Name: Incedo at Money20/20 USA 2023 – Winning in the digital age
Uploaded: 2023-11-09T11:52:25.852Z
Duration: 953.72
Description: At the Money20/20 USA 2023 conference in Las Vegas, FinTech Futures sat down with Incedo CEO Nitin Seth to discuss what banks need to do to make the most of their digital investments and boost their chances of successful digital transformation.

5- Incedo CEO Nitin Seth V4 (1).mp4

5- Incedo CEO Nitin Seth V4 (1).vtt

ENGLISH

{{00:00:04}}
Hi, I'm Heather Sugg,
reporting for Fintech Futures.

{{00:00:07}}
We're at Money 20/20 USA and
interviewing with Incedo today.

{{00:00:13}}
We're going to talk about the
three hot topics, really, of

{{00:00:16}}
the show, digital, data, and AI.

{{00:00:19}}
Welcome.

{{00:00:20}}
How are you doing?

{{00:00:21}}
Hello Heather, very nice
to be talking to you.

{{00:00:23}}
Likewise, and thank you for joining us.

{{00:00:26}}
Would you like to just start off by
telling us a little bit about yourself

{{00:00:28}}
and Incito and what you're doing?

{{00:00:30}}
Sure.

{{00:00:31}}
I'm Nitin.

{{00:00:32}}
I'm the CEO and founder of Incedo.

{{00:00:36}}
I'm based out of New Jersey.

{{00:00:38}}
What is Incedo?

{{00:00:40}}
Incedo, we see ourselves as a
digital transformation specialist.

{{00:00:43}}
We work at the intersection
of business and technology.

{{00:00:47}}
We are in the digital age.

{{00:00:48}}
Digital is transforming everything
all of our lives all, business.

{{00:00:54}}
And we are focused on
helping our clients realize.

{{00:00:58}}
The best of digital to win in the
digital age, which by the way is the,

{{00:01:02}}
title of my book, which you're holding.

{{00:01:05}}
Winning in the digital age.

{{00:01:07}}
All right.

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So tell me about it.

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Starting off with digital,
we'll go there first.

{{00:01:11}}
What do banks need to do to make
sure that they are making the

{{00:01:15}}
most of their digital investments?

{{00:01:17}}
They're pouring more and more into
their IT infrastructure, but how

{{00:01:19}}
do they make sure that's going to
resonate and stay for the long run?

{{00:01:23}}
That's a really great question,
Heather, that banks are spending

{{00:01:28}}
billions of dollars on digital.

{{00:01:31}}
JP Morgan alone is probably
spending more on technology than

{{00:01:36}}
all the FinTech sector combined.

{{00:01:39}}
But there's another part of the
equation that they're not realizing

{{00:01:43}}
full value from those investments.

{{00:01:47}}
The data suggests that more than 70
percent of digital initiatives do

{{00:01:53}}
not meet their initial return goals.

{{00:01:57}}
So that's a pretty, pretty stark number.

{{00:01:59}}
And why is that happening?

{{00:02:00}}
Let's first talk about that.

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And I would submit that the nature
of the digital age is very different.

{{00:02:08}}
Yeah, I call it, we are in the VUCA world.

{{00:02:11}}
Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous.

{{00:02:14}}
The VUCA world.

{{00:02:16}}
Now, if the underlying nature of the
world we are in is very different,

{{00:02:20}}
it kind of figures that the rules
of business, your method, your

{{00:02:25}}
approach needs to be very different.

{{00:02:27}}
For example, banks have
historically been very risk averse.

{{00:02:31}}
It has been right first time for them.

{{00:02:34}}
Now we are in a world which is
anything but right first time.

{{00:02:38}}
We are in a world which is very dynamic.

{{00:02:41}}
Which is changing very rapidly.

{{00:02:42}}
So this is about feel fast.

{{00:02:44}}
This is about rapid experimentation.

{{00:02:47}}
Yeah, and right first time does not work.

{{00:02:49}}
So that just one of the big
thematic changes that I want

{{00:02:52}}
to, that I want to highlight.

{{00:02:55}}
But look banks have no choice and
they're a little behind the curve.

{{00:03:00}}
And it's not just digital.

{{00:03:01}}
It's you opened it as.

