roundtable – Oliver Pickup

Go Flux Yourself: Navigating the Future of Work (No. 5)

TL;DR: May’s – slightly delayed – Go Flux Yourself includes being selfless to find happiness, building tech for good, virtual work experience, the importance of messy stories, and a tribute to rugby league legend Rob Burrow …

Image created on Midjourney with the prompt “Leeds Rhinos rugby league legend Rob Burrow smiling with the ball and happy people gathering around him – with tech robots looming behind them – in the style of a David Hockney painting”

The future

“The greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of its parents.”

These words, attributed to Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung, were quoted on stage by Britain’s leading “psychological illusionist” Derren Brown, the big draw at DTX Manchester in late May when discussing the pursuit of happiness.

This wisdom hit me hard as the father of two small but quickly growing children. (And this newsletter didn’t arrive on May 31st – apologies – because I was holidaying in the Netherlands for half-term.) It smacked me harder, though, as someone passionate about human-work evolution and the world we are building.

Is the combination of technology and social media making us overly self-interested? Is too much screen time, for adults and kids alike, making us more susceptible to jealousy while eroding common decency and looking out for those around us? We need to look up, look out, and that starts with, well, looking inward.

Related to this, I recently saw a brilliant and quite emotional post on LinkedIn that distilled the problem of human selfishness. In a thought-provoking classroom experiment, a university professor challenged his students to a unique test of teamwork and empathy.

Each student was assigned a balloon bearing their name, which was then released from the ceiling. The challenge was to locate their own balloon within a five-minute time limit. If everyone succeeded, they would collectively win; if even one student failed, they would all lose.

Despite their earnest efforts, not a single student managed to find their individual balloon amid the chaos. Undeterred, the professor gathered the wayward balloons and gave the class a new directive: “When you catch a balloon, give it to its rightful owner.” With this simple shift in perspective, the students all completed the task before three minutes were up.

The professor concluded the lesson with a poignant observation: “Happiness is like these balloons. If each of us single-mindedly pursues our own, we will inevitably come up short. But if we prioritise the wellbeing of others, we will find that our own happiness follows suit.”

This principle holds true not only in the classroom, but also in the corporate – and specifically the technology – world as well. By actively supporting our colleagues in achieving their objectives, we foster an environment of reciprocity and shared success.

At DTX Manchester, where I moderated a session on AI in the workplace, Brown, who I once shared a seance table with – a story not for here – talked about our materialistic, consumerist tendencies. Most of us, he said, are on the “hedonic treadmill”, chasing and attaining new things to feel happier. But that immediate dopamine spike soon drops, and then we look for the next shiny thing. Essentially, he argued – convincingly – that this doesn’t make us happy.

Building on this point, he offered the audience a thought experiment suggested by Stoic philosopher William B. Irvine. In On Desire: Why We Want What We Want, Irvine wrote: “Suppose you woke up one morning to discover that you were the last person on earth … In the situation described, you could satisfy many material desires that you can’t satisfy in our actual world. You could have the car of your dreams. You could even have a showroom full of expensive cars. You could have the house of your dreams – or live in a palace. You could wear very expensive clothes. You could acquire not just a big diamond ring but the Hope Diamond itself. The interesting question is this: without people around, would you still want these things?”

The answer is obvious when framed in this way. But do enough of us realise this truth?

Brown also challenged leaders to prioritise authentic storytelling over superficial narratives. He argued that businesses often present overly simplistic and tidy stories, failing to capture the messiness and complexity of reality. To cultivate genuine resilience, Brown urged leaders to embrace the journey and resist the temptation to fixate on definitive endings.

However, Brown’s most urgent plea was directed at technologists, calling upon them to use their talents for good. He revealed a startling statistic, attributed to Tristan Harris, Co-Founder of the Center for Humane Technology: over 50% of AI engineers believe there is at least a 10% chance that mishandling AI could lead to the destruction of humanity.

This sobering reality underscores the critical need for a mindset shift in the tech industry, ensuring that innovation uplifts humanity rather than accelerates its demise.

As AI advances at an unprecedented pace, there is an immense business opportunity and an ethical imperative to create technology that genuinely addresses human needs, not just superficial desires.

The cautionary tale of social media platforms like Facebook is a stark reminder of the unintended consequences that can arise when innovation is disconnected from human welfare. With the stakes exponentially higher in the era of recursive, self-improving AI systems, the risks of rushing ahead without careful consideration are grave, ranging from automated cyber weapons to blackmail and disinformation campaigns.

