Genesis Chief Digital Officer Peter Kennedy says his focus in the role is not only technology but delivering innovation that changes the way the company operates from the inside out and is perceived from the outside in. 

In a New Zealand first, Genesis launched ‘energy roaming’ for electric vehicle (EV) drivers in September 2022, making it cheaper and easier to charge their electric vehicles when out and about. 

EVerywhere lets EV owners use ChargeNet’s 280 hubs throughout New Zealand for the same rate they pay at home. This can save drivers up to 70% on the cost of charging, eliminating the variability and uncertainty of public charging rates.

EVerywhere can be accessed through Genesis’ Energy IQ app, linking to a ChargeNet account. Owners are charged at their home energy rate, with the cost added to their regular power bill, and visible immediately through the app.

“Our first step was undertaking structured customer research into the pain points experienced by EV drivers, which was unusual,” says Kennedy. “At the time, customer research in the early phase of product development was the exception rather than the norm. Now it’s embedded in our process.”

The research uncovered issues such as range anxiety and the expense of charging at public stations. Kennedy and his team decided not to reduce the pain points incrementally but to address them holistically.

“If you only whittle away at pain points, all you’ll achieve is to be less painful. That’s different to creating something amazing.”

Instead, the team chose to understand “the why” of these emerging problems and how Genesis might solve them. 

“The magic comes from meeting an unanticipated need; giving customers something they didn’t know they wanted – that’s innovation.”

The team narrowed down some key concepts and developed a pilot using Genesis’ unique ‘strategy to scale framework’. Kennedy describes this as a “greatest hits” of innovation frameworks, which helps a team progress from deciding which territory to focus on, to developing a theme, proving a concept, and then scaling it. 

“It helps us move as quickly as we can without over-investing. We can validate a hypothesis and how we might deliver it, without having to build everything up front.”

For example, the team tested mock-up app screens for customers to gauge what appealed about different user experiences. 

When Genesis approached ChargeNet, ChargeNet warned Genesis that EVerywhere might cost Genesis, but Kennedy wasn’t deterred. 

“We agreed, but from our research we believed the perceived value was higher than the cost, which for me is the secret sauce in any product.”

Genesis and ChargeNet worked closely to figure out how the two businesses could talk to each other digitally, how that could be automated, how EVerywhere could be robust, secure, and process tricky things like credits and reverse billing in a seamless way that made the customer experience simple and pleasurable. 

EVerywhere was then built piece by piece as it was proven. 

Genesis had the expertise it needed largely in house, and brought in skills and resources from other squads as needed. The decision to leverage Genesis’ existing Energy IQ app enabled a cross-fertilising of capabilities. It also created a cohesive experience for customers around their energy management. 

“The more reasons our customers have to use our app, the more compelling the app becomes, which incentivises us to keep on innovating. It’s self-fulfilling.”

It’s this perception of Genesis by customers looking from the outside in that Kennedy finds as satisfying as how EVerywhere evolved the company from the inside out.

“The idea of energy roaming means building for the customer consuming energy while out and about, not just at home. It’s future-proofing Genesis for when most of us will own an EV and need to top up on the road. Customers will see us ahead of the curve.”

And it’s taken away those pain points in the process. 

Kennedy says there have been two key spin-off benefits, aside from customer retention and acquisition. One is that Genesis’ strategy to scale framework has become part of the fabric of doing business, and is now applied to a variety of projects. The other is Genesis’ enhanced internal capability for innovation.

“And that includes confidence that we can build and launch stuff in house, and partner well. We’ve learned a lot, and will use our partnership with ChargeNet as an example when talking with other potential partners in future.”

Kennedy believes a key element of partnering for innovation is to keep the relationship open. 

“Genesis’ purpose is to empower New Zealand’s sustainable future, and that requires openness. Our partnership with ChargeNet is not tightly held or exclusive, we’re not preventing each other from doing what we’re good at, we’re just bringing the best of both businesses together for the good of our customers, and ultimately, by encouraging EV uptake, a more sustainable future.”