{{00:03:03}}
I call it the trifecta, digital
plus data plus AI, and they have no

{{00:03:08}}
option but to really leverage this
kind of holy trinity for success.

{{00:03:14}}
So asking banks to
leverage data for success.

{{00:03:17}}
Let's make that our next point.

{{00:03:18}}
We have had, we know banks have
superfluous amounts of data.

{{00:03:23}}
It's just making sure that it's
clean and that it's in order and

{{00:03:27}}
that we're doing something with what
once was data lakes, now bygones.

{{00:03:30}}
How do banks begin to make
the most of their data?

{{00:03:33}}
What are you seeing?

{{00:03:34}}
Yeah.

{{00:03:35}}
See data, the explosion of data is
both a great opportunity, but also.

{{00:03:42}}
A huge challenge.

{{00:03:44}}
Yeah, I call it the data paradox.

{{00:03:46}}
It's like water, everywhere,
not a drop to drink.

{{00:03:50}}
At one end you have the data deluge, or
another end you have the inside drought.

{{00:03:57}}
And I think a big problem the banks
are facing is that given they have

{{00:04:02}}
a lot of legacy infrastructure.

{{00:04:05}}
and their data has historically
been very fragmented and siloed.

{{00:04:09}}
They find it very difficult
to bring it together.

{{00:04:12}}
And it ends up being like this
massive technology project to bring,

{{00:04:18}}
put your arms around all of data to
create this customer 360 view, which

{{00:04:22}}
is a bit of a, it's the holy the
holy ghost is the holy grail you're

{{00:04:29}}
chasing something which is not there.

{{00:04:31}}
Now the way to, for banks to achieve
success, is to be a lot more deliberate.

{{00:04:38}}
about your customer and
business objectives.

{{00:04:41}}
If you try to get your arms around all
of this, you will never finish, yeah?

{{00:04:46}}
So be a lot more focused and deliberate.

{{00:04:48}}
Here are specific customer pain points
and business objectives that we have.

{{00:04:53}}
And then what for that,
what data do we need?

{{00:04:56}}
And how do we go about collecting and
bringing all of that data together?

{{00:05:01}}
So it's almost like in this world
of big data, paradoxically, you

{{00:05:05}}
have to go small and narrow.

{{00:05:07}}
to realize the full benefit
opportunity of big data.

{{00:05:13}}
They need to almost find a niche
and start there, and make a step and

{{00:05:16}}
make progress and start somewhere.

{{00:05:18}}
Are there examples of where you've seen
this happen with some of your clients?

{{00:05:21}}
Yeah, and I would not
necessarily say niche, but like

{{00:05:25}}
specific problem statements.

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as opposed to generalizing it
into specific problem statements.

{{00:05:31}}
Now, in terms of impact areas,
there are four impact areas that I

{{00:05:36}}
see banks really trying to pursue.

{{00:05:42}}
The first is around personalization.

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That how do you identify your the
needs of your customers a lot more

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deeply, so you are able to for
example, cross sell and up sell.

{{00:05:55}}
Yeah, that's a big need for banks.

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There is very limited new
customers, top line growth.

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So how do you grow?

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You grow by doing lot more
cross sell and up sell.

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And data can be very, essential.

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Actually, data plus AI.

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The second area is about automation.

{{00:06:13}}
Yeah how do you really cut down
the many inefficiencies that exist

{{00:06:20}}
in the banking process today?

{{00:06:23}}
Number three is around risk management
as data has grown in the AI age, the

{{00:06:30}}
number of risks that a bank is facing,
the customer is facing, have exploded.

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So how do you use data for
better risk management?

{{00:06:39}}
And the fourth is data
driven decision making.

{{00:06:41}}
It's fascinating that we are
talking about financial services,

{{00:06:44}}
we are talking about money.

{{00:06:46}}
But so much decision making in banks is
still not based on economics, a lot of the

{{00:06:52}}
focus at Money 20/20 is about payments.

{{00:06:55}}
It's fascinating, you're not always
anchored around, economics, and

{{00:07:00}}
data can help bring transparency.

{{00:07:03}}
That helps a lot.

{{00:07:05}}
Let's move into your third tier
here, as we talk about AI, and

{{00:07:08}}
specifically generative AI.

{{00:07:10}}
Where do you see the use
cases coming for that first?

