In this Digital Edge panel discussion, Andreas Marmaras, GM of Product & Technology – Domain Insight at Domain, Dayle Stevens OAM, Executive – Data & AI at Telstra, and Carrie Mott, MD and Founder of Flywheel Marketing, discuss digital product excellence, with a focus on customer-centricity and the importance of measuring success.

Andreas emphasises that true digital excellence begins with a deep understanding of customer needs—not just accommodating them, but anticipating future requirements without getting too far ahead of market readiness.

He points out the delicate balance between innovation and timing product releases to match customer capabilities.

The panel examines the role of cross-functional teams and cohesive collaboration.

Achieving digital product success depends on reducing internal friction and establishing systems where IT, data, and product teams are aligned.

This structural cooperation enhances the customer experience, enabling smoother execution and minimising internal resistance, ultimately benefiting both employees and customers.

Measuring the impact of digital experiences and tracking customer satisfaction using both qualitative and quantitative metrics is vital.

Carrie and Andreas highlight the importance of ongoing monitoring and analysis of behavioural data to pinpoint friction in the customer journey, using tools like session replays to reveal where customers encounter frustration.

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, frequent feedback is essential, as consumer behaviours, technology, and market conditions rapidly evolve.

This adaptability helps companies keep their digital experiences relevant and effective.

The discussion also addresses the “personalisation-privacy paradox,” where customers want high levels of data privacy while still expecting personalised experiences.

Sharing personal data should lead to more tailored, trusted services; if it doesn’t, it erodes customer trust.

Dayle discusses how legacy companies like Telstra attempt to adopt agile methodologies seen in tech giants.

However, transformation isn’t straightforward due to entrenched business models that predate digital technology.

Balancing innovation with practicality is essential to ensure that new technologies, such as Gen AI, are developed with a focus on customer needs and commercial viability.

 

Key Takeaways:

  • Personalisation vs Privacy Paradox: Customers expect tailored experiences but value their privacy. Businesses must use shared data responsibly to build trust, avoiding customer frustration through effective and respectful data utilisation.
  • Legacy vs Tech-Driven Business Models: Traditional companies face challenges in adopting agile, tech-centric practices due to established operational models. Transforming work funding and prioritisation is key to driving digital change.
  • Strategic Innovation: While advanced technologies like Gen AI offer promise, organisations must focus on validating, testing, and aligning innovations with customer needs and strategic goals to avoid developing solutions that go unused.
Contributors
Peter Hind Principal Research Analyst at ADAPT
Peter Hind has spent the last 25 years as an analyst and commentator on the ICT industry. ​ His primary areas of interest... More

Peter Hind has spent the last 25 years as an analyst and commentator on the ICT industry. ​

His primary areas of interest are the potential of technology to transform the way organisations operate, the change management obstacles executives encounter in realising this potential, as well as the tactics and techniques leaders have deployed to overcome these difficulties.​

Peter now takes on multiple roles within ADAPT including the moderation of private events and roundtables, interviewing business executives about the strategies they are pursuing and assisting with the structuring of delegate surveys.​

He also interrogates and analyses ADAPT’s treasure trove of end-user and C-suite data.​

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Andreas Marmaras General Manager Product & Technology, Domain Insight at Domain
A pragmatic, strategic and highly commercial executive leader with global experience (US, UK, AUS) in Product & Tech across B2C and B2B.... More

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Dayle Stevens OAM Executive, Data & AI at Telstra, former GM Data at AGL
Dayle joined Telstra in July 2021 with nearly 30 years’ experience in the technology industry. She has held notable executive leadership roles... More

Dayle joined Telstra in July 2021 with nearly 30 years’ experience in the technology industry. She has held notable executive leadership roles in technology at companies such as NAB and AGL. Today Dayle leads Telstra’s Data & AI function.

 

Outside of Telstra, Dayle is a non-executive director at Beyond Blue, Australia’s most well-known and trusted mental health organisation, and a member of the IT Advisory Committee at Trinity College, University of Melbourne.

 

Dayle has long championed diversity in STEM across industry and age group boundaries, both through her own work and with global organisations aimed at encouraging women and girls to participate in STEM such as Robogals and Girl Geek Academy.

 

Dayle’s work has been recognised with multiple industry and professional awards, including being named in the CIO50 list of the best CIOs in Australia, the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence, and being awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her services to information technology and to women. 

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Carrie Mott CEO at FlyWheel Marketing
With 20+ years’ experience in leading marketing & communications teams in the B2B technology sector, I have led high-performing marketing & sales... More

With 20+ years’ experience in leading marketing & communications teams in the B2B technology sector, I have led high-performing marketing & sales development teams for Tier 1 technology brands including FullStory, Dynatrace, PagerDuty, Okta, Salesforce, Infor, Intel Security, McAfee, EMC, VMWare, IBM and Gartner.

As an award-winning, customer-focused professional, my roles have focused on pipeline generation, differentiated brand awareness & thought-leadership creation across all channels (direct, partner, social & digital).

You can count on a curious, technology-obsessed, passionate, people-focused, results-driven & inspiring leader with a strong work ethic & great sense of fun!

EXPERTISE:
– Pipeline generation & growth strategy
– Strategic marketing & business planning for Global & APJ
– Integrated marketing communications programs
– Social and digital marketing
– Channel & partner marketing
– Thought leadership research & content creation
– Public & government relations
– Account Based Marketing
– Leading, developing and motivating high performance SDR/BDR Teams
– Stakeholder management, teaming & cross-functional collaboration
– Team development & cross-functional business leadership

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Customer experience transformation leadership