Cory Smith - Innovation Lead, Aflac

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AflacInnovation Delivery Leader - Emerging Technologies

Apr. 2023United StatesServing as the leader of Aflac's Emerging Technologies team and Innovation (R&D) Incubator, I also serve as the interim chair our Emerging Technologies (Oversight and Governance) Council. In this role I ensure that our ET and Incubation teams leverage best practices and methodologies that are not only collaborative but also inclusive so that we ensure the the new technologies and modalities that we evaluate and asses meet the highest standards for value and risk while producing practical and measurable outcomes for the business. Unsurprisingly, an area of deep exploration for us is GenAI. We recognize that GenAI is not just another technology or trend, but a way for us to change and improve the way we work. It can improve our productivity, creativity and our agility in meeting the ever-changing business and market conditions. A shift in how humans and machines interact and will impact how we work now and in the future. Aflac has been leading in Artificial Intelligence for quite some time and is poised to lead for years to come with it's sights set on exploration in two areas: Everyday AI -- Focused on productivity: - Internal, everyday AI to boost productivity in our back office - External, everyday AI to boost the productivity of our users Game-changing AI -- Focused on creativity: - Internal, game-changing AI creating new core capabilities and changing the way we work - External, game-changing AI creating entirely new products and services But GenAI is only one small part of what we are exploring to help put our customers first and keep the organization ahead of the curve. We are leading the exploration in many other new technologies, modalities and ideas to extract capabilities for maximum return; testing, learning and prototyping so we can pivot or persevere; build, scale and continuously innovate.

FPT CorporationVice President, Customer Transformation & Head of Customer Solutions for the Americas

Jan. 2022 - Apr. 2023Atlanta Metropolitan AreaFPT Software is a subsidiary of FPT Global Corporation, a global technology solutions provider based in Vietnam with nearly US$1.6 billion in revenue and 30,000+ employees in 28 countries. As Vice President, Customer Transformation & Head of Customer Solutions for the Americas I lead DX (Digital Transformation) pre-sales and consulting operations for the Americas driving the following service portfolio, teams and activities: "Digital Transformation" • Innovation and Transformation Workshops • Design Thinking Workshops • Ideas to Initiatives to Outcomes Workshops (Design Thinking + Lean MVP + Agile WoW) • Digital Garage/Lighthouse (Digital Kaisen - Product Acceleration) • Business Process Management/Optimization • Total Experience (CX, UX, IA, UI, Service Design) Advanced Data & Analytics • Advanced Data Consulting Services (Maturation, Roadmap Definition & Iteration, Team Design, Problem Discovery, etc) • Data Transformation & Modernization (Strategy, Governance, Data Architecture, Data Engineering, DataOps/MLOps, Big Data management, etc.) • Advanced Analytics & AI (descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive, data augmentation) • Insights on Demand/Analytics as a Service • Platform Products (Dataiku, Palantir, Snowflake, etc.) Advanced Cloud Transformation and Modernization • Cloud Operations (Cost Management & Optimization, Performance Optimization, Security & Monitoring, AIOps, Cloud Operations and Management) • Cloud Transformation (ITX Consultancy, Cloud Discovery & Assessment, Cloud Strategy, Security Assurance) • Migration & Modernization (Lift & Shift, Strangler Migration & Modernization, Landing Zone Automation & Optimization, Legacy System Transformation, System & Application Modernization) • Cloud & Native Development (Containerization & Cloud Native, Cloud-native Implementation & Refactoring, Development of full cloud-based solution [public/private/edge], DevSecOps)

IntellinetPractice Lead - Innovation, Transformation & Resiliency

Oct. 2018 - Jul. 2019Greater Atlanta AreaSince 1993, Intellinet has delivered a breadth and depth of expertise found at few other professional services companies. We come from Big Four consulting firms, Fortune 500 companies, industry leaders, and venture-backed start-ups. We have been in the C-suite, and we have owned our own businesses. We understand what it takes to run a successful business, division, department, and team. Our key objective is to never lose sight of yours. As the Innovation, Transformation & resiliency practice lead and senior architect I led consultative digital and business innovation and transformation initiatives my activities and outcomes included: • Leading the team focused on working with executive business and technology leaders to help identify and define an organization's business intent and outcomes (vision, goals, opportunities and value streams), connect them 1:1 with customers desired/expected experiences and translate those into focused, measurable action and initiatives that produce practical, measurable and scalable results. • Leveraging and evangelizing the best of strategic, human-centric approaches such as Design Thinking, Lean Startup (MVP), Agile and Agile Ways of Working, CX, Business Architecture and Service Design as well as emerging tools and technologies to create a collaborative, opportunity-oriented culture that drives business agility and facilitates true innovation and transformation from within.