{{00:07:13}}
See the, we are still I would
say in a Look, Gen AI is huge.

{{00:07:20}}
Gen AI is not business as usual.

{{00:07:22}}
Gen AI is not a normal hype cycle.

{{00:07:26}}
Yeah but we are still figuring it out.

{{00:07:30}}
We're still figuring it out.

{{00:07:32}}
Now, look I think it's also
we need to understand that

{{00:07:35}}
generative AI is probably not...

{{00:07:38}}
Something you use on a stand alone basis.

{{00:07:40}}
You use in conjunction with traditional
AI and many other technologies.

{{00:07:46}}
Now what does generative AI
really do and what it doesn't do?

{{00:07:49}}
Generative AI is really bringing
all the data of the world together.

{{00:07:54}}
What it is very helpful for is
to give you an 80 percent answer.

{{00:07:59}}
Yeah, an 80% answer, whether it
is on personalization, whether

{{00:08:03}}
it is on new customer offerings,
whether it is on efficiency

{{00:08:08}}
opportunities, but it's an 80% answer.

{{00:08:10}}
On top of that, you do need to
layer in enterprise data and

{{00:08:15}}
a more traditional AI model.

{{00:08:17}}
Once you combine generative AI and
the traditional ai, which is the more

{{00:08:22}}
enterprise specific data and models.

{{00:08:24}}
That is where magic will start to happen.

{{00:08:27}}
That is interesting.

{{00:08:29}}
Alright, so are there hard examples
that you have of what you've

{{00:08:31}}
seen bankers do in this case?

{{00:08:33}}
See, bankers are, there
are a lot of things.

{{00:08:37}}
It's at both ends.

{{00:08:38}}
So at one end, bankers are
experimenting with AI to customize.

{{00:08:50}}
How do you give more personalized
advice to a customer based on a more

{{00:08:56}}
dynamic assessment of their situation?

{{00:08:59}}
We're just talking to.

{{00:09:01}}
One of one of our clients, which is one
of the largest banks in the country,

{{00:09:05}}
which is now using, and we are helping
them do that, use generative AI and

{{00:09:10}}
AI to get a much better understanding
of their client's cash position.

{{00:09:15}}
Yeah, and based on that, going to give
them more dynamic recommendations.

{{00:09:20}}
Yeah.

{{00:09:21}}
So there are a lot of things that banks
are doing, which is more client facing,

{{00:09:25}}
but equally, there is a lot of, there's
a huge opportunity, which is internal.

{{00:09:29}}
For example we are doing a lot of
work on the software development

{{00:09:32}}
lifecycle and specifically around
testing and quality assurance.

{{00:09:37}}
We have seen 40 to 50 percent
productivity improvement.

{{00:09:41}}
40 to 50 percent productivity improvement.

{{00:09:43}}
That's, those are massive numbers.

{{00:09:44}}
Yeah.

{{00:09:45}}
I think it's still early days both on the
customer side and internally, how banks

{{00:09:54}}
run their operations and technology.

{{00:09:56}}
There are immense set of opportunities.

{{00:09:58}}
I think over the next six to nine
months, you will see a lot of this

{{00:10:02}}
kind of becoming a lot more tangible.

{{00:10:06}}
It will be an exciting
six to eight months.

{{00:10:07}}
It'll be an exciting new year in 2024.

{{00:10:11}}
Another thing that I hear coming down
the pipeline in 2024 is your next book.

{{00:10:15}}
Tell us a little bit about that.

{{00:10:17}}
Yeah, so my first book was Winning in the
Digital Age, and I realized that the main

{{00:10:21}}
kind of winning or losing factor was data.

{{00:10:25}}
So my next book is on data.

{{00:10:27}}
It's called Mastering the Data Paradox.

{{00:10:30}}
And I spoke a little bit about
it, that hey data is the biggest

{{00:10:35}}
explosion of our generation.

{{00:10:38}}
So just to put this in context, 80
to 90 percent of the entire data

{{00:10:43}}
of the world has got generated
over only the last two years.

{{00:10:49}}
That's staggering.

{{00:10:50}}
If you just 10, 000 years of recorded
human history, 80, 90 percent of data has

{{00:10:55}}
really happened over the last two years.

{{00:10:57}}
So this is a massive thing.

