Keynote: Allstate / CompoZed Labs - One Year Later - Doug Safford, Allstate Insurance
Channel: Cloud Foundry
Date: 2016-10-08

Keynote: Allstate/CompoZed Labs - One Year Later - Doug Safford, Vice President in the Allstate Technology & Strategic Ventures Group, Allstate Insurance

At the 2015 Cloud Foundry Summit, Allstate spoke about their goal of being thought of as more of a software company. Transforming an 85-year-old Fortune 100 company involves creating a shift in how to conduct business, but also in how technology can facilitate and even increase this process. The threats and issues facing Allstate’s business-technology transformation are typical of many large companies. 

Doug will discuss how Allstate’s technology strategy has shifted since 2015 as the insurance giant moves aggressively to the cloud. Doug will also cover how far Allstate has come in the last year, what's been working, the challenges that remain, and the journey which continues full speed ahead.

Doug Safford 
Allstate
Doug Safford is a vice president in the Allstate Technology & Strategic Ventures group of Allstate Insurance Company. He leads the company’s Technology Innovation department, and CompoZed Labs, the enterprise’s agile efforts on cloud foundry.

In his current position, Safford is focused on using innovation and technology to quickly bring to life the ideas of his business partners.

Safford took his current position in October of 2015, and most recently was VP and Chief Architect of Allstate. He has a long track record of creating and building high-performing teams in the most complex technologies. Prior to that, he had been the Chief Architect for Sales, Marketing and Customer Experience technology. Under his leadership, the team developed the strategy that led to the selection and acquisition of eAgent, which evolved into the foundation for Allstate’s Relationship Management System.

Safford joined Allstate in 2004 after eight years designing and developing a wide range of applications while working as a consultant for Sears, Allstate and other well-respected firms. He has contributed to articles and books as co-author and technical editor and also has been a speaker at a number of industry-related events.

A native of Rochester, New York, Safford studied at the State University of New York and is a graduate of the Naval Nuclear Power Program and spent eight years in the U.S. Navy, six of them stationed on a nuclear submarine.