How do companies make the right technology decisions?
AI is evolving rapidly. New models, platforms, and applications are constantly emerging—and with them comes the question of how companies decide which technologies they should develop themselves, adopt early on, or deliberately wait to adopt later.
In the fifth episode of “shift – Das Signal im Rauschen,” Balz Zürrer speaks with Fabian Ringwald, CIO and member of the Executive Board at SWICA, about data as the foundation of digitalization, the health insurer’s AI journey, and a pragmatic approach to innovation. The discussion also covers failed experiments, a “smart fast follower” strategy, and the question of why technological resilience can be more important than complete digital sovereignty.
Technology for People and Society
Fabian Ringwald has been working at the intersection of technology, strategy, and business management for many years. Today, he is CIO and a member of the Executive Board at SWICA. He does not view his role as purely a technological one. Rather, it is about using technology in a way that makes a tangible contribution to both people and the company.
His career path has taken him through various industries—from energy to logistics to healthcare. At BKW, his work included energy trading; at SBB Cargo, he focused on systems related to freight logistics. Today, at SWICA, he helps provide technological support to ensure access to a well-functioning healthcare system.
For him, the common thread running through these stages is their social relevance. Technology should not be an end in itself, but rather should be used where it creates tangible benefits for people and organizations.
This creates a particular area of tension, especially in the healthcare sector. Highly specialized tasks require stability and reliability. Digital tools, on the other hand, evolve rapidly. Innovation must therefore be designed in such a way that it provides support without unnecessarily hindering people in their actual work.
Data as the Foundation for Digitalization and AI
When Fabian Ringwald joined SWICA, it quickly became clear to him what a central role data plays in the insurance industry. Alongside people and capital, information technology is a key factor of production—and this information technology, in turn, is driven by data.
SWICA therefore opted early on for a data mesh approach. The idea behind this is not to make data available exclusively through specialized teams at the central level. Instead, business units should be able to access reliable data products and use them to derive insights and make decisions on their own.
At first, this approach was a long-term gamble. Today, it is gaining even greater significance thanks to AI. This is because powerful AI applications rely on available, understandable, and high-quality data.
This also shows that the conditions for AI do not arise only with the introduction of a new model or tool. They are often established years in advance through decisions regarding data architecture, governance, and the organization of knowledge.
AI experiments are allowed to fail
Nevertheless, SWICA’s AI journey was not a straightforward one. Like many other companies, the health insurer began with experiments and high expectations—and in the process also had experiences that did not lead to the desired results.
Even before ChatGPT made its public debut, SWICA was experimenting with generative AI in collaboration with a technology partner. The goal was to automatically transcribe a consultation and then summarize it.
The transcription worked surprisingly well. However, limitations became apparent during the summarization process: content was sometimes misinterpreted or added to. For a process whose results were to be passed directly on to customers, this meant the necessary reliability was not achieved.
For Fabian Ringwald, the key lesson from this is that companies must also have the courage to stop experiments.
For him, “Kill your Darlings” means not pursuing an idea simply because time, money, or enthusiasm has already been invested. If it becomes clear that a solution isn’t effective, it may be the better decision to consciously stop it.
Smart-Fast-Follower Instead of Innovation at Any Cost
This experience also shapes SWICA’s strategic approach to new technologies. The company does not see itself as a technology producer, but rather as a technology user.
Therefore, the goal is not to be the first to adopt every innovation. Instead, SWICA pursues a “smart-fast-follower” strategy.
The key here is “smart.” The right timing must be chosen deliberately. A technology must be sufficiently mature, but at the same time, a company must not wait so long that relevant opportunities have already been missed.
For Fabian Ringwald, one possible indicator of this is not necessarily being the first or second customer of a new solution. The third or fourth customer can already benefit from prior experience without getting in too late on a technological development.
In this way, SWICA also avoids a risk that often accompanies many innovation projects: Companies invest heavily in in-house solutions or very early-stage solutions and are then required to continue developing and operating them over the long term. At the same time, specialized providers continuously improve their products and may eventually offer solutions that are more mature in terms of functionality and more economically attractive.
