FORTY Under 40: Elena Benfatto

Elena Benfatto, head of global analytics and insights at Generali Employee Benefits (GEB.

Benfatto has been in her current post since April 2025. She started out as a reinsurance project administrator at GEB in May 2014 before becoming a captive services analyst in March 2015 then a captive services specialist in April 2018. She was appointed head of global reporting in December 2022.

What key challenge did you face in your work this year? How did you overcome it, and what did it teach you about leadership at this stage of your career?

It’s been a dynamic year because I took responsibility for the medical health department, stepping into an area that was entirely new to me. This created a new joint department, the Global Analytics and Insights department, combining financial and statistical reporting and insights in one department. I had to familiarise myself with topics I had never encountered before, which required significant time, focus and dedication.

At the same time, I needed to ensure continuity for my previous department, Global Reporting, which is responsible for the quarterly financial client reports. This meant continuing to support the team, helping them navigate complex questions and staying fully engaged – especially during critical deadlines. Balancing both responsibilities required strong prioritisation and a high level of resilience.

Despite the steep learning curve, I made every effort to quickly understand the new subject matter so I could contribute meaningfully. I prioritised supporting the team I had just taken over, listening to their expertise, providing guidance where needed and ensuring they felt supported throughout the transition.

This experience reinforced an important leadership lesson: effective leadership is not about knowing everything in advance, but about remaining willing to learn, staying adaptable and leading with humility.

It highlighted the importance of curiosity, trust, and clarity. Especially when navigating unfamiliar territory while maintaining stability and performance in an existing area. It also reminded me that good leadership means creating the conditions for teams to succeed, even when managing multiple responsibilities and developing yourself at the same time.

“Effective leadership is not about knowing everything in advance, but about remaining willing to learn, staying adaptable and leading with humility.”

In what ways have you tried to push innovation or rethink traditional approaches within your sector, and what impact has that had on your team or organisation?

In the global employee benefits sector, analytics has traditionally been viewed as retrospective reporting. Over the past year, I focused on shifting this mindset by positioning analytics and insights as a proactive value-creation function.

We developed a service that enables partners and clients to access deeper insights, helping them make more informed decisions on plan design, cost drivers and emerging health trends.

This innovation created a strong internal impact. It strengthened GEB’s positioning as a strategic adviser rather than a traditional benefits provider. It improved cross-department collaboration, fostering alignment and shared ownership. It elevated the team’s role, giving analysts and specialists greater opportunities to contribute to high-visibility strategic projects.

This shift toward curiosity, insight-driven decision-making and continuous improvement is one of the achievements I am most proud of.

How do you see your role evolving over the next three to five years, and what initiatives are you most excited to pursue as you continue to grow professionally?

Over this time, I see my role evolving toward broader strategic ownership of insights-driven transformation across the organisation. As analytics becomes increasingly central to insurers’ value propositions, I expect to contribute to initiatives that integrate data, technology, and customer experience more seamlessly.

I am particularly excited about:

• Enhancing medical reporting to provide clients with clearer, more actionable insights that support their decision-making around the healthcare services they offer to employees;
• Strengthening financial reporting insights, giving clients a comprehensive country-by-country view of financial trends and enabling them to better evaluate the performance of their benefits plans;
• Developing disability reporting, a new initiative designed to offer clients a deeper perspective on disability as a risk line and help them assess solutions that better support their employees.

Many of the FORTY Under 40 winners are recognised for both business success and broader impact – how do you balance professional excellence with contributions to your community or industry landscape?

I approach the balance between professional excellence and broader impact by viewing both as essential and interconnected elements of leadership. Delivering high-quality work remains a core priority, but I also believe that contributing to the wider community and industry creates a healthier, more forward-looking environment for everyone.

I maintain this balance by staying engaged in discussions that shape the future of our field, supporting colleagues and emerging professionals, and promoting a culture of openness, learning, and collaboration. I value sharing experiences, encouraging diverse perspectives, and helping build networks that extend beyond my immediate responsibilities.

I do not see these activities as separate from my role. Instead, I view them as mutually reinforcing: contributing to the industry strengthens my leadership internally, and striving for excellence at work gives me the credibility and insight needed to add meaningful value externally.

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