Greg Pfluger

Experienced Insurance and Technology Leader

608-609-9680

greg@pfluger.org

Board Experience

The Daily Gazette; Schenectady, NY: January 2019-present

  • Member, Board of Directors
  • Protection and Safety Committee co-Chair 2021-present

The Daily Gazette is a privately owned company that publishes four newspapers and is diversifying into other businesses to ensure local journalism survives the decline of the traditional printed newspaper.  Board work included the establishment of digital distribution as a separate business, approving four acquisitions, creating three new businesses, and establishing a cyber security program.

Overture Center for the Arts; Madison, WI: September 2020 to present

  • Member, Board of Directors
  • Treasurer 2022-present

The Overture Center is a performing arts center that features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and four galleries where Broadway tours, national and international touring artists, nine resident companies and hundreds of local artists engage people in nearly 700,000 educational and artistic experiences each year.  Board work included steering the organization through a year when it was closed due to COVID, a capital campaign to fund overdue maintenance, and expansion of diversity and inclusion programs.

Aldo Leopold Foundation; Madison, WI: November 2020 to present

  • Member, Board of Directors
  • Audit Committee Chair 2021-present

The Aldo Leopold Foundation’s mission is to foster a land ethic through the legacy of Aldo Leopold.  This includes national programs, education for conservationists, and caretaking of the Aldo Leopold family land and shack that inspired A Sand County Almanac.  Board work included establishing a risk management framework, executing a capital campaign for the preservation of the historic Leopold shack, and establishing the first diversity and inclusion programs.

Guidewire Strategic Advisory Council: 2015-2023

Guidewire in the leading property and casualty insurance software provider.

July 2017-June 2020: Wingra School; Madison, WI

  • Member, Board of Trustees
  • Treasurer 2018-2020

Wingra School is an independent progressive school for children ages five to fourteen located in Madison, WI. Board work included completing a capital campaign, overseeing the expansion of the school and creation of outdoor learning spaces, and establishing a justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion program.

Employment Experience

American Family Insurance; Madison, WI: September 2009-September 2023

  • Vice President, Enterprise Systems Transformation, 2021-present
  • Enterprise Chief Information Officer, Personal Lines and Life 2018-2021
  • Vice President, Information Services 2014-2018
  • Associate Vice President, Business Systems Transformation 2009-2013

Responsible for:

  • Developing and managing technology roadmaps and investment plans for five personal lines property and casualty insurance businesses with a total of $10B premium and two life insurance businesses with a total of $800M premium.
  • Implementing new systems and transforming current systems to support new channels, products and processes.
  • Consolidating systems across five operating companies to reduce costs and share products and innovations.
  • Improving system development and project management processes to reduce time to market, improve quality, and reduce cost.
  • Managing and developing a staff of up to 500 employees and 200-400 contractors and consultants.
  • Managing an annual budget of up to $150M.

Key Accomplishments:

  • Developed business case for consolidating the systems of five companies that American Family has acquired since 2012.
  • Implemented new policy, billing, and claims systems (Guidewire) to support new products for both personal and commercial lines.  Currently working on upgrading to the Guidewire cloud version of these products.
  • Implemented new products in 30 new states to support new direct and partner-driven sales channels.   
  • Implemented new life underwriting and point of sales (cloud-based) systems.  Currently planning the implementation of a new life policy administration system for both new business and the conversion of legacy policies.
  • Implemented new customer relationship management system used by over 10,000 producers.
  • Implemented customer master data management system (Informatica MDM) to synchronize customer information across new and legacy systems and provide a full view of customers’ business with American Family.
  • Replaced various systems to support back-office functions including Human Resources, Investments, Brokerage, Producer Management, and Commissions.  Nearly all are cloud-based.
  • Built new organizational capabilities for user experience design.  The redesigned Amfam.com won a Stevie award for design.  New mobile application also won a Stevie award and app store average rating went from 2.0 to 4.7.
  • Developed new data warehouse to combine data from new and legacy systems and support advanced analytics.
  • Developed strategy for moving all applications to the cloud.  Implementing plan in phased approach.
  • Developed Robot Process Automation (RPA) components to automate various business process, realizing annual operational savings of over ten million dollars.
  • Implemented new agile system development processes to support faster delivery.
  • Developed new project management and project governance processes that could scale to work with very large projects.
  • Implemented lean processes across department with realized annual efficiency gains of 5% or higher.
  • Advised on the due diligence of five acquisitions.
  • Participated in varied enterprise activities including the revamping of our diversity and inclusion program, the executive sponsorship of an employee resource group for LGTBQ employees and allies, the mentoring of potential executives, and serving on the digital transformation steering committee. 

