TMG CEO: Exponential technology calls for exponential leadership
Shazia Manus inspires financial institution leaders to face disruption head on by harnessing the power of ingenuity
DES MOINES, IA (June 28, 2016) — “The tsunami of innovation and waves of disruption are not slowing down,” began TMG CEO Shazia Manus as she delivered opening remarks at the 2016 TMG Executive Summit. Before an audience of TMG financial institution clients, staff and strategic partners, Manus – one of the Most Influential Women in Payments – discussed the impact of exponential technology on the transformation of financial services.
Sophisticated nano-technology, 3D printing, virtual reality, robotics, neural networks and machine learning were among those technologies Manus cited as developing at exponential rates.
“The world is filled with problem solvers, eager to quickly innovate and offer a better solution,” said Manus. “To help us be better prepared for disruptive innovation, we need to understand which of our business verticals are the perfect breeding grounds for disruptive technology.”
Manus outlined characteristics of these so-called perfect breeding grounds: They create complex user experiences, are suffering from broken trust, contain redundant intermediaries and offer limited access to only a few options. These remarks beg the questions: How soon will many of the core services offered by traditional financial institutions exhibit these characteristics? Are they already?
The remainder of Manus’ talk centered on macro themes taking shape within today’s exponential innovation phenomenon:
Convergence and Connectivity: The fabric of our society is being transformed through the connectivity of mobile, broadband and a global cloud platform. The convergence of technologies means more communications, more functionality, more knowledge and more value creation than ever before. One of the examples of added value and the optimization of everyday experiences Manus shared was the June oven, a smart oven with a built-in camera that recognizes food and already knows how to cook it. She also offered the example of Beam, a robotic solution based on smart presence technology that allows telecommuters to have a physical presence in their offices. Innovation like this and the innovation yet to come has created an insatiable need for people to be and feel connected to the world around them – anytime, anywhere, anyone.
Democratization and Sharing Economy: The sharing economy describes our global willingness to collaborate and share all things – from ideas to new products to alternative services. This has triggered the democratization of innovation, meaning innovators create and pass their ideas on for everyone to use openly. Importantly, Manus said, the criminal element has leveraged the sharing economy, as well. Often, they are the earliest of early adopters.
Cognitive and Machine Learning: Consumers have already been exposed to artificial intelligence at a cursory level with Siri and Alexa. On a grander scale, IBM’s Watson and the autonomous vehicle are probably two of the most widely recognized innovations based on cognitive and machine learning. The possibilities for this technology are far beyond anything we can imagine today. Olli, a futurist’s view on autonomous driving, was an example Manus pointed to. “If we thought Uber was a disruption for the taxi service market, we haven’t seen anything yet,” she said. “To truly expand our capabilities, we have to embrace the convergence of man and machine.”
Manus concluded her remarks with a call for those in the room to develop cultures of exponential leadership within their financial institutions and other businesses. “Reaping the significant benefits of new users, connected things, data-driven insights and platform-based resources starts with an innovative and exponential mindset,” she said. “Leaders today must be as comfortable with ambiguity as they are with certainty. Organizations with the greatest hope of surviving and contributing to the world will be led by those who embrace strategic paradoxes.”
Before she left the stage, Manus was interrupted by an on-screen digital assistant who informed her the cookies she’d been baking in her smart oven were finished. The digital assistant asked if she’d like them served, to which she said, “Yes, in my experience any time is a good time for cookies.” Each audience member then received a warm chocolate chip cookie, with a hint of sea salt… just how Manus likes them.
About TMG
TMG is dedicated to creating customized, technology-driven card processing and payment solutions for credit unions and community-based financial institutions across North America. Innovations in fraud management, loyalty programs, alternative payment systems and analytic reporting, and the competitive advantages they create, have helped TMG forge a new standard in offering cutting-edge credit, debit, ATM, prepaid card products and a P2P payment solution. For more information, visit www.tmg.global.