AflacInnovation Architect

Jul. 2018 - Jan. 2022Atlanta, Georgia, United StatesIn 2018 Aflac created a nimble and collaborative team focused on the future; connecting innovation to practical and measurable outcomes the business - and our customers - care about. That team became the Hatch Innovation Lab... an Innovation Incubator and Digital Transformation Accelerator focused on keeping Aflac ahead of the curve. As the Innovation Architect my role's activities and outcomes include: Leveraging the adaptive use of customer experience, design thinking, business architecture and agile as a holistic lens to craft and deliver customer focused and innovative end-to-end products and solutions • Outside-In/Inside-Out ecosystem analysis to Identify high value initiatives • Identification of end-to-end by mapping customer and user journeys to value streams and business outcomes • Customer experience research capture and management • Flexible agile delivery framework alignment for organizational agility • Identification and focus on the right measurement KPIs/OKRs Serve as "CTO" to the Innovation team providing thought leadership and guidance on future state solutions, technologies and platforms and as Solutions Architect on ALL Innovation Products - POC, Pilot and MVP to Scaled Solution Provide operational leadership to both our Innovation Incubator and Digital Accelerator Participate with the team in discovering the business intent, desired business outcomes, expected constituent experiences and success measurement for all new Hatch initiatives Responsible for the definition of our team's Approach, Methodologies, Processes, Frameworks, Tools and Documentation Standards Coordinate reverse pitch events and lead collaborative problem statement writing workshops with executives and business leaders Leading engaging workshop facilitation for a variety of audiences on: • The End to End, Ideas-to-Initiatives-to-Delivery Process • Rapid Prototyping • Lean MVP • Agile Ways of Working

Intellinet Practice Lead - Business Transformation Solutions

Jul. 2017 - Oct. 2018Atlanta, GAAs the business solutions practice lead and architect leading consultative digital transformation initiatives my focus included: • Helping to identify and define an organization's business intent and outcomes - vision, goals, opportunities and value streams - in order to maximize the business benefits of digital initiatives and technologies to an organization, help create an opportunity-oriented culture and drive business agility. • Leveraging and evangelizing strategic, human-centric approaches such as Design Thinking and Digital Business Design (Biz Architecture + CX + OCM) down to a more tactical, enterprise focus which considers broader opportunities and risks digital can create including customer intelligence, collaboration tools, new product/market exploration, sales and service optimization, enterprise technology architectures and processes, innovation, Digital PMO/PPM and governance in addition to marketing and customer-focused efforts such as customer experience, web and mobile strategies, digital commerce, paid and earned social strategies, conversion optimization and digital marketing/communication strategies and operations.

Reckon BrandingVice President of Digital Strategy

Jan. 2016 - Jul. 2017Norcross, GAIn 1999, a group of uniquely left-brained creatives joined forces to fill a glaring gap they had identified in Atlanta’s marketing landscape - collaboration. They knew removing the unnecessary layers and communicating face-to-face with our clients, combined with our experience of knowing when and how to apply award-winning creative, resolved headaches and inspired solutions. The fragmented, chaotic marketing world fell into focus for their clients and they reaped the benefits of sound brand application. The Visualab set forth challenging themselves to always being curious, loyal and honest… setting us up to become a Brand’s Best Friend. As the Vice President of Digital Strategy I help fulfill this promise by... • Building and leading successful digital programs, projects and products • Analyzing needs, researching opportunities and solutions • Demystifying complex technology concepts and demonstrating how they can be applied practically and measurably to our clients businesses • Developing holistic, multi-channel digital marketing strategies • Optimizing conversion strategies and tactics • Supporting audience needs and expectations through technology and content

