My internship at the Allianz Global Digital Factory in Munich

At the Allianz Global Digital Factory, we build engaging customer experiences to digitize and strengthen customer ties. And as a global player we are always on the run searching for new talents, ambitious and excited about digitization. 

Alexandra joined us for three months as an intern to get to known to how we work. 

Ever wondered what it would be like to do an internship in another country, move to a new city on your own and build up a completely new acquaintance, friend and working group?

The Allianz Global Digital Factory, the digital transformation unit of the Allianz Group, is an incredibly innovative, professional and creative environment that has been building engaging digital customer experiences since 2016. Sounds interesting? Then have a look over my internship report and dive into the digital world of Allianz Insurance.

My name is Alexandra Tomasitz. I am 22 years old, born in Vienna and studying at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. At the end of this July, the time had finally come for me to move to Munich. In recent months, I often heard the questions, "but why Munich?" and "Munich and abroad?" - but one thing I can say for sure, even though Munich is close to Austria, it was still a totally new and crazy experience.

After all, Vienna and Munich are still separated by a few hundred kilometres, and it wasn’t easy at all to suddenly stand alone with my luggage in a new city and find my own way around. Fortunately, Allianz offered me a service that supported me with topics of the German bureaucracy, including the registration office, confirmation of the apartment owner, and the process of getting a new tax ID. 

Furthermore, Munich is a financial centre. After Frankfurt, it is the second city in Germany where large companies increasingly settle and attract international workers from all over the world. So what could be better than being in Munich in summer and autumn? 

The city makes it really easy to fall in love with it, and if you bring a certain openness, you quickly get to know the charming sides of Munich:

Well, enough of advertising the city and let’s continue to my internship report:

Allianz Global Digital Factory, also called "GDF" among Allianz members - what is it that we do? This is also a question that I was often asked and it is sometimes not easy to explain in one sentence because the GDF is incredibly extensive and versatile that there is much to report. But let‘s give it a try:                                                                                                

The GDF collaborates with Allianz companies (also called OEs, which stands for Operating Entities) around the world, helping them transform their business and improve customer satisfaction, effectiveness and efficiency. The GDF delivers scalable digital solutions to serve the diversity of Allianz’ 85 million customers. A team of designers, developers, user researchers, product owners, digital marketers and insurance experts explore innovative ways of working, user-centric design and development methodologies, and cutting-edge technology.

Meaning, we are creating a global product in collaboration with Allianz Operating Entities (OEs) and the above-mentioned professionals, who then take over and, for example, adapt them regionally to their country.

Sounds great, right? 

For the time being, my internship was set under the unit ”Communication” (have a look at our #AllianzGDF Linkedin Profile!) After a while, I was offered to rotate within my internship, so I also quickly got involved in Customer Journeys, our Product Design and Optimization Team, and supported and collaborated with executives. This led me to the exciting opportunity to support one of our customer journeys called “Fast Needs Assessment (FNA)” in collaboration with Allianz Spain and Allianz IberoLatAm. 

“Sprint reviews/planning”, “agile working methods”, “scrum”, “UX/UI Design and Research” and “software development” weren’t just keywords anymore. Now I was also surrounded and able to work with such professional, international and intelligent colleagues.

Of course, the working environment is also designed for it, because closed and covered office spaces don’t exist at the GDF. Instead, value is placed on transparency and an open relationship with each other.

Surprisingly, I was also able to bring back my passion for photography. Before I decided to head for business in my studies, I attended the “Graphische” in Vienna - a 5-year secondary school, where I received, in addition to my general education, a trade license as a professional photographer as well as a subject-related diploma thesis. Being involved in our first software developer conference and taking the pictures for our official homepage – it was a proud moment when I saw that my photos are now being used. 

These varied and transparent experiences gave me the opportunity to gain diverse work experience while building an international network. My point of view definitely changed over the previous months and I realized that I would like to keep focusing on digitalization during my studies.

Three months at the GDF were incredibly educational and it was a great chance to gain insights into global digitalization from a business perspective. In any case, I can only recommend, to acquire a basic understanding of IT, digitalization, and software and business development.

Many thanks to all the colleagues who made my time in Munich so special, and the opportunity to do an internship at the Allianz Global Digital Factory.

Alexandra Tomasitz