Meet Christopher Paquette, most recently a chief digital transformation officer for Allstate Insurance, a former partner at McKinsey, and a member of the HTEC Advisory Board.
In his impressive career, Christopher has served as a board member of many impactful organizations, from global corporations to nonprofits and startups. A finance and insurance expert, Christopher is also well-versed in building and implementing business strategies to accelerate enterprise-wide digital transformation and deliver a best-in-class experience for customers, agents, and employees.
Upon joining the HTEC Advisory Board, Christopher shared his thoughts on what motivated him to join, the goals he is hoping to achieve with HTEC, and what differentiates HTEC from its competitors. We also touched upon his exciting career path, work philosophy, and personal perspectives on the latest technologies and today’s business landscape.
Business strategy and digital transformation guided by extensive experience
Christopher’s 12 years as a partner at McKinsey & Company profoundly shaped his approach to business strategy and digital transformation. He points out three crucial success factors guiding any kind of business undertaking at McKinsey: starting with the end value in mind, structuring your work, and building confidence to pivot quickly.
“Everything starts with focusing on the value of your efforts. What does a good outcome look like? This is where most digital transformations go wrong – it’s transformation for transformation’s sake. Then, you need a clear plan and a good structure — which is something companies like McKinsey excel at. Finally, you need confident team members ready to tackle the unknown.”
Christopher has also advised numerous startups and nonprofits, which gives him a unique perspective to complement the expertise from his Fortune 500 background. Startups and nonprofits often require more creativity and resourcefulness. These organizations don’t always have the same access to tools or resources as more established companies. Christopher believes that this diversity of thinking brings significant strategic advantages.
“My experiences are diverse and broad. From a hydrogen car startup to an AI decision-making software company, and then HTEC and other companies where I’m a board member. All of these positions give me a comprehensive, well-rounded perspective.”
Starting a new chapter with the HTEC Advisory Board
Similar to Christopher, HTEC is committed to making a positive impact in the world. It was this commitment that first caught Christopher’s attention when talking to HTEC’s CEO, Aleksandar Čabrilo. He quickly recognized Alek as a vision-driven founder with a strong commitment to engineering excellence. In his corporate roles, Christopher was familiar with products and services similar to HTEC’s, which made it easy for him to recognize the quality of HTEC’s offerings and the company’s remarkable growth potential.
“I believe in the power of tech, data, and phenomenal engineering to transform an organization. When you add creative, human-centered design, sophisticated, end-to-end product development, and a genuine desire to improve lives to the mix – it’s obvious why I got involved with HTEC.”
Carrying out a shared strategic vision
Christopher looks forward to using his background and experiences to support HTEC’s continued success and create new opportunities. He plans to leverage his network and expertise to nurture existing partnerships and make business development introductions in established and emerging industries. Christopher is also excited to use his knowledge of go-to-market (GTM) strategy to boost the operating model, creating even more productive engineering conditions for all employees.
As an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion and a passionate supporter of green energy and sustainability, Christopher is dedicated to fostering a more equitable and environmentally conscious society. With the same principles at the foundation of HTEC’s mission, his position on the board is a great opportunity to amplify our efforts and affect meaningful change together.
How technology will transform businesses going forward
We had a chance to ask Christopher about the technologies he believes will have a significant role in shaping the business landscape. Apart from obvious answers like artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI, he also pointed out the importance of telematics and edge computing. Telematics is used to connect remote objects to a centralized server, and edge computing processes, analyzes, and stores data closer to its creation point. These technologies enable real-time data collection and analytics, significantly enhancing decision-making and improving security.
As these technologies rise in popularity, the question is no longer what they can do but how we can leverage them.
“Companies need to think beyond technological capabilities to consider business value. Consider vehicle telematics. Originally, they were used and collected for auto insurance purposes. Now, we can use it to observe driver behavior and transform those insights into protective measures, risk reduction, and an improved user experience. Personalizing and contextualizing your technology is key – and it starts with getting to know your consumers and their specific needs.”
Christopher is also passionate about tools that use human-machine interaction, like computer vision, and the use of green energy solutions to promote sustainability.
What makes HTEC different?
Having been involved with a number of companies, we asked Christopher what makes HTEC unique. He emphasized the comprehensiveness of HTEC’s approach, which goes beyond simply executing requirements to include strategic consultancy. This creates a partnership that enables customers to make informed decisions, actively contributing to the development and success of their projects.
“HTEC’s super-advanced engineering goes way beyond writing code. Each client gets the full advantage of HTEC’s design, industry and tech knowledge, marketing insights, and product ownership. This end-to-end expertise lays the foundation for a strategic, trust-based relationship where HTEC works hand in hand with clients as a partner.”
Christopher believes that most companies neglect this holistic approach, especially if they excel in a certain domain, which makes them siloed. Ultimately, it’s HTEC’s full-stack global product capability that makes our company unique.
Reach out to Christopher to explore how you can leverage HTEC’s deep engineering and product development expertise to digitally transform your business.