Anyone who then clings to their own solution solely for the sake of “protecting their investment” runs the risk of carrying forward technical debt.
This brings us full circle to “Kill Your Darlings”: Innovation isn’t just about starting something new. Sometimes it also involves the decision to let something go.
From the Concept of Digital Sovereignty to Resilience
Another topic of discussion is the growing dependence on international technology providers and hyperscalers.
For Fabian Ringwald, the frequently used term “digital sovereignty” falls short in this context. Complete technological independence is hardly realistic. Dependencies existed long before the cloud—they simply used to lie with other providers and technologies.
What has changed most of all is the geopolitical environment.
In his view, therefore, the crucial question is not so much whether dependencies can be completely prevented. Rather, companies should understand what dependencies they are entering into, what risks arise from them, and how these risks can be managed.
“I believe what we really need is not sovereignty, but resilience.”
Fabian Ringwald
Chief Information Officer, SWICA
This includes, for example, the ability to regain access to and continue using one’s own data within a reasonable timeframe, even when switching cloud providers.
Resilience does not, therefore, mean doing without global technology providers. It means consciously managing dependencies and maintaining options for action.
Technology as Part of a Better Healthcare System
At SWICA, technological transformation is always viewed within the context of the healthcare system.
Fabian Ringwald describes the health insurer, among other things, as a trustee for policyholders and as a kind of “economic conscience” within a complex system. One of SWICA’s strategic approaches is therefore value-based healthcare: medical care should be more strongly aligned with the actual value it creates for patients.
One example of this is the care of people with chronic illnesses. Instead of scheduling patients for consultations at fixed intervals regardless of their current condition, data and structured questionnaires can help identify more precisely when an in-person appointment is actually necessary.
This benefits multiple parties: patients avoid unnecessary trips and wait times, healthcare professionals can focus more of their time on relevant cases, and costs can be reduced at the same time.
SWICA deliberately works through partnerships and sees itself as one player among many in a complex healthcare ecosystem.
Leadership means enabling good decisions
Fabian Ringwald also takes a clear stance on the topic of leadership.
SWICA has a distinctly hierarchical organizational structure. For him, however, a hierarchical leadership culture is something else entirely. What matters is that decisions can be made—as much as possible—where the necessary knowledge is available.
Managers therefore do not necessarily have to know the best answers themselves.
Rather, their task is to create the conditions in which good decisions can emerge—to enable and support them, and to delegate responsibility where the relevant knowledge is available.
This approach is also aligned with the data mesh concept: information and decision-making authority should not be unnecessarily centralized.
From Fabian Ringwald’s perspective, AI makes this capability even more important. Leaders should not only evaluate the technology theoretically but also work with it themselves and experience what is already possible today—and where the limits lie.
AI is transforming the interaction between companies and customers
Even Fabian Ringwald cannot reliably predict exactly what SWICA will look like in five years.
However, he considers one change likely: the way companies interact with their customers.
People are increasingly getting used to having information immediately available. In the future, AI agents may take over some of the simple and repetitive communication tasks and provide answers around the clock.
That doesn’t mean, however, that humans will disappear from customer interactions.
Personal contact will continue to play a central role, especially when dealing with complex or emotionally charged issues. AI can thus take over those interactions where speed and availability are paramount—while people are called upon in situations where empathy, experience, and context are crucial.
Listen to the fifth episode of “shift” now
The conversation with Fabian Ringwald offers a strategic yet pragmatic perspective on AI and digital transformation. It’s not about deploying every new technology as early as possible, but rather about creating the right conditions and recognizing the right time to implement them.
Data serves as the foundation; experiments are allowed to fail, and technological dependencies must be consciously managed. SWICA’s “Smart-Fast-Follower” strategy charts a course between the pressure to innovate and excessive caution.
In addition, Balz Zürrer and Fabian Ringwald discuss how technology can contribute to a sustainable healthcare system, why resilience can be more important than complete digital sovereignty, and how AI will transform leadership and customer interaction.
The fifth episode of “shift – Das Signal im Rauschen” is now available on Spotify and YouTube .
