Ian Raffl, head of data and analytics at the RAC, says the key to success use of information resources The challenge is twofold: understanding the business challenges and having a great team capable of finding the right technology solutions.
“I want people who are empowered, passionate, excited and willing to share knowledge,” he says, emphasizing the importance of talent to efficiently deploy data-intensive systems and services in the digital age. Instead of searching for the right task for an already purchased technology, Raffl wants his team to collaborate with their peers on functionality.
“As a leader in data science, what makes us successful is that people come to us and say, ‘We have a problem. Can you find a solution?'” he says.
“Then I can go to my team and ask, 'Does anyone have a solution?' Their job is to know their capabilities. So, it’s a problem-based approach, but you need to make sure you have the answers up your sleeve, and for me it’s all about the people.”
It's an approach to technology adoption that Raffl has perfected over his career. He has been working for an automotive services company since February 2013. After gaining experience in various marketing positions, he joined the organization as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Manager. In this role, he managed the company's core marketing technologies, working closely with the firm's campaign team and analysts.
As Raffl proved his capabilities, he took on more senior roles, becoming head of marketing technology and then moving into his current role as head of data and analytics, where he reports to RAC head of marketing Alex Heath. Raffl says it's a fast-paced role and the pace of change suits him well.
“People say you get the best out of me when time is short,” he says. “Working at RAC is not for everyone because it is fast-paced. We move very quickly. We make decisions quickly. It's all about taking the time to be able to move on and make changes. The goal is to come up with a proof of concept and implement it.”
Work at RAC is carried out at a dynamic pace. We are moving very quickly. We make decisions quickly. It's all about failing quickly so you can move on and make changes. The goal is to come up with a proof of concept and implement it.
Ian Raffl, RAC
Raffl says his team's ability to deliver data projects has changed over the past five years. “We're looking at using data and knowledge to drive and change an organization,” he says. “And that focus, along with my more important roles, is very interesting. I get to interact with incredibly talented people.”
Transformation of front-end systems
While Raffl has always ensured that his technical capabilities are up to date, he admits that the pace of digital and technological developments data innovation has accelerated over the past few years.
Keeping up with all the changes in the IT industry is no easy task for anyone, let alone someone who has spent the majority of their working life in marketing. Raffle's answer is to rely on trusted assistants on his team.
“It's important to have the right people around you,” he says. “As a modern data leader, you have to encourage people to learn and grow, and empower them to do great work. I can't do everything across a wide range of disciplines.”
Raffl says the way forward is to be a great boss and attract the right talent. “You want employees to be motivated and encouraged to feel like they can drive the agenda,” he says.
“It's important to have the right people around you. As a modern data leader, you have to encourage people to learn and grow, and give them the opportunity to do great work. I can't do everything across a wide range of disciplines.”
Ian Raffl, RAC
“I like working with my people. If you have an idea, you can plant a seed in someone and then they come back and play out their theory and you can say, 'Yeah, we'll do it.'
One of the team’s priority projects is the transformation of RAC’s front-end marketing technology. The company uses a legacy system with a relational data model.
“It's based on a package approach,” he says. “There are several uses for a real-time system, but from a cost perspective it becomes prohibitive to do everything we need.”
Raffl says the transformation process includes moving to a new supplier called Bloomrich. This agent-based personalization technology will be used on top of existing RAC technology. Snowflake AI Cloud Data Platform. His organization will work with technology specialist Kaci to implement Bloomreach's technology over the next nine months. The result of this work should be a modern system offering real-time and artificial intelligence capabilities.
“This is a pretty big project for us,” says Raffl. “We're bringing together a total of four different vendors and probably six technologies from those vendors into one central solution. The backend will be Snowflake, with Bloomreach handling a lot of the front-end stuff, which should mean seamless data integration will be much easier.”
Creating Great Experiences
Another important area of work is increasing operational efficiency. Many of these efforts are focused on the two most expensive areas of the business—the call center and highway patrols.
Most of an organization's corporate information is now stored in Snowflake using a robust data model. Raffl says proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs) feed real-time use case data back to the platform and people in the call center.
“It's about being able to find out that someone's broken down on the side of the road and send them a message in real time with more accurate updates than we've ever been able to do before. We've revolutionized the whole dispatch process on the other side of the call center,” he says.
“We created a single screen for users, powered by Snowflake data and various web services, to ensure a seamless call center experience instead of using three or four different operating systems.”
Raffl says the collaborative approach makes it much easier for frontline operations staff to answer important questions, such as whether a person on the side of the road has RAC cover. Before the data was merged, employees had to log into different systems to confirm that the customer was covered. Employees now benefit from a single screen approach.
We have a platform based on modern technologies. There is a particular focus on changes in technology and data in call centers and roadside operations, and this has underpinned the last few years of RAC's evolution.
Ian Raffl, RAC
“We have a platform based on modern technology,” he says. “So the focus on changes in technology and data in call centers and roadside operations has been huge and has underpinned the last few years of RAC's evolution.”
Managing complex scenarios
After evaluating potential solutions, the organization deployed its first Snowflake platform for the marketing department in early 2020.
Raffl says the scalability of the AI Data Cloud and its integration with the existing Microsoft Azure architecture were important success factors. Since 2020, RAC has expanded its use of the Snowflake platform beyond the marketing department.
Now, in addition to providing a single source of truth for business, the company uses Snowflake Marketan online platform where users can access third-party data to expand their knowledge. Raffl explains how his organization uses this data to enrich its own insights and decision-making processes.
“We get a whole range of event data, including simple things like holidays, but also things like Glastonbury and other events where you see people gathering in certain places,” he says.
“Having easy access to comprehensive and supported information is great because trying to collect this data manually is nearly impossible, and getting the level of detail to match the scale of the event is transformative.”
RAC has also developed its own single analysis platform. Known as Mavis, this dashboard application uses Snowflake's Cortex AI tool to summarize analytics data. Agents working in the RAC operations center can use Mavis to look up important customer information, such as insurance eligibility.
“We've now put all the information in one place and it's easy, so the app will help you find the client and fully understand their rights, which is more difficult than you think. There are a lot of nuances in insurance that people are entitled to,” says Raffl.
“It's about being able to get that level of detail and have accurate information at your fingertips. When you get to much more complex scenarios, we help the agent make decisions. Our agents can see recommendations and make decisions. Just a few years ago, this type of recommendation was not possible.”
Being an empathetic organization
While artificial intelligence is already impacting customer service, Raffl says emergency managers like the RAC need to keep people in the loop. People turn to his organization in times of need, and technology should be a complement to, not a replacement for, human assistance.
“People may be panicked, they may be unsure, and I don't think we ever want to take away the humanity of communicating with people in a time of need,” he says. “Technology plays an important role in driving operational efficiency, but we need to be very careful to ensure our services are authentic and human.”
For example, customers stranded on the side of the road will look for an estimated time of arrival (ETA) from the RAC patrol team. Raffl says his team will continue to use artificial intelligence and data science to improve the accuracy of ETAs. However, great care also involves emotion and involvement, such as giving priority to pregnant women or people with disabilities.
“Digital evolution for us will be about leveraging technology. Data science and artificial intelligence are improving, and in the future, I think technology will be at the forefront of our decision making. However, it is critical that our agents can effectively manage situations and be the human face of the organization,” he says.
“Our approach needs to be driven by data in the background when making decisions. Automation is great, but there should always be the ability to manage things you can't predict and manage scenarios where you really need to be a responsive organization.”