Those who seize this opportunity to create technology that genuinely benefits humanity will build thriving businesses and contribute to writing a new, more enlightened chapter in the human story. Brown concluded that this endeavour is worth far more than any fleeting dopamine rush from a dazzling new toy. It served as a much-needed call to action for leaders and innovators to shape a future in which technology and humanity can flourish together.

I’ve been asked to deliver an opening keynote on the future of work to a group of lawyers in London later in the year, and with the 25 minutes I have been afforded, I’ll be focusing on these messages, I reckon.

The present

Certainly, the themes of collaborating for good and being intentional and considered are current when looking through the lens of remote working – mainly because no company has perfected its strategy. Moreover, it requires careful iteration, with humans – not technology – in the driving seat and the most business-critical element.

A couple of weeks ago, I was delighted to moderate an in-person roundtable near the “Silicon Roundabout” of London’s Old Street, which delved into the challenges and opportunities of creating a remote-ready workforce.

I set the scene by referencing recent research from Stanford professor Nick Bloom, which indicated that 29% of the global workforce were hybrid workers, 59% were fully on-site, and only 12% were fully remote workers.

Predictably, during the discussion, trust emerged as a cornerstone of successful remote work. The roundtable participants concurred that businesses must foster a culture of trust, and the unanimous verdict was that monitoring staff is creepy and demotivating.

O.C. Tanner’s 2024 Global Culture Report was published a few days after the roundtable session. It showed that 41% of UK employees have their working time strictly monitored, and just 53% are granted freedom in how they accomplish their work. How backward. For employees, it’s time to put the mouse-jigglers away, and employers need to conduct adult-to-adult relationships with their staff.

Someone needs to tell Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the UK’s richest person. In mid-May, he found a new excuse for ordering employees back to the office. In a message to the club’s employees, he complained about the “disgraceful” messiness in the office. He called an end to the flexible work-from-home policy that has been in place since the coronavirus crisis.

As a kicker, Ratcliffe – who resides in Monaco, presumably in part for tax avoidance purposes – justified a full-time return to the office because one of his other businesses experienced a 20% drop in email traffic when it experimented with home-working Fridays. It’s daft reasoning, for sure. Do more emails mean more productivity? Not in 2024, where the most enlightened business leaders are familiar with Cal Newport’s concept of deep work – the need for focused periods of concentration without the pings, bings and other notifications that have become an irritating part of work life.

As businesses strive to future-proof their workforce, the concept of “virtual work experience” has gained popularity – although one suspects Sir Jim would not approve. And if so, I’m 100% with him on this one.

Leaders must understand that while these online placements can provide valuable exposure and skills, they should not be considered a complete substitute for in-person experience.

Companies like Heathrow Airport and Pret A Manger have partnered with Springpod to offer virtual work experience programmes, aiming to impart relevant knowledge to aspiring professionals in various fields. These initiatives include engaging activities such as – ahem – quizzes and immersive product development journeys designed to educate and inspire the next generation of talent.

The hands-on experience, face-to-face interactions, and real-world problem-solving opportunities that come with traditional work placements are essential for developing a well-rounded skill set and understanding the nuances of a profession.

Ultimately, by offering a balanced approach that combines online learning with practical, on-site experience, leaders can ensure that their future workforce is adequately prepared to tackle the challenges of their chosen careers.

Further, investing in a comprehensive training and development programme that includes virtual and in-person elements demonstrates a commitment to nurturing top talent. By providing a well-rounded learning experience, organisations will attract ambitious candidates, foster a culture of continuous improvement, and be well-positioned for long-term success.

The past

At first glance, the passing of a rugby league player might seem inappropriate for a technology and business newsletter. But the death of former Leeds Rhinos scrum-half Rob Burrow yesterday (June 2), at the age of 41 – a year younger than me, chillingly – transcended sport and was mourned across the nation.

Sadly, Rob’s demise was no surprise. Four-and-a-half years ago, and only two years after he hung up his boots, he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) and given 18 months to live. Bravely, Rob chose to take his fight public to raise awareness of the horrific disease – and the lack of support for sufferers – and, along with the considerable help of his former teammate Kevin Sinfield, attracted around £15 million for MND charities.

I started my career as a sports journalist and covered rugby league, partly because of my upbringing in North West England, the game’s heartland. I watched and met Rob, who played for Leeds almost 500 times and won 18 international caps, numerous times. I always marvelled at how the smallest player on the pitch – at 5’5” or 156cm, he was only a dozen centimetres taller than my nine-year-old boy – was so often the bravest and most influential. Indeed, today’s obituaries will laud a “giant among men”, rightly.

