie said: “We now have sensors attached to conveyors, trucks, ore cars and underground. The data collected is improving our mine plans, reducing unplanned maintenance and improving the consistency and stability of our operations, product quality and delivery to customers.

“This year we launched our innovation mine in the Pilbara, where we take ideas from our own labs and from other companies and test them in a real world mine environment. These measures will improve safety, reduce emissions and unlock significant value for BHP shareholders.”

Rio’s Jean-Sebastien Jacques said: “Digital transformation is a game-changer for the industry and our work in this field to date puts us in a great position. There is enormous value in moving beyond automation to digitise and then integrate systems across the entire value chain.

“Turning the huge streams of data we gather from our automated equipment into intelligence is another huge opportunity. We have an in-house data science and analytics team and have just launched an open data environment that will drive more external partnerships in this area.”