Customer experience consultancy CXO2 has added a practice specialising in process optimisation and technology enablement.

It will be led by Melbourne-based David Vincent, who formerly spent two decades at IAG and CGU.

The practice will turn transformation spending into measurable productivity outcomes for clients in financial services, retail, health, travel and utilities, according to CXO2, which is owned by management consultancy The Bridge International.

“There is a real productivity challenge,” said Mr Vincent, who is COO at CXO2 and finished at IAG as EM of delivery enablement in 2020.

“Organisations have invested heavily in digital, AI and technology, but the gains often stall because the underlying work was never redesigned to support them properly.

“This practice is built to help clients simplify work, improve execution and realise measurable productivity and customer outcomes.”

Executive chair Stuart Blake says that after two decades of investment in technology, the “productivity dividend has largely not materialised” for many organisations in Australia and New Zealand.

Rapid investment in AI without a different approach will deliver the same poor outcomes, he warns.

“How many companies are in technology remediation and rewriting business cases that don’t remotely resemble the original pitch?” Mr Blake said.

“Automating bad experiences increases costs rather than delivering productivity. People, processes and systems must move together.”