How fitting that, by coincidence, the ground will be broken on the Rob Burrow Centre for MND in Leeds the day after his death. Excelling at a game in which he was always a foot shorter than other players, he was a groundbreaker on and off the pitch.

The Prince of Wales – a mate of mine at the University of St Andrews (but that’s another story) – presented CBEs to Rob and Kevin in January, and when the news broke on Sunday, he saluted “a legend of rugby league” on social media. He added: “Rob Burrow had a huge heart. He taught us ‘in a world full of adversity, we must dare to dream’.”

Rob’s life story holds valuable lessons for the world of technology and business. Every entrepreneur and innovator should aspire to emulate his unwavering determination and ability to excel despite the odds stacked against him. In the face of adversity, Rob persevered and used his platform to drive change and raise awareness for a cause that desperately needed attention.

His legacy reminds us that true success is measured not just by personal achievements but by the positive impact one leaves on the world, no matter the industry. As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of technology and business, let us draw inspiration from Rob’s courage, resilience, and dedication to making a difference. In doing so, we, too, can dare to dream, innovate, and create a better future for all.

Statistics of the month

41% of UK employees have their working time strictly monitored, and a mere 53% are granted freedom in how they accomplish their work, according to O.C. Tanner’s 2024 Global Culture Report.
The CIPD’s latest Labour Market Outlook showed that 55% of employers in the UK are seeking to maintain their current staffing levels – the highest figure since 2016-17. With fewer organisations looking to recruit, employers must invest in learning and development to fill skills gaps and future-proof their workforce – but is that happening?
Generative AI tools should save UK workers 19 million hours a week by 2026, calculates Pearson. Teaching and healthcare “could be transformed”, is the conclusion of the research. I’m not so sure.

Stay fluxed – and get in touch! Let’s get fluxed together …

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And if you are interested in my writing, speaking and strategising services, you can find me on LinkedIn or email me using oliver@pickup.media.

Cloud migration: doing more with less

To remain competitive and relevant, take advantage of nascent technologies like generative artificial intelligence, and accelerate business-critical innovation, leaders must move to the cloud, according to experts

Businesses across all industries have steadily been quickening their march to cloud computing over the last handful of years. Now, in an increasingly digitalised post-pandemic world, they are fully charging. With an economic downturn looming, there is an urgent need to innovate, reduce costs, bolster security, access on-demand scalability, and optimise resource use – all enabled by the cloud.

According to Gordon McKenna, vice president of Cloud Evangelist and Alliances at Ensono, a global hybrid IT managed service provider, the explosion of generative artificial intelligence has only boosted the business case. “Generative AI is the biggest game changer,” he says. “The technology is not new, but now anyone can take advantage of pre-programmed language models. It has lowered the barrier to entry and is transforming everything.”

McKenna uses ChatGPT to help “write emails and documents”, saving “hours” of his time. He continues: “It’s the next wave of IT, and it allows people to do more with less by aiding them to do their jobs quicker and better.” His mantra is “be a disruptor or be disrupted”, and he argues that companies operating in the cloud stand to gain the most from generative AI and other nascent technologies. “Business leaders will accelerate to the cloud because they want to be AI-ready and aggregate their data securely on a modern platform.”

Harry Margiolakiotis, managing director of engineering at Thought Machine, a fintech company that builds cloud-native technology mainly for the financial services industry, says his company can maximise the potential of generative AI “because we are in the cloud and all cloud providers are currently rushing to offer gen AI services”. He explains: “Otherwise, we would have to set up all sorts of infrastructure to reach that point, to be able to use and experiment with these breakthrough technologies.”

Need for speed

Thought Machine’s clients stand to benefit. “The cycle of [digital core banking projects] going live is typically years, but thanks to the cloud and the software agility, this is now happening within five months,” says Margiolakiotis. “Having a live bank with half a million customers in single-digit months is unprecedented. It’s impossible to achieve this on-premise.”

Margiolakiotis says other pluses make it a compelling argument. “A cloud strategy for any business is one of the safest ways to stay competitive and relevant,” he says. “But you need to design it well. A ‘lift-and-shift’ approach is a start, but becoming cloud native is the best way to leverage the available technologies and on the way attract top talent too.”

