Innov8rs Zurich

It all starts with an idea. But bringing it to life is the real challenge. At Zurich, with 56,000 employees spread out across the world, this challenge takes on a whole new dimension: How do you make them heard across country borders and functions? And how do you then go about implementing those ideas across the whole organization? Throughout our 150-year history, collaboration has always been key to move ideas forward.

With that in mind, Zurich launched two flagship programs, the Zurich Innovation Championship, through which Zurich sources the best and boldest ideas from startups, and Make the Difference, a “grass-root innovation” program which gives our employees the tools to bring their ideas to life across the organization. Three editions of the Zurich innovation Championship ZIC and nine cycles of Make the Difference later, here’s our story of tearing down internal silos to create a cross-organizational innovation culture.

Joel Agard, a millennial with a hands-on attitude to make innovation reality in a transforming industry Joel is an innovation executive with a background in tech, telco, media and healthcare and has worked for both startups and global corporations. Since 2019, he has been responsible for various external innovation initiatives within Zurich Insurance Group, including the largest startup tournament in insurance, the ‘Zurich Innovation Championship’. He holds a Master of Applied Science degree in ‘Business Administration’ as well as an Executive MBA in ‘Innovation Management and New Business Development’. Born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland, he shares a global mindset, leading back to his Caribbean, Italian and Dutch roots. Joel Agard is passionate about exploring the opportunities of innovation and, through the initiatives he is leading, is helping to foster an open innovation culture in a global company with more than 55’000 employees to protect future generations in an ever-changing world. Stuart Domingos, CFA heads Group Innovation, responsible for fostering innovation at Zurich through knowledge exchange and implementation of new approaches that improve our customer service; including a global program of execution, Make the Difference. Stuart brings underwriting and finance skills, along with an established network in insurtech. Stuart graduated in Applied Mathematics, completed a Post-Graduation in Economics and European Affairs; and became a CFA Charterholder in 2014. Stuart lives in Zurich, Switzerland. His key hobbies consist in cooking so he can run his marathons.