Transformation, Agility, and Customer-Centric Innovation

Cristian Seclén Figueroa is a corporate IT and digital transformation leader, aligning technology with business goals to drive efficiency, innovation, and global scalability across operations, data, and cloud strategy, with a results-focused, cross-functional leadership approach.

• Can you share your career journey and the key experiences that influenced your philosophy and led you to your role at Oben Group?

My career spans over 25 years in IT leadership roles across mass consumption, oil & gas, manufacturing, retail, and global consulting. This diversity has shaped a transformation- driven mindset, emphasizing the fusion of business outcomes with technological enablement. At Oben Group—one of the global leaders in the production of flexible films such as polypropylene, polyester, and polyamide—I took on the role of Corporate CIO & Digital Transformation to lead a radical shift in how we operate, leveraging digital tools and data to unlock efficiency and transparency. I believe in the power of technology to fuel agility, data driven decision making and customer centric innovation.

• Drawing from over two decades of experience across mass consumption, retail and IT consulting, how have this varied industry perspectives influenced the way you approach digital transformation today?

From these sectors I have learned that successful transformation must be end-to-end, customer-driven, and insight-led. Retail taught me the importance of agility and responsiveness to rapidly changing market demand. Mass consumption emphasized scalability and operational efficiency; IT consulting reinforced the value of governance and delivering speed-to-value.

By combining these key aspects from different industries I’ve developed a pragmatic approach to digital transformation. Designing tailored strategies that focus on implementing modular and scalable platforms (ERP, CRM, Specialized industry software) driving agile and optimized processes, establishing strong Data Governance frameworks, and prioritizing continuous user adoption through strong change management.

 ​Transformation does not mean disruption means building trust through better service, visibility, and consistency 

This integrated view allows transformation to go beyond technology in how the business operates, competes, and delivers value.

• What KPIs do you prioritize when measuring the success of a digital transformation initiative from the customer’s lens?

When selecting KPIs to measure the impact of digital transformation from both a business and customer perspective, we focus on variables that integrate customer experience, commercial efficiency and decision-making agility, like:

• Lead-to-Opportunity Conversion Rate and Sales Cycle Time via CRM analytics.

• Effectiveness in measuring the delivery of complete and on-time orders

• Data Quality & Availability (e.g., real-time reporting dashboards).

• Process Standardization Rate across countries and business units.

• User Adoption & System Utilization post go-live, tracked monthly.

Each of these KPIs is aligned with our goal to be the preferred partner in the packaging industry, empowered by technology, data and driven by a relentless focus on customer value.

• Is there a digital trend in your industry that you feel is commonly misunderstood or misused? How are you guiding your team to take a different approach?

A common misperception is that digital transformation is purely system-driven. Many companies invest in tech tools expecting results without aligning processes, data, or culture. In our industry—where traceability, quality control, and global coordination are crucial—technology must be embedded in a business redesign, not just added on.

We responded by launching our corporate digital transformation program, which seeks to generate value through process improvement (simplification and standardization) and cultural change. Today, all the company's projects are led by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with sponsorship from Managers or Directors, with the technology department serving as the "enabler."

At Oben Group, we took a different approach by launching a corporate digital transformation program, which seeks to generate value through process improvement (simplification and standardization) and cultural change.

All digital initiatives are now led by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with sponsorship from Managers or Directors, with the technology department acting as the enabler not the driver.

• What advice would you give to companies that want to transform but fear disrupting their existing customer base?

Start to know the company's strategy, then mapping your customer experience journey, identify friction points, and codesign solutions with both frontline employees and customers. Use agile sprints to pilot, gather feedback, and iterate. At Oben, some project implementations followed this principle: we involved area teams across all countries, aligned processes, cleaned master data, and ensured full buy-in before go-live

Transformation does not mean disruption means building trust through better service, visibility, and consistency.

• How does the next decade look for Oben Group?

Oben Group serves over 40 countries through 14 plants, positioning us as a world-class leader in the packaging industry. As global regulations evolve around sustainability and traceability, digital capabilities are no longer optional. Oben Group distinguishes itself by our dual commitment to operational excellence and digital reinvention.

We believe that in the next decade, competitive advantage will stem not only from materials science, but also from data mastery, AI-enabled planning, and intelligent automation.