The need for speed is evident for Nigel Gibbons, director and senior advisor at NCC Group, a Manchester-headquartered cybersecurity firm. “The business world is shifting fast,” he says. “Before the pandemic, I would have advised organisations to take baby steps, but you actually need to hit the accelerator. Organisations that can operate to the edge of their risk envelope should commit to the cloud faster due to a raft of benefits. We can now take monolithic applications, old-legacy stuff, and transform them at a speed that no one appreciated a couple of years ago.”

Moreover, yesterday’s model won’t be fit for tomorrow – beware the cloud paradigm of doing more for less – the reality is to prepare to be ‘doing more with more’ and expediting innovation for growth. Yet, a certain amount of caution is required regarding mindset and expertise, Gibbons warns. “Moving to the cloud resets trust, resets risk, resets all those parameters you formerly operated under on-premise,” he says. “Too many organisations who have rushed to the cloud have gotten themselves into awkward situations, where they thought they could float the traditional control frameworks, models, and ways of operating.”

Data privacy concerns

Gibbons notes one of the “biggest areas of opportunity around cloud is driving down risk and taking organisations into a new band of profitability and innovation by understanding what true risk potential exists”. Additionally, cloud “brings a significant step up in terms of advanced end-to-end security capabilities, which few organisations realise”.

Meanwhile, a somewhat frustrated Nathan Hayes, IT director of global law firm Osborne Clarke, points out that the legal industry is generally slow to adopt new technologies. “Our cloud-first approach is very much appended with the term ‘where possible’,” he says, identifying two barriers to progress. “One is our clients, a few of whom are remarkably opposed to cloud services. And regulators in some jurisdictions are still a bit in the dark ages.”

With data privacy especially a concern for law firms, Osborne Clarke is in the process of “setting up ring-fenced, Microsoft-Azure-hosted OpenAI tools” to experiment and secure data in the cloud, says Hayes. He stresses the dangers of relying on AI, though, and references a recent case whereby a US attorney submitted a court brief with false – and unchecked – citations generated through ChatGPT. This cautionary example emboldened the theme that it’s best to be prudent in the legal profession. “It’s all about trust,” says Hayes. “If you can’t trust your lawyers, who can you trust?”

Mark Howard, head of technology engineering at Nuffield Health, the UK’s largest healthcare charity, reveals similarly modest advancements in this area, where they are actively growing the expertise. “We are making steady progress on our cloud journey, and de-risking is a big part of what we want to do,” he says. “We’re not a technology company, so for us it’s also about bringing the strategic importance of cloud migration to life for our wider business, as well as influencing organisational change. You have to go in with eyes open, and acknowledge that it’s a conscious decision made for good reasons, with a continual focus on addressing risk.”

Indeed, Hayes challenges the notion that businesses in the cloud can do more with less. “I’m finding that we can do much more, but it’s costing much more, too.”

Long-term value

Perhaps Elon Musk would sympathise with this observation, given that the cost-cutting billionaire allegedly stopped paying Google Twitter’s $300 million (£236 million) a year bill for cloud services, possibly leading to disastrous user limitations when the contract expired on July 1.

In response to Hayes, Gibbons says: “In industries constrained by compliance and regulation, the cloud offers such potential for business resilience, but without care the cost can become exponential.”

He argues that the return on investment is significant but not immediate. “Yes, there is an increasing cost, but that cost should be offset against the potential you realise as a business,” Gibbons says. “Because utility-based computing – which is what the cloud is – allows me to realise the innovation, the untapped potential, the intellectual property in my people’s heads. Ultimately, survival in the digital economy depends on organisations making that shift.”

Dane Buchanan, global director of data, analytics and tech at M&C Saatchi Performance, is more optimistic about generating efficiencies and value from the cloud. Companies can do more with less “by continuously monitoring and optimising their cloud resources”, scaling up or down based on demand, he counters.

“Media agencies and the cloud go hand in hand, as we have to be dynamic and deal with a multitude of clients worldwide,” says Buchanan. Ingesting data across many markets brings its own set of challenges, particularly when it comes to where we store data and how we navigate region-specific data regulations. Working in the cloud gives us the flexibility we need to spin up data centres based on individual clients requirements.

For M&C Saatchi Performance, most of their tech resides within Amazon Web Services. “We’ve enabled auto-scaling and utilise AWS Forecast for proactive planning,” says Buchanan. To illustrate his point, he turns the key on a car analogy. “Think of data as fuel; without it, the vehicle will not move. The cloud enables you to get the most out of that data. But this requires proper data governance and labelling an area in which many companies have underinvested. Cloud-based SaaS products typically offer greater flexibility, security, and more frequent updates when compared to traditional software.”