Lighthouse Brand MarketingSr. Director of Digital Strategy and Operations

Jun. 2014 - Jan. 2016Marietta, GALighthouse Brand Marketing is a marketing partner that rows in tandem with it's clients, becoming the experts in knowing their client's audience and then guiding them to their shores. I was invited to join the agency with the charge of helping it become more "digitally focused". During my tenure I helped achieve this by: • Shifting from a flat offering of websites and landing pages to a digital services model that better suits client needs by adding Digital Strategy, Social Media, SEO/SEM, Content Marketing and email/eCRM/Marketing Automation offerings thus providing a more holistic suite of digital services with recurring revenue models and lower TCO. • Bringing digital services in-house and eliminating 3rd party digital partners and vendors • Shifting from a "traffic" to a "project management" model allowing the agency to more effectively manage project timelines, scope and budget. • Adding digital competencies to support new service offerings • Helping to rebrand/reposition the agency to line up our service offering 1:1 with the needs of our target audience - CPG, Food & Beverage and Retail clientele • Providing solution/product development, strategy and leadership to clients both internal and external. • Partner with creative, media, research & analytics and account teams to help develop and deliver highly effective products/campaigns that maximize audience engagement through holistic digital strategy and integrated technology solutions. • Participate in new business growth through representation at local events/meetups/conferences, direct client contact, scoping/requirements gathering, estimating, pitch/proposal creation and presentation. • Serve as senior technical architect on all internal and external client engagements • Help to define/refine organizational solutions development and business processes, documentation & standards • Partner with internal teams to increase operational efficiency, eliminate redundancy and cut/manage costs.

Grizzard Communications GroupDirector of Digital Operations and Development

Aug. 2013 - May. 2014Greater Atlanta AreaGrizzard is a full-service agency partner exclusively to non-profits. They serve 1,400+ clients — more than any competing agency and have raised over $4 billion. I was invited to join Grizzard to build their bi-coastal digital team from the ground up. During my tenure with the agency I helped achieve these goals by: • Creating, staffing and leading a digital strategy, development, delivery and support team • Providing solution/product development, strategy and leadership to digital strategy, digital design, eCRM/Marketing Automation, web/mobile development, analytics, digital media and QA teams. • Partner with creative, media, research & analytics and account teams to help develop and deliver highly effective products/campaigns that maximize donor engagement through holistic digital strategy and integrated technology solutions. • Participate in new business growth through direct client contact, scoping/requirements gathering, estimating, proposal creation and presentation. • Serve as senior technical architect on all internal and client engagements • Help to define/refine organizational solutions development and business processes, documentation & standards • Partner with internal teams to increase operational efficiency, eliminate redundancy and cut/manage costs.

BKVDirector of Digital

Sep. 2010 - Aug. 2013Atlanta, GAFor more than three decades, BKV has practiced and perfected smart direct marketing communication that turns a one-time sale into a long-term-customer-slash-full-fledged-brand-evangelist. Behind every decision made at BKV is a commitment to no-nonsense, hard-numbers accountability. I was invited to join BKV with the charge of bringing more structure to their digital team/offerings as well as working collaboratively across the agency increase overall productivity and revenue via digital channels. I was able to achieve this by: • Create, staff and provide leadership and oversight to web/mobile development, Email/eCRM/Marketing Automation and Quality Assurance teams. • Work directly with creative, media, analytics and account service teams to help deliver highly effective products/campaigns that maximize ROI through thoughtful strategy, award-winning creative, integrated technology, engaging social media, intelligent SEO, detailed metrics and deep analysis. • Assist in new business development through direct client contact, scoping/requirements gathering, estimating, proposal creation and presentation. • Serve as senior technical architect on all internal and client engagements • Help create and introduce formal solutions development and business processes, documentation & standards • Partner with internal teams to increase operational efficiency, eliminate redundancy and cut/manage costs.

TruistTechnical Director - Digital (Consultant)

Mar. 2010 - Aug. 2010Greater Atlanta Area• Provided leadership/oversight/management of all development, implementation and/or migration efforts related to the SunTrust.com and ancillary Sun Trust line-of-business websites and web-based applications • Led both onshore and offshore development/implementation teams for CMS (Autonomy TeamSite), search (Endeca) and runtime (custom .NET) • Managed the inventory and management of all current state assets (sites, domains, apps, demos, PII, forms, 3rd party integrations, etc.) • Worked closely with BA’s, enterprise architects and the business owner to define and clarify requirements and scope • Liaised with parallel groups within our enterprise technology organization – infrastructure, Q/A, production support, etc. - to maintain forward momentum of the project.

American Le Mans SeriesDirector of Digital Technologies

Nov. 2003 - Mar. 2010Greater Atlanta AreaCreated in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The series ran from 1999 through 2014 when it merged with Grand-Am Road Racing (NASCAR) to form the Tudor United Sports Car Championship. During my tenure with the series, my responsibilities included: • Provided leadership and direction to the design, development, implementation and support teams of all Panoz family of web properties – including AmericanLeMans.com. • Acted as chief digital strategist participating in the creation of all online media, marketing and promotions • Served as chief architect, project manager and in some cases developer on all websites, web-based and mobile application development for all Panoz properties • Authored, implemented and managed formal solutions development process, standards and best practices • Pursued and maintained relationships with internal business groups, manufacturers, racing teams, race promoters/track owners, media (television and radio) partners, vendors and key personnel.

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