Asymmetric Value Creation

Context & Stakes

A global insurance group with over €1B in annual IT spend was operating across high-growth markets. Innovation was defined as vendor-led upgrades. There was no organizational capability to credibly challenge incumbent vendors.

The Real Problem (Not the Stated One)

Key Interventions

• Global innovation capability: Built experimentation infrastructure across multiple regions.
• Minimalist alternative: Designed a lightweight digital workplace (~€10k) scoped to prove viability — not to replace, but to demonstrate that an alternative existed.
• Strategic optionality: Positioned the experiment as a credible threat, fundamentally changing vendor negotiation dynamics at group scale.

Measured Outcomes

The credible alternative shifted vendor economics. Approximately €9M in recurring annual savings from renegotiated per-user licensing across multiple regions.

To be precise: the €10k experiment did not “create” €9M. It removed the organization’s lack of leverage. The value came from changed bargaining power — the same logic as qualifying a second supplier in a concentrated market.

Second-Order Effects

Strategic optionality: The organization permanently gained the ability to challenge vendor economics.

Culture shift: Innovation was repositioned from “exploring ideas” to “creating economic weapons.”

Why This Case Is Reusable

Any organization with significant vendor concentration and no credible alternative is likely overpaying structurally. The pattern applies wherever procurement optionality is absent.