Cloud innovation for good

Security is a theme taken up by Ensono’s McKenna. A recent visit to Microsoft’s data centre in Dublin proved reassuring. “There are tank traps leading up the entrance,” he says. “There are only five people in the entire building – four of whom are security staff, and the other is a guy collecting discs for destruction. Then it’s biometric control to enter, and you are weighed in and out, just in case you have picked up a disc. How can you be more secure than that, on-prem?”

Aside from physical security, the cloud is secure in other ways, says Nathaniel Jones, director of strategic threat and engagement at global cybersecurity firm Darktrace. He dismisses the so-called quantum apocalypse – the concept that encrypted data that has been captured and stored until it can be decrypted – as a concern for the immediate term. Gibbons agrees: “This is one of the reasons for migrating to the cloud: my data lake will always be up to the latest standard around encryption.”

“A more pressing issue is for businesses to understand themselves, their own infrastructure and high-value assets, in the transition to a cloud-first approach,” said Jones. “A zero trust cloud model that continuously monitors the organisation’s internal and external attack surface will help cost-wise but also take advantage of the shared responsibility model in cyber risk transference.”

While tech will possibly save the world, there is certainly an element of digital Darwinism for businesses to contend with, Jones adds. “From an IT perspective, if you’re not moving to the cloud, your business will die,” he concludes.

This article was first published by Raconteur, following an in-person roundtable event that I moderated in June 2023

Future of banking: what next-generation operating models are required?

Composability, partnerships with fintechs, and meeting customers on their preferred channel are all vital, according to a roundtable of experts. Watch the full roundtable here

Financial services operators were, according to ServiceNow’s Keith Pearson, “the white knights of the pandemic”. They came to the rescue of people and businesses stricken by the fallout of the coronavirus crisis. But, with the global economy in peril, they must saddle up again.

And yet, despite being saviours for many in the last two-and-a-half years, there is an incredible demand for banks, in particular, to evolve rapidly and offer personalised services and an omnichannel customer experience to rival the best in other industries.

To gallop along with change, steer clear of disruption, and continue to fight the good fight, those wishing to lead the way in the future of banking must partner with fintech experts, argues Pearson, AVP of financial services industry go to market at ServiceNow.

He points to a recent Gartner report, 2022 CIO Agenda: A Banking and Investment Perspective, which captures the challenge. “We are in a time of indefinite volatility, making it difficult for banks to plan for an indefinite future,” it reads. “Mastering business composability prepares banks to maximise business value regardless of ongoing uncertainty.”

Fay Wood, head of retail strategy at Natwest, sets the scene. “There is a looming cost-of-living crisis after unprecedented events – a global pandemic and a war in Europe – that few would have predicted three years ago,” she says. “Money management and supporting customers with budgeting and financial tools will be critical for the industry. As a result, these services are becoming much more embedded in people’s lives.”

Increased duty of care

Concurrently, regulators argue there is a greater responsibility on regulated firms to hold customers’ hands, metaphorically, and support them. Interestingly, some new financial terrains, whether it’s cryptocurrencies or buy now, pay later products, for instance, are not yet regulated.

Indeed, the Financial Conduct Authority’s final regulations on its new Consumer Duty will be available at the end of July and, following consultation, appear likely to force regulated firms to deliver “the best outcomes” for retail clients, says Wood. As an example of how NatWest better educates customers, the recently acquired Rooster Money app, with a pre-paid pocket-money card for those aged three and up, is currently free to access for the bank’s 17 million customers. “We wanted to do more for children,” she adds, highlighting the role acquisition is playing in the future of banking.

Metro Bank’s David Thomasson, managing director of digital and products, concurs that banks have to support customers better, whether online or offline, and build on the trust generated in the last two-and-a-half years. “Now, more so than before, they need to talk to somebody at the bank,” he says. “While digital is clearly becoming more important, seeing someone face to face is also vital. Our data shows that customers might not use a Metro Bank store for two months or even two years, but knowing that there is someone in a trusted environment nearby who can speak to you at a time that suits you is crucial.”

You must be prepared to think differently about your organisation’s structure and operating model and follow that through with your technology investment

It is not just individuals who crave that support. Thomasson states that 80% of Metro Bank’s business customers gained since the start of the pandemic operate within an eight-mile radius of a branch. “This shows the importance of the bank within a community,” he continues. “A service-led proposition and being there for communities will differentiate financial services organisations going forward.”