{{00:10:58}}
And how do you, and data is
such an important part of this

{{00:11:01}}
trifecta of digital data and AI.

{{00:11:04}}
There will be no AI age without data.

{{00:11:08}}
Yeah.

{{00:11:08}}
Because AI is completely
dependent on data.

{{00:11:12}}
And so that's what I'm, that's
what the book focuses on that.

{{00:11:16}}
Mastering the data paradox,
key to winning in the AI age.

{{00:11:21}}
And what are some specifics?

{{00:11:22}}
Where would you like to see
banks make big strides in 2024?

{{00:11:28}}
I think the banks have been very
limited by the regulatory constraints.

{{00:11:36}}
As a result, they have
been very risk averse.

{{00:11:40}}
Yeah.

{{00:11:42}}
I would really like them to
challenge that and kind of work.

{{00:11:47}}
A lot more closely with the regulators
and how do they drive innovation?

{{00:11:53}}
Because if they don't drive innovation
at scale, at some point this industry

{{00:11:59}}
will face a moment of reckoning.

{{00:12:03}}
This is a huge industry, which
still makes a lot of profits.

{{00:12:08}}
And a lot of that is because
of regulatory protection.

{{00:12:11}}
At some point the disintermediation
that technology is causing

{{00:12:17}}
will be too overwhelming.

{{00:12:19}}
The banks have to innovate a lot more
and at least both here at Money20

{{00:12:25}}
and I was at Sibos in Toronto.

{{00:12:27}}
A couple of weeks back, I see the
regulators a lot more open now, in

{{00:12:32}}
terms of a dialogue, in terms of
partnership, and that would be my

{{00:12:35}}
key thing for the banks that, how do
instead of thinking about big bank,

{{00:12:41}}
which may never happen how do you start
to drive more deliberate innovation?

{{00:12:49}}
And what is your advice for a bank
that wants to be more deliberate in

{{00:12:53}}
their innovation, but might still
be on some legacy older systems?

{{00:12:57}}
I think in this case aiming for
perfect can be the enemy of good.

{{00:13:05}}
Yeah.

{{00:13:05}}
It is a reality that banks
are on legacy systems.

{{00:13:09}}
They have been trying to
move away from the underlying

{{00:13:11}}
COBOL system for 20, 30 years.

{{00:13:14}}
It has not happened.

{{00:13:15}}
It is not going to happen overnight.

{{00:13:18}}
Yeah.

{{00:13:19}}
So instead of trying to aim for this
mythical kind of best practice we

{{00:13:24}}
have got all of our data together.

{{00:13:27}}
We've got a perfect customer 360 view we
have these massive technology projects

{{00:13:34}}
which are multiple year and hundreds of
millions of dollar costing that much.

{{00:13:40}}
Go for small is beautiful.

{{00:13:42}}
Yeah, we spoke about it earlier,
be a lot more deliberate about what

{{00:13:46}}
problems you're looking to solve.

{{00:13:48}}
What is the business impact?

{{00:13:49}}
Put that before investment.

{{00:13:52}}
Today, it is very technology
investment driven.

{{00:13:55}}
It is, I would say, very FOMO
driven, fear of missing out.

{{00:13:59}}
Yeah, big is beautiful.

{{00:14:00}}
No, big is not beautiful
in the digital age.

{{00:14:03}}
Go for small, go for deliberate,
go for specific pain points.

{{00:14:08}}
So I think that is how, what I think
banks need to do, and I think it's

{{00:14:13}}
a big change in mindset for them.

{{00:14:15}}
Because they're very, wedded to
the biggest, beautiful mindset.

{{00:14:20}}
But starting to take steps are good steps.

{{00:14:23}}
And I need to just make the
movement happen and make that

{{00:14:25}}
next step for data and AI.

{{00:14:27}}
Don't just keep talking about it.

{{00:14:29}}
There you know, we have been
discussing many cases discussing the

{{00:14:33}}
same thing for a number of years.

{{00:14:35}}
And there's such a big, perfect solution
which you never get around to doing.

{{00:14:40}}
Specific problems.

{{00:14:42}}
Experiment, fail fast, and move on.

{{00:14:45}}
Perfection is the enemy of progress.

{{00:14:47}}
Exactly.