Sentry Insurance; Stevens Point, WI: August 2002 to September 2009

  • Vice President of Information Technology (Corporate CIO) 2005-2009
  • Chief Architect (CTO) 2002-2005

Responsible for:

  • Supporting a diverse portfolio of insurance applications that drive $3B in premium from commercial and personal lines, property/casualty and life/health products, and multiple distribution channels.
  • Developing shared corporate systems, including ERP systems and the enterprise data warehouse.
  • Developing and implementing IT strategy, enterprise architecture, and IT standards.
  • Deploying and supporting technologies to 3700 employees in twelve offices, 800 employees in home offices, and 20,000 independent agents.
  • Managing and developing a staff of 350.
  • Managing $70M operational and $35M project budgets.

Key Accomplishments:

  • Developed ten year plan to modernize or replace all legacy applications, including a $35M annual commitment of capital from the Board of Directors.
  • Selected and implemented new commercial lines policy and billing systems (Guidewire), to replace multiple legacy systems. 
  • Developed a new claim system, including conversion of claims from legacy system.
  • Implemented a new individual life system and retired two legacy life systems.
  • Implemented human resource and financial modules of Oracle/PeopleSoft ERP package.
  • Led technical integration of Viking Insurance, a $400M carrier acquired from Royal & Sun Alliance. 
  • Created a new IT Architecture function, comprising software, data, and enterprise architecture.
  • Created the first Corporate Information Security function.
  • Created comprehensive data management strategy, including building the first data warehouse.
  • Reduced ongoing operating costs 2-5% each year – while maintaining or improving service levels – using various techniques and technologies, including: standardization, virtualization, consolidation, defining service tiers, and developing internal expertise.
  • Introduced the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework for improving service levels.  Implemented new service/help desk software and problem management processes.
  • Started a vendor and contract management program to better manage costs and vendor service.
  • Developed a comprehensive program to minimize the risk and impact of impending retirements (over 25% of IT workforce eligible to retire in next three years).

Whittman-Hart, Inc.; Milwaukee, WI: December 1993 to August 2002

  • Principal/Director 1998 to 2002
  • Manager 1995 to1997
  • Consultant/Senior Consultant 1993 to 1995

Responsible for:

  • Providing consulting services to customers, including Miller Brewing Company, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Volkswagen/Audi of America, American Girl (Pleasant Company/Mattel), Kohler Company, Johnson Worldwide (ScubaPro), Sta-Rite, American Breeders Service, Golden Books Publishing, Milwaukee Insurance, and Stark Investments.
  • Business development, including developing proposals and delivering sales presentations.
  • Practice management, including developing budgets, maintaining sales forecasts, and assigning staff.
  • Staff development, including recruiting, creating development plans, and conducting performance reviews.

Key Accomplishments:

  • Created a web-based system for beer distributors to order promotional and point-of-sale merchandise, saving over $5M/year in printing and postage costs, and providing better inventory management. 
  • Developed a website, to introduce a new car, which included integration with manufacturing and distribution systems to allow customers to track the progress of their vehicle.  This drove $50M in annual sales.
  • Designed new order management system for $1B catalog marketer experiencing 40% annual growth.  Also provided technical oversight for new warehouse management system.
  • Helped select, implement, and customize various ERP systems including SAP, Oracle, and JD Edwards.
  • Designed secure, scalable Internet architectures for a variety of organizations.
  • Presented at local, regional and national technical conferences.
  • Assisted with the sales of engagements that totaled over $100M.
  • Provided quality oversight on projects.
  • Led the development of new consulting practices by establishing Client/Server, Groupware, Open Database, IT Engineering, Internet/Electronic Commerce, and Technology Strategy practices.  Eventually these accounted for 70% of Milwaukee office revenue.
  • Helped grow the Milwaukee office from seven consultants to a peak of 300, and to see the firm grow from 200 to 10,000, with the fourth best initial public stock offering of 1997.

Education

BS, Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1993

BA, English Literature, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1993

  • Student Leadership Award
  • Senior 100 Honorary
  • Illini Union Board President