Banking in the metaverse

The “big difference” identified by Nadya Hijazi, global head of wholesale digital channels at HSBC, is that banks have to go to customers, not vice versa. In March, HSBC revealed it had bought a plot of virtual real estate in The Sandbox, an online gaming space, marking the bank’s first significant foray into the metaverse. She says: “It’s about ensuring your services are available wherever your customer wants to be, whether that’s in the metaverse or using WeChat in China. You must embed your services and be at the heart of the community.”

Banks can’t afford to ease up on innovation, and a mindset change is required to develop products and services that don’t need to be fixed, per se, Hijazi warns. “When you’ve got a revenue stream, there is no driver for change,” she says. “Usually, things change because something is not working. But now it’s dangerous to be complacent because if you don’t keep improving, then you will lose connectivity with customers.”

This concept chimes with Jasmeet Narang, chief transformation officer and head of operations at Santander UK. “Customers want choice and convenience, not just a load of off-the-shelf products,” he says. “The old stack-them-high and sell-them-cheap approach doesn’t work anymore. Instead, you have to understand customer needs, and most critically, you have to have that human touch.”

He stresses the importance of collaborating across the business and “organising design around the customer”, using their predicted wants and requirements as the guiding star, and justification, for any innovation. “Otherwise, you’ll always function in silos.” However, humans must be involved in the service, whatever technology is used. “It is those touch points with customers that are gold dust and will define the winners and the losers in the future of banking.”

Culture conundrum and composability

Narang says leaders have to activate a cultural change to drive innovation. “Top-down sponsorship is essential,” he adds. “Once you have that and a clear, long-term structure, other things follow. Also, you have got to be true to your convictions. The world will throw pandemics and wars at you, and at times you might have to be agile and flexible, but those that will succeed will keep the overall destination in mind.”

Yorkshire Building Society’s chief commercial officer, David Morris, believes the “evolution of banking distribution models is going to have quite pronounced effects, whether that’s embedded finance or banking in the metaverse, among many examples. New entrants, whether challenger banks or technology companies, will find ways of competing in the value chain in different ways. Therefore, that’s going to have big implications for business models.”

He continues: “How do you make sure you’re not left behind or not investing in the wrong technology? And how do you build that in an environment where you have to handle legacy infrastructure, macroeconomic uncertainty, and evolving regulations? Running an enterprise and building something different is incredibly difficult, and requires careful prioritisation and creative solution design.”

ServiceNow’s Pearson counters that bold banking leaders who look to partner with fintechs, use the agility of the cloud, and are willing to rip up old plans will triumph. “You must be prepared to think differently about your organisation’s structure and operating model and follow that through with your technology investment.”

He suggests the quicker banks can focus on building “composability” – essentially, a system design principle that deals with the interoperability of components – at scale, the better. “That’s what the future of banking will look and feel like,” Pearson concludes.

To find out how ServiceNow can enable digital transformation and improve experiences in your organisation, visit your.servicenow.com/businessinsights

This article was first published in Raconteur’s Future of Fintech report in June 2022

Seven key steps to improving the digital customer experience

Country manager of UK and Ireland, Matthew Parker from Vonage, a global business cloud communications leader, shares his thoughts on the key lessons from the recent ‘Reimagining digital customer experience and brand engagement’ roundtable event

At the roundtable (written up here), the passion for customer experience came across from everyone, loud and clear. There were plenty of great statistics in there, too; I love stats. I wrote down seven things during the discussion, and these are my key takeaways.

Humans: We discussed the evolution of humans and how technology has to be intuitive. I think there is a link between humans and smart automation. Certainly, natural language processing and understanding sentiments in emails and messages is an area of investment and innovation. As another classic example, though, you want to know where your parcel is on its journey to your door. It’s a commonly asked, simple question that can be solved by automation. Tracking technology means that humans are not needed, but there are plenty of other things that do require human input and touch.

Trust: Someone mentioned trust. And a few people had different definitions of trust, but the two words I took away, linked to developing consumer trust and loyalty, were security and integrity.

The ecommerce journey: This was another subject. There was a great stat on ecommerce growth: the pandemic spurred a 130% increase in ecommerce adoption. But looking at the ecommerce journey is so important, especially when working out where to remove friction.

Experimentation: Someone said: “Have a go and try digital transformation.” I love that. I attended an Amazon Web Services (AWS) summit a few years ago, and despite that digital transformation had been around for a long time, thousands of people there were wondering where to start. The speaker on stage, from AWS, said: “Just have a go, just have a go, pick your burning platform and just have a go.” In many ways, that’s still going on, which is great to hear.

