Interview: Harriet Aubertin, Intact Insurance, Women in Tech Excellence Awards finalist

‘I believe it is important that everyone involved in technology projects is recognised for the contribution they make’

The Women in Tech Excellence Awards celebrate the outstanding contributions of women in all areas of technology, from software development and engineering to AI, cybersecurity, and beyond.

Harriet Aubertin is a PMO Analyst at Intact Insurance UK. She says:

"After graduating from university, I joined Grayce, a graduate consultancy where I worked on several technology transformation projects for a variety of organisations across a range of transformation roles before landing a role at Intact two years ago. Intact is my first time working in the insurance industry and it has been a fantastic experience so far!"

Harriet is a Women in Tech Excellence award finalist in the Rising Star of the Year category. In advance of the ceremony in November, we talked to Harriet to find out more about her and Intact Insurance's challenges and achievements over the past year.

What prompted you to enter the Women in Tech Excellence Awards this year? (Without giving anything away of course!)

I was put forward for this award by one of my colleagues and was so proud to have been shortlisted. I believe it is important that everyone involved in technology projects is recognised for the contribution they make.

When people think of technology projects, they often only think about the technical aspect of it, and not all the work that goes along with it, whether organisational, strategic or administrative. My role as PMO analyst fits into this side, so I am so proud to be celebrated.

What would winning this award mean to both your people and your customers/partners?

It would be fantastic to have Intact Insurance widely recognised in the insurance industry by winning this award, especially only one year into the name rebrand (formally RSA). Winning the award would also be a validation of the impact my work in technology change is doing for the business by improving systems for our staff and refining the experiences for our customers and partners.

What would you say is your company's proudest achievement over the past year?

The company’s proudest achievement this year is the successful rebranding to Intact Insurance. The rebrand created one global team, bringing 6,000 employees across the UK, Ireland, Europe and Asia under one name. I joined Intact permanently the same month as the rebrand, so it is great to see Intact go from strength to strength and grow as a company.

What have been the biggest challenges of the current year so far and how have you overcome them? How have your people/partners helped with that?

The PMO Lead on my programme left the business earlier this year, so I have had to step up in my role and take more responsibility within the programme. I have taken over all her responsibilities and have greatly improved the governance on our programme.

This was at first challenging as I had to become the decision maker and driver of change in our ways of governance so I felt a great deal of responsibility. My team and peers have fully supported me in this role expansion and have shown great interest in supporting my development and allowing me to grow.

What do you see as the main opportunities for the industry in the coming 12 months? How do you plan to capitalise on those opportunities?

There are many opportunities for the industry in the coming 12 months. The great thing about working in technology transformation projects is there is always a new challenge and something to improve on around the corner.

I have been very fortunate to have worked on one of the biggest technology programmes in the company. With it due to successfully complete next year, I am really excited to see what the next challenge brings.

The Women in Tech Excellence Awards takes place on 26th November in London. Click here to view the list of finalists!