Barbara Goodstein may not be a technology executive, but as AXA Equitable's new chief innovation officer, just about everything she does will have a technology dimension.

Goodstein's job as director of a newly-formed Marketing and Innovation business group begins with identifying growth opportunities and ways to exploit them through innovative solutions in areas such as new product delivery/speed-to-market and Web functionality. However, her job doesn't end there—Goodstein is responsible not only for coming up with innovative initiatives, but also prioritizing them, assembling the necessary staff and external experts and actually executing on them. "We are the incubator for new ideas," she says.

Goodstein's office operates with a degree of autonomy to ensure that experimentation can be conducted free of resource competition and the pressures of day-to-day business. Goodstein characterizes her sphere of authority as "focusing on the business but not in the business."

Goodstein is currently engaged with AXA Equitable's technology leadership in driving innovative Web solutions. "[AXA Equitable CIO] Kevin Murray and I are co-executive leaders of the Web strategy project, and we are looking to not only upgrade and revamp all of our Web sites but also implement some new, state-of-the-art capabilities," she relates.

Another area of priority for AXA Equitable's Marketing and Innovation group is product innovation. "We're looking at new ways to market and distribute our products, as well as creating innovative products apart from our existing lines," Goodstein says.

In addressing the need for greater speed-to-market and other potential areas of competitive distinction, Goodstein and her team will be studying not only the performance of effective insurance competitors, but that of companies in other industries as well. "We're looking not only within our category but beyond it," Goodstein remarks.

- Anthony O'Donnell

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