Brand connection and value exchange: Together these make a potent combination. There has to be something for the customer in return for their data.

The use of data: This final point wraps the session up nicely. Collecting data in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but it has to have a context in terms of how an organisation will use the data. That’s the essential bit. Then there is the integration of that data in the customer journey. For example, we all get driven mad if we are on an interactive voice response for 20 minutes and then, having filled out the information, the human customer support person asks us the same questions.

This article, sponsored by Vonage, was first published on Raconteur in November 2021

Banking in the near future: optimising risk management and resilience in the digital age

Roundtable highlights: Technology may be the great enabler for banks and their customers, but to achieve holistic risk management, culture change and education are equally important

Speakers

Charlotte Branfield, Head of operational resilience, Citi

Andrea Brody, Chief marketing officer, Riskonnect

Marc Leaver, European chief operating officer, Standard Chartered Bank

Jason Maude, Chief technology advocate, Starling Bank

Ralph Nash, Chief compliance officer, HSBC UK

Suresh Viswanathan, Chief operating officer, TSB

Future of banking (**Expect Best** from **Pexels**)

Q What is the current state of personalisation in banking in the UK and around the world?

Ralph Nash Last year’s events have accelerated some of the trends already emerging in banking. These include the increased use of automation and digitalisation and the concept of “the bank in your pocket”. Branch networks will remain important, but increasingly we see demand-led interaction around digital and that’s something we need to satisfy. A greater digital focus creates both risk and opportunity from a stability and resilience perspective. There are some risks, both technical and ethical, but if we get it right, it could be a win-win scenario for the bank and the customer. We are at an exciting juncture.

“Driven by demand for seamless customer experience and fintech partnerships, banks will become hubs where products can be plugged in and out. That’s pretty revolutionary”
Charlotte Branfield

Jason Maude In the next decade, affording customers immediate and secure access to their data in the same way they have access to their money will become a requirement, rather than a “nice to have”. If you, as a bank, cannot offer that connectivity or application programming interface (API) capability, you will be like a town the railroad missed out, and you will weaken and die. Customers, including small and medium-sized enterprises, are not going to do business with a bank that relies on paper processes.

Charlotte Branfield What makes a good bank is how fast they reach the customer, to solve their problems and provide financial services conveniently, efficiently and responsively. Therefore, the concept of a bank is evolving from the traditional bricks-and-mortar bank to an “embedded finance” model. Driven by the demand for high-quality seamless customer experience and fintech partnerships, banks will become hubs where products can be plugged in and out. When you think about banks’ business models, that’s pretty revolutionary. The whole system is changing and it’s an exciting time to be involved in operational resilience.

Marc Leaver I agree that we are at an inflexion point in banking: if we don’t change the traditional way of delivering products and services to clients, we will be redundant in the digital age. We see ourselves as a bank that connects clients, products and markets. To do this we utilise digital offerings to tap into the digital needs of our clients. Three pillars to build this: innovative partnerships exploring disruptive business models; investment in fintechs; and, arguably the most challenging element, greater internal innovation.

Suresh Viswanathan The definition of where a bank starts and finishes is transforming. Previously we have been constrained by physical infrastructure and analogue systems. As we emerge from a post-pandemic world, the march to digital is inevitable. However, as we move towards a world driven by open banking and APIs, you lose control of when demand hits. People trust banks and I think now it is obligatory to ensure we deliver more value to customers than just a current account, a loan, a mortgage and a card. It’s a unique position to be custodians of customer data and leverage that trust, and it means we, as banks, can offer them more connectivity.

Andrea Brody We talk with our financial services customers all the time. The same topics are discussed; the drive for greater automation and data analytics is taking centre stage because of the need for connectivity. It’s imperative to leverage technology, but improved risk management in corporate strategy is required and the pandemic has exacerbated the need for better reporting.

Q What are banks’ biggest operational challenges in 2021 and what problems are on the horizon?
RN The last year emphasised the importance of banks as a transmission mechanism of government policy to support individuals and businesses through the coronavirus crisis. We have effectively done years of lending in a few months, at an unprecedented level. Managing the exit from government support schemes will be a significant operational challenge for HSBC and the industry, this year and next, particularly in the UK. Customers’ payment holidays will end, but some will be unable to resume repayment on their debt. Historically banks have been worried about cash and keys, and now they should treat data and systems as crown jewels and focus on building resilience for the latter. The operating model and technologies need to support that, as well as meeting regulatory and societal expectations.

