'Go beyond the numbers to get a unique view'
We sat down with Chris Oatts, our Head of Data and Product Strategy at Company Watch. Chris joined us in August 2022, bringing more than 20 years of experience in the credit and business sector to the role. He sits on the board of the Business Information Providers Association (BIPA) and has acted as chair on 4 occasions.
We chatted about Chris’ background, what’s on his radar for the rest of the year and beyond, and how Company Watch can help businesses ride out these challenging times.
Chris Oatts, Head of Data and Product Strategy
Hi Chris! Tell us a little bit about you, what’s your background and how did you come to work with Company Watch?
I’ve been working in the industry for around 20 years now, and I’ve progressed through several roles during that time. I studied engineering at University College London and went on to do a master's degree at Imperial College London. When I graduated, I took a job at a friend's company in the finance industry and found that I loved working with numbers. Particularly, I enjoyed providing insights to our customers using data. I progressed through various roles and became more interested in being creative with data and product development.
I joined Company Watch in August 2022. I had always admired the business from a distance. I was inspired by the detail and diligence of the platform and the commitment to innovation. I also liked the idea of moving from a large corporate company and working for a smaller, agile business.
Your role is Head of Data and Product Strategy, what are you focusing on for Q4 in 2023, what’s on your radar right now?
At the moment we’re focusing on modifying the business for growth by getting systems, processes and data partnerships in place.
This November, we’re focusing on fraud prevention. In light of the recent Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, our tools will work alongside this new legislation to combat fraud. It’s an exciting time and I’m looking forward to the opportunities this new act will create for us.
We’ve also been conducting surveys of our customer base to find out what their most pressing issues are, and how we can solve them. At the moment, lots of companies are struggling with fraudulent behaviour, including fictitious companies applying for credit. As a member of the Fraud Prevention Network, we’ve been listening to different ideas and feedback so we can work on solutions over the next couple of months. The plan is to release a new product in Q1 of next year to tackle these issues.
Another goal in the coming months is to get a product onto Google Marketplace as a modern way of delivering our data and insights to more people. We want to make it as efficient and simple as possible for our customers to access our products.
How important is having a clear product strategy? Company Watch, has such a strong offering and many unique tools, in terms of how the business is growing do you see product strategy as a key part of this?
Our product strategy is what will define the growth of the business, so it’s really important. Company Watch needs to continue to be innovative and agile, serving unique needs.
When I first joined the company I was impressed by the unique products like TextScore® and our enhanced director matching tool. We’ve focused on repackaging these to highlight to our customers that we've got products you can’t find anywhere else.
A key element of our product strategy is providing our customers with insight that goes beyond numbers to give a unique view. For example, products like TextScore® and SearCHeD use machine learning to analyse language, giving a different angle of risk analysis. This works alongside our powerful financial analytics tool H-Score®, to give the most robust risk analysis available. Living in times of elevated risk means it’s more important than ever to have as much information as possible.
An integral element of our product strategy is the background work that goes into creating the products. One of the things that sets us apart from our competitors is market research and customer interaction. We spend lots of time talking directly to our customers to find out what their pain points are and what they want from us. We also analyse our website data closely to find out where the interest is and what we need to work on.
What’s next in financial risk, in your opinion? What trends are you seeing in the marketplace particularly when you talk to customers?
I think the effects of the pandemic are still hitting a lot of sectors and the current global volatility has triggered a chain reaction of economic turbulence. There are some signs that things are starting to recover. My advice at the moment would be to ride out the storm. Use the right tools and information to protect your company, pinpoint the time to invest and invest wisely.
Another of the big topics at the minute is around AI, particularly access to data and privacy issues. While there is some fear about how AI is going to affect the market, I think there’s much more opportunity. At Company Watch, we’ve embraced new technology to provide the most innovative tools on the market. I think in the coming months we’re going to see AI playing a bigger role in the financial risk market.
How can companies like Company Watch help to mitigate financial risk, and make it easier for businesses to plan and invest wisely?
Our customers can add all their customers and suppliers to a portfolio on the Company Watch platform. This makes it easy to monitor these businesses daily and keep abreast of any changes or issues. If they have specific concerns, they can use our tools to gain deeper insights.
In turbulent times we’re providing customers with the information to make data-driven decisions to mitigate risk. Risk management is the focus at the moment, but I think a time of opportunity will come soon. We can help businesses spot these opportunities as well as risks.
If you had to pick one product of Company Watch now that you’re particularly excited about, what would it be and why?
I think our Experiments tool sets us apart from our competitors. Experiments allows you to model different scenarios, stress testing the financial health of a supplier or customer. The ability to forecast potential scenarios is a game-changer, especially in an uncertain economy. For example, Experiments can help you to understand what happens if a company loses its key supplier, what their financials might look like, and what this means for you. This empowers you to share the analysis with colleagues and stakeholders as evidence-backed reasons for your risk decisions.
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