The financial services industry is at an inflection point. Fintechs and challengers are entering rapidly as regulatory requirements are increasing. Consumers are expecting highly personalized experiences while security threats are evolving. The challenges for banks, insurers, payments tech providers and others are mounting high.

Transforming these challenges into business opportunities is an imperative for financial services firms and central to success. Many ambitious digital leaders are already discussing their transformation journey, or are well on the way. Sherif El Touny from Microsoft AI  will lead a conversation in helping financial firms big and small enable intelligent industry transformation with data and artificial intelligence (AI). He will explore meaningful discussions on the importance of security, resiliency and regulatory compliance thinking about how Microsoft AI can help institutions make the transition to modern innovations while still taking advantage of legacy investments.

FinTech provides new ways for people to access life-changing services, which many other markets take for granted, such as banking and insurance. As a business-minded person, why else, besides upliftment, should you take notice?  Michal the CEO of the Mauritius Africa FinTech Hub [MAFH] with his extensive knowledge in promoting Fintech Start-ups will share his experience and predictions for Africa's spending capacity and about shaping future FinTech solutions that will create wealth and uplift communities. for the next decade. The MAFH is a Pan-African FinTech hub that functions as a gateway to and from Africa for FinTech entrepreneurs, FinTech busnesses , corporates and FSP.   

In financial services the competition for customer share wallet is intense with financial institutions looking for every advantage in increasing their pie of business while fighting fraud, money laundering and other issues.  The session will be about ''How can we use AI and Machine Learning to not only increase customer experience and take a share but also proactively manage frauds and other risks''.   Use of AI in credit and lending can play a bigger role specially when it comes to digital lending and can help in providing quality credit to people in need of funds and also can help reach un-banked areas.

As AI becomes more deeply integrated in the business world, Financial companies must position themselves to respond to the changing business landscape. Insurance executives must understand the factors that will contribute to this change and how AI will reshape claims, distribution, and underwriting and pricing. With this understanding, they can start to build the skills and talent, embrace the emerging technologies, and create the culture and perspective needed to be successful players in the insurance industry of the future.

Tomorrow’s insurance leaders must prepare for the adoption of Blockchain and Big data. The growing challenges of Cybersecurity and more.

Dramatic changes are reshaping the insurance sector, and forward looking insurers are not just watching it happen. They are taking action and making investments that will help them becoming more customer-centric, improve their pricing and create operational efficiencies.

But with so much changing and so much at stake, where are the right areas to focus? 

Today, all companies must digitally transform or risk becoming obsolete. Digital transformation is the process of adopting technology to improve operational efficiency, boost customer experience, and uncap innovation. For successful digital adoption,  business organisations need to understand how technology can impact their business. While there is an urgency for businesses to start their digital adoption efforts, it is important to have a measured and strategic approach. many business organisations do have resource constraints which mean most have to be quite careful in investing in such efforts. We can no longer decide IF we want to work alongside machines. Our only choice is HOW to work alongside Ubiquitous Technology. Juanita will explore how the BFSI sector can Rethink, Reskill and Redo towards greater compatibility and true collaboration with technology.