JM To keep pace with those expectations, it’s essential to have the architecture to operate faster. It’s often thought that for banks there is a seesaw-like balance between security and reliability on the one side and speed of delivery on the other. At Starling Bank, we have constructed a system that makes these two things mutually reinforcing. We rapidly deploy feature changes, new products and services, and seek bugs daily to increase resilience. This system will be vital as we look to enter new markets globally in 2021.

“We are marching to the cloud. As networks become smarter and 5G is more widespread, we can push more content into the hands of devices customers hold”
Suresh Viswanathan

ML Standard Chartered Bank has moved to a cloud-first strategy and we are looking to shift our core banking platform into the cloud by 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. Regulators are beginning to become more comfortable with banks’ evolution to digital and familiar with safe data storage. Certainly, the strides made by Starling Bank and others are fabulous for the industry and the customers we serve. Partnerships with technology specialists are critical to our strategy because we know clunky platforms and traditional banking methods are not sustainable, frankly.

SV Today, 90 per cent of TSB’s customer services are digital, as is 70 per cent of our sales. In terms of operational resilience, it is very important to have a multichannel approach because you want to comfort and support customers and be readily available. We are marching to the cloud and, as networks become much smarter and 5G is more widespread, we can push more content through the pipes into the hands of devices customers hold. That capability gives us the ability to educate customers and improve financial literacy. A key imperative, though, is to become more holistic in our management of risk.

CB I agree that banks need to embrace holistic risk management and think about processes differently. At Citi, our priorities lie in better understanding our clients’ experience of using our services and improving upon it. As an industry, we have to move away from the mindset that cybersecurity, for example, is only a tech expert’s responsibility. That approach causes a disconnect concerning operational risk because, in today’s digital economy, the fundamental commodities at risk are trust, data and connectivity, not just money. If we want to manage cyber risk properly, we are going to have to have far greater engagement from the client relationship managers, the user experience designers, and the product sales and development teams, and not just within banking, but in the public sector as well.

AB Considering the customer’s viewpoint is a perfect way to look at risk holistically. Every department in a bank is responsible for risk. Thus, silos need to be broken and communication between the different functions improved, and this can now be enabled by technology.

Q How can technology help optimise risk management?
RN Increasingly, we feel there are some challenges in using data from an ethical perspective. How do we ensure we don’t end up with unintended consequences due to modelling our customers’ data? For instance, if we become more sophisticated at modelling the propensity of a customer to commit financial crime, or pose a compliance risk, do we end up inadvertently becoming less inclusive and less able to target the unbanked at a time when probably we should be trying to do the complete opposite? There is also the question of staff surveillance; what is legal but fails on the “creepiness” test?

ML The debate about vaccine passports has dominated the news recently, showing that the ethics of handling customer data is no longer a horizon risk. As banks, we are grappling with the same challenges: we know if we use data-driven insights, we can make better business decisions and we can improve the way we serve our clients. But what is the tipping point? While customer data protection has long been part of the design of a bank’s processes and systems, with increasing digitalisation, data management best practice needs to be embedded into its DNA. Ultimately, the customer’s data is a gift and we must keep it secure.

JM We think of cybercriminals as competitors who are trying to steal our business, so we combat them by making it too expensive for them to spend time trying to hack our systems. A security bug is a big draw because it allows you to hit multiple people all at once and in banks no one has coded everything from scratch. Chaos engineering is going to become more prevalent in our industry. We deliberately attack our systems in a controlled manner to test and prove we are resilient.

SV There is a lot of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in the banking industry, though some applications are more mature than others. Smart partnerships that drive innovation will be vital to delivering super specialisation, for example if you want to optimise the noise-to-signal ratio in ATM fraud. It’s about adding value to the customer, but not at the cost of impacting operational resilience. For this reason, we need to be bold, be innovative, fail fast and move on.

CB There are so many shiny new tech toys and it’s easy to think a bank has to have the latest gadgets and be deploying the latest piece of AI, but without actually understanding why. It’s critical to go back to basics and back to your first principles. Ask yourself, “What benefit is this bringing to either the business or my customers?” It’s an exciting time to be involved in resilience and risk management because it means looking carefully at your organisational structure and culture.

AB It is indeed an exciting time and there is clearly a real focus on operational resilience in the digital age from those in the financial services space. There are many challenges, but a bank’s technology stack must support the desired outcomes. It will be fascinating to see how the ethics and compliance concerns evolve in the coming years.

This article was originally published in The Times, as part of Raconteur’s Future of Banking report, in April 2021. The videos for the roundtable session, which I moderated, can be accessed here