The Future of Financial Services – Event Summary

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A fascinating conference left Members of the Forum in little doubt that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning is no longer science fiction. The sooner businesses within the Financial Services sector start challenging their thinking, the more likely they are to survive what will be the fastest moving technology era of our lifetime. Lynsay Haque of The Financial Services Forum summarises some of the key points of the event.

“Every individual, company and government on the planet is being challenged by AI.” Rohit Talwar, CEO, Fast Future

This quote encapsulates the sentiment of this thought-provoking event perfectly. Companies within the Financial Services sector need to understand AI now, and they need to start hiring data scientists! Here are some other highlights from this event.

Think differently – don’t just use AI to replicate existing systems and processes
AI should be used to make the customer experience better and more relevant. Rohit Talwar, CEO of Fast Future, made it clear that businesses will have to let go of the traditional view of the world and learn to think differently. For example, the self-driving cars of the future are likely to be owned by themselves, rather than any one individual.

It’s all about data, but you must make the value-trade transparent and worthwhile
Rohit Talwar likened data to oil, with AI being the oilrig to extract that data. But, as Orlando Machado, Global Director of Customer Analytics and Data Science at Aviva, pointed out – your customers need to know what you’re doing with their data. The more they understand, the more permission they will give. According to research quoted by Greg Handrick, Partner at Prophet, 67% of customers are willing to share their data for an enhanced experience, and 70% would trade their data for a reward. Ultimately it will come down to developing smart ways of manipulating data and connecting with your customers on an individual level.

The pace of innovation will intensify, and so will the competition
Hanne Tuomisto-Inch, Senior Industry Head for Finance at Google, went on to say that today is the slowest pace of change you will experience in your lifetime. AI is happening now, and you need to be on board if you want to keep up and survive.

To read Lynsay’s other key take-outs from the event, please download the PDF using the button in the top right corner.