Denise Tung, Chief Digital Officer at McMillan Shakespeare
Having accumulated more than 20 years of remarkable leadership in the field of digital strategy, product development and innovation, Denise Tung shines as a symbol of progressive thinking in the global financial services and telecoms sector. Acknowledged for her visionary outlook, cooperative methodology, and resolute dedication to surpassing limitations, Tung has occupied a central position in molding the technological panorama of the entities she has been associated with. Presently, she holds the position of Chief Digital Officer at McMillian Shakespeare.
Please tell our readers about your journey and the typical daily roles, responsibilities, and operational strategies involved in your role as the chief digital officer.
I’m qualified in Accounting and Marketing and continued my education journey with an Executive MBA in 2010, agile product ownership and digital media programming. During my MBA, I learned the notion of actionable strategy and ensuring financial and non-financial considerations including people capability were factored into the equation of any pursuit .
Digital transformation starts with a willingness to change, and thinking digital-first: recognizing the significant role that digital plays in making things simpler. It’s holistic and should factor in north star thinking across customer experience, process re-engineering that is then enabled by agile digital platforms and strategic investments in data and value adding capabilities like AI and automation. These are the key ingredients to customer and business success.
My first job was at Qantas as a Yield Analyst, where I learned the importance of commercials, forecasting for maximum yield across international routes. I progressed into product management as Innovation Director in iSentia, a media monitoring firm where I launched Media Portal to help clients track social media sentiment, campaigns, and brands. Both roles taught me the importance of data driven decision making when it came to making priority calls on actions to take .
At CommBank and Optus, I was given the opportunity to lead cross functional teams, orientated by a common set of objectives and key results saw through the achievement of 83 in eNPS on engagement. Agile ways of working isn’t just about sprints, velocity points and ceremonies – critical success factors came ultimately down to state of mind – a willingness to grow and being a servant leadership. We notably increased the Optus app rating from 1.8 to 4.5, addressing customer pain points with guided autonomy.
It’s the norm of consumer expectations to be investing and excelling in digital. I’m firstly a servant leader, recognizing that my team’s know-how is far superior to mine, I remind people about starting with the problem we want to solve for, and it’s my job to celebrate the small fails and wins that makes a high-performing, engaged culture.
My priority lies on articulating the ‘why’ so that our people can master their work, have clear purpose to co-create and Innovate.
What are some of the recent trends and challenges that you have observed in the industry?
There’s no doubt we need to make mention of AI. AI is a tool to excel. Excel in CX, excel in delivery, excel in refinement. AI's historical roots trace back to World War II. Today, it's ubiquitous in how customers interact with brands. Its potential lies in responsible, generative, and evaluative uses. Chatbots now converse naturally. Integrating AI into the value chain of any business improves efficiency, benefiting both businesses and individuals.
Cybersecurity continues to be a growing concern, with every company now a reachable target. This particularly becomes prevalent as we deepen our investments in digital and technology. Over a 6 month period earlier this year, Australia alone had 5 data breaches exposing personal data of more than 1 million people, per breach – that’s around 30% of the Australian population. There’s a huge opportunity to leverage AI here in contextual reasoning and rapid learning to take action on threats before they exacerbate.
What would be your piece of advice for your fellow peers and colleagues?
1. Take Digital and Data seriously. Companies appointing CDO’s show strategic awareness behind the role of Digital across all facets of a business. Consistent investment in digital efforts brings lasting benefits for customers and the company across speed to market, speed to addressing customer needs, and streamlined processes. Digital transformation isn't just about customer experience; it requires adaptable platforms for diverse markets and requires ease of access to well defined data sources to personalize your interactions and services to customers that ultimately deliver value to them.
2. Never be afraid to place big bets and experiment along the way. I've worked under CEOs who encourage intrapreneurship thinking. As way of example, My Optus App faced setbacks on customers abandoning the app in droves. We formed a team focused on the goal on bringing back confidence to using the app. Errors that started at 23% dropped to 7 percent within a year, then to 0.3 percent in 10 months. Real-time analytics and feature experiments led us to rank second in Utilities, after Google by 2018.
3. Know your strengths and form alliances with market leaders. Partnering with digital and tech leaders who have consistent values and strategic goals lets you fast track adoption of tech without the added risk of building yourself. Effective leaders identify key capabilities. Deciding to build, buy, or outsource determines digital transition speed.
How do you envision the future of the industry?
The fintech sector will grow significantly, reaching $1.5 trillion in revenue by 2030, 13 percent of total revenue. Much of this growth, 42 percent, will come from Asia Pacific. Tech giants like Google, Meta, and Apple will integrate payment tech.
AI is becoming mainstream. It can quickly create business proposals, handle multiple calls, and optimize tasks like route planning. Platforms like ChatGPT and Google Bard show human-like customer interactions without massive workforce investment, improving customer experience.
Metaverse marketplaces will overshadow traditional media. Examples like shopping on Instagram lead to virtual marketplaces like "Gucci Town" on Roblox, changing how consumers engage with brands and products.
