Sostav · Sostav · April 2020

Mail.ru Group Launches Business Digitalization Division: Building Digital Transformation Infrastructure

Transformation requires developing people's competencies and a culture of change within the company. Senior executives are heavily loaded, making it hard to find time for learning — which is exactly why we created this programme.

— Elina Isagulova, VP at Mail.ru Group

A New Direction at the Height of the Pandemic

In April 2020, at the most acute period of the first COVID-19 wave, Mail.ru Group announced the launch of a new strategic division — comprehensive business digitalization services. Leadership of the new division was entrusted to the group's VP, Elina Isagulova, who retained responsibility for the advertising revenue of the entire group.

The pandemic exposed Russian business's critical dependence on offline channels. Companies without digital infrastructure found themselves in the most vulnerable position — and Mail.ru Group offered a solution: a single entry point to digitalization tools for companies of any scale.

What the New Division Included

Mail.ru Group brought together the entire toolkit of the holding for corporate clients under one umbrella:

• Digital promotion and performance marketing
• Cloud infrastructure and corporate communications
• Big data and predictive analytics
• AI solutions for business process optimization
• Executive education programmes (Executive Digital MBA)

Executive Digital MBA: Education for Senior Management

Simultaneously, Mail.ru Group announced a free Executive Digital MBA programme — the first initiative of this scale in Russia targeted specifically at senior management. More than 300 applications were received for 50 places. 62% of senior executives at major Russian companies cited the lack of digital skills as the main barrier to transformation (PWC data, 2020). The programme's goal was to change management thinking: shift executives from intuitive decisions to data-driven ones.

Results: From Knowledge to Practice

90% of participants completed the programme in full. Companies applied the tools they received in practice: developing digitalization roadmaps and forming cross-functional teams. Unilever used the proposed frameworks in its strategic planning for 2021. As Isagulova noted: "Many participants said that before the programme they understood the importance of digital transformation but had no comprehensive understanding of it." Transformation begins with understanding — and understanding begins with educating leaders.