I'm interested in People.
Both their over-arching experiences as they interact with digital products and services; and the nuances of culture, interaction, and behaviour cultivated within the teams of people charged with the creation and delivery of those experiences.
I am currently the Chief Product guy, COO and co-founder of Wrisk – an early-stage #insurtech startup that is looking to provide the connected generation with a whole new way to look at, understand and control their risk.
I've worked as Head of Digital for Markel International — A global insurance group which looks after the commercial needs of major businesses, SMEs, professionals and sole traders.
Previously, I was also with ThoughtWorks — the global leader in software delivery and consulting where I led the growth of their Experience Design Practice across Europe.
I've worked in numerous "Head of" positions around Customer Experience and Product Ownership across a variety of domains.
I like to examine the melting-pot where Agile and UX philosophies come together to allow great teams to create great software experiences, whilst remaining focused on the goals, needs and desires of real people.
Many organisations want to be able to innovate at scale. They crave the ability to rapidly deliver quality software, reliably, sustainably and at scale. They desire the agility to sense and respond to the changes in the market, customer sentiment and their competition. More-often than not organisations attempt to tackle this through process and tooling. Whilst these changes are essential, in my experience the biggest gains are to be made by enabling changes in organisational culture and empowering people. This kind of culture change is complex and extends well beyond the bounds of "just IT".
If you are looking to unlock competitive advantage by creating a purposeful organisation with a high performing Digital capability, get in touch– I can help.
BIOGRAPHY
Darius Kumana is not your typical technical leader. Darius' background comes from providing thought-leadership on the integration of User-Centred Design and Agile software delivery philosophies. He is a leader and coach who understands people and the fact that it takes great teams to build really great software.
Darius has worked in a variety of industries, including financial services, education, retail, logistics, and non-profit charities. He has held executive leadership roles in firms ranging from large corporate multi-nationals to small avant-garde firms and green-field start-ups.
Darius enjoys challenges. Having worked both within organisations and also as a consultant to them, Darius can draw on a tremendous amount of experience when needed.
He has previously fulfilled numerous Head of Product Management and Head of User-Experience roles. However, the biggest opportunity to road-test his thinking on the tighter integration of User-Centred Design and Agile Delivery philosophies was afforded to him whilst he led, grew and shaped the Experience Design practice for ThoughtWorks Europe.
Darius is a creative who understands that success is no longer about having “the best” technology. Differentiation and innovation are far more likely to result from applying technology creatively to solve the real problems faced by businesses and end-users.
Darius has helped many organisations leverage technology as a strategic enabler of competitive advantage. He has helps organisations to recognise, understand and grasp new opportunities. He helps set clear vision and strategy and delivers against that vision through the application of Agile, Lean and User-Experience philosophies.
This is the approach Darius regularly championed whilst at ThoughtWorks and has shared at numerous international software conferences. This approach is also seeding the amazing transformation journey that is currently underway at Markel International.
Regardless of the task at hand, Darius remains focused on empowering teams to create great experiences for real people.
Each day, he aims to be less wrong than he was the day before.