{{00:14:48}}
There you have it.

{{00:14:49}}
We'll take steps and move forward and have
a brand new and enlightening year in 2024.

{{00:14:55}}
Is there anything else you'd like to add?

{{00:14:57}}
I think it's just fascinating.

{{00:14:58}}
I think we are really at a fascinating
point in history, I would say.

{{00:15:04}}
And I think this combination of
digital, data, and AI, I think this is

{{00:15:10}}
bigger than what any one of us know.

{{00:15:13}}
At this point, so I would just encourage
this spirit of humility spirit of

{{00:15:19}}
continuous learning and experimentation.

{{00:15:22}}
We don't know, we don't know how
this is going to pan out, but I think

{{00:15:26}}
what is important is that a learning
orientation and collaboration, sharing,

{{00:15:31}}
because no one person or no one company
can really figure it out themselves.

{{00:15:36}}
Absolutely.

{{00:15:37}}
This has been great.

{{00:15:38}}
I thank you for the conversation and the
time and I look forward to seeing book

{{00:15:42}}
number two come out and a good year ahead.

{{00:15:45}}
Thank you very much.

{{00:15:46}}
Thank you, Heather.

{{00:15:47}}
Thank you.

Hi, I'm Heather Sugg,
reporting for Fintech Futures.

We're at Money 20/20 USA and
interviewing with Incedo today.

We're going to talk about the
three hot topics, really, of

Hello Heather, very nice
to be talking to you.

Would you like to just start off by
telling us a little bit about yourself

Incedo, we see ourselves as a
digital transformation specialist.

We work at the intersection
of business and technology.

Digital is transforming everything
all of our lives all, business.

And we are focused on
helping our clients realize.

The best of digital to win in the
digital age, which by the way is the,

Starting off with digital,
we'll go there first.

What do banks need to do to make
sure that they are making the

They're pouring more and more into
their IT infrastructure, but how

do they make sure that's going to
resonate and stay for the long run?

That's a really great question,
Heather, that banks are spending

JP Morgan alone is probably
spending more on technology than

But there's another part of the
equation that they're not realizing

The data suggests that more than 70
percent of digital initiatives do

And I would submit that the nature
of the digital age is very different.

Yeah, I call it, we are in the VUCA world.

Now, if the underlying nature of the
world we are in is very different,

it kind of figures that the rules
of business, your method, your

For example, banks have
historically been very risk averse.

Now we are in a world which is
anything but right first time.

Yeah, and right first time does not work.

So that just one of the big
thematic changes that I want

But look banks have no choice and
they're a little behind the curve.

I call it the trifecta, digital
plus data plus AI, and they have no

option but to really leverage this
kind of holy trinity for success.

So asking banks to
leverage data for success.

We have had, we know banks have
superfluous amounts of data.

It's just making sure that it's
clean and that it's in order and

that we're doing something with what
once was data lakes, now bygones.

How do banks begin to make
the most of their data?

See data, the explosion of data is
both a great opportunity, but also.

It's like water, everywhere,
not a drop to drink.

At one end you have the data deluge, or
another end you have the inside drought.

And I think a big problem the banks
are facing is that given they have

and their data has historically
been very fragmented and siloed.

They find it very difficult
to bring it together.

And it ends up being like this
massive technology project to bring,

put your arms around all of data to
create this customer 360 view, which

is a bit of a, it's the holy the
holy ghost is the holy grail you're

Now the way to, for banks to achieve
success, is to be a lot more deliberate.

about your customer and
business objectives.

If you try to get your arms around all
of this, you will never finish, yeah?

Here are specific customer pain points
and business objectives that we have.

And then what for that,
what data do we need?

And how do we go about collecting and
bringing all of that data together?

So it's almost like in this world
of big data, paradoxically, you

to realize the full benefit
opportunity of big data.

They need to almost find a niche
and start there, and make a step and

Are there examples of where you've seen
this happen with some of your clients?

Yeah, and I would not
necessarily say niche, but like

as opposed to generalizing it
into specific problem statements.

FinTech Futures

Expert Insight

At the Money20/20 USA 2023 conference in Las Vegas, FinTech Futures sat down with Incedo CEO Nitin Seth to discuss what banks need to do to make the most of their digital investments and boost their chances of successful digital transformation.