Resilience

In our increasingly complex world - impacted by pandemics, geo-political events, natural disasters, cyber threats - the resiliency of financial institutions is being tested like never before.

Technology has a crucial role to play in enabling trust by providing visibility across critical business services and automating processes that remediate any potential risks or disruptions.

Laurén Robbins To
Vice President, Financial Services
ServiceNow

Operational resilience and business success in financial services

At ServiceNow, financial services customers rely on our platform to connect the apps, systems, people, suppliers and facilities required to deliver a critical business service. Financial services firms should put themselves in their customer's shoes and think about the things that build trust. There are four key dimensions to maintain customer trust in response to emerging technologies:

1.Reliability: technology, people and processes that support the customer's daily financial tasks − whether making a deposit, filing an insurance claim, or investing funds − this must be readily available and performing to customer expectations.

2.Security and privacy: financial services firms are custodians of not only financial assets, but also extremely sensitive and private customer data. Customers need regular assurances that their data is safe and being used appropriately.

3.Compliance: customers are aware that financial services firms must follow rules, policies, and procedures that safeguard their best interests. We should not underestimate the customer's awareness of regulatory compliance to make sure the system manages risk and protects consumers.

4.Transparency is essential: as the regulatory and market environment is evolving, financial institutions must assure customers that they are addressing bias in AI by being transparent about the data used to train models and how results were derived.

Learn more about EY and ServiceNow’s strategic alliance here

Laurén’s tips for maintaining a healthy work-life balance working in tech…

As a new mom who recently returned to work, I am quickly learning that there is no perfect work / life / family balance! But I have appreciated how motherhood has forced me to be extremely intentional about my priorities at both work and home, and to stay grounded in those priorities. I start each day by writing down my three goals for the day and three things I'm grateful for.

Those goals keep me focused on the most important things for me and my team; and reflecting with gratitude keeps me level-headed in the challenges that the day ahead brings. I've had to prioritize in a way that I haven't before. While making tradeoffs can be difficult, I've found joy in being more outcomes-driven and focused more on the quality of my interactions and work.

Building a resilient technology-driven firm…

EMEA Chief Information Officer and Co-Lead of the Global Technology Risk, Governance and Control functions at Morgan Stanley, Amanda Creak shares her perspectives on the importance of resilience and her top tips for building a career in technology.

Fostering a resilience culture in close collaboration with all key stakeholders is critical for success in a trust-based industry.

Amanda Creak
EMEA Chief Information Officer and Co-Lead
of the Global Technology Risk Governance and Control functions
Morgan Stanley

The importance of building resilience in financial services

To maintain the confidence of customers, shareholders and the broader market, financial service providers must deliver consistent and reliable client service 24/7. Operational resilience is a critical function as it prepares organizations to anticipate and respond to disruptions swiftly and effectively. Ideally, organizations should establish a true ‘resilience culture’ embedded at all levels.

Evolving technology poses both resilience challenges and opportunities

Challenge: the growing interconnectivity of the world paired with the complexity and dynamics of financial services demand a tech environment that thoughtfully combines modern development principles with a strong resilience infrastructure. Opportunity: developing an advanced tech stack leveraging cloud, AI, machine learning and an agile developer environment means IT departments can respond swiftly to changing client demands, shifting operating models, and unforeseen events.

Top tips for progressing a career in technology

The most successful technologists take the time to understand their business and the problems they are solving, helping them deliver the right client outcomes while sharpening their skills. I recommend approaching a tech career with an open mind. There is an extensive set of roles available in our industry and I’ve seen talented technologists from tech and non-tech backgrounds thrive, regardless of their degree or industry background.

Senior Cyber Security Consultant at Ernst & Young AB, Sofia Lundeberg shares insight into how the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is impacting financial services, including her key takeaways from a recent industry event that took place in the Nordics.

Read more about DORA

A common resilience framework that contributes to trust in technology

DORA is a regulatory framework that entered into force across Europe in January 2023. DORA aims to increase the security for European citizens and businesses by establishing a common resilience framework to help financial institutes avoid, manage and bounce back from disruption.

The financial sector is largely up to speed on how DORA impacts them, however, some parts of the regulation are more challenging. To address some of these challenges, we held a client event in the Nordics focusing on DORA and its impact on both the financial industry and its partners.

Some of the key takeaways from the event include:

It’s a privilege supporting organizations to become more resilient, and help strength society’s trust in technology.

Sofia Lundberg
Senior Consultant
Technology Consulting
Ernst & Young AB

Type your content here…

The importance of culture and mindset in driving trust and resilience

As we work towards greater resilience in our technology systems, it’s vital that we instil a culture where colleagues and partners are confident to speak up, challenge and act.

Ruth Anderson
Chief Operating Officer
Group COO
Lloyds Banking Group

The role of technology in banking is changing

Technology and banking are becoming synonymous as our customers increasingly expect an easy, digital-first experience. It’s no longer the exclusive domain of FinTechs to drive value through digitisation – more traditional banks like us continue to evolve and innovate at pace. As we transform technology estates towards cloud-based, API-enabled systems, this will pave the way for more personalised, frictionless customer experiences, making banking more accessible and convenient for our customers.

Mindset and culture are central to driving resilience

Adopting a growth mindset is key. It enables adaptability, innovation, and agility, particularly when it comes to overcoming hurdles and persisting when things get difficult!

These are key enablers to preventing, recovering and learning from operational disruptions. As we work towards greater resilience in our technology systems, it’s vital that we instil a culture where colleagues and partners are confident to speak up, challenge and act.

By creating that trusted environment of continual learning, where we embrace fast failures, we can remain resilient whilst still transforming at pace. Sustainability is important too. Driving a culture where we always consider the environmental impact of our technology is hugely important, so that everyone innately considers the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks whilst building out our resilience plans.

Future-proof skills are required to remain resilient

Adapting to change and viewing change as an opportunity for continuous development is really important. If we can’t ‘move with the times’ from a mindset perspective, there’s no chance we can ensure our technology remains resilient. We’re actively supporting our colleagues to upskill on emerging technologies such as AI, cloud-based services and machine learning − which are quickly becoming a core part of our transformation journey. It’s important we also look beyond the technology and focus on interaction skills such as great communication and collaboration; it’s that cohesion that enables us to collectively deliver more efficiently and effectively. Diversity of thought is also key to encourage new ways of thinking to drive creativity, innovation and better customer outcomes.

Building mutual trust for a resilient partnership

Maria Miranda, Technology Consultant at Ernst & Young SA, is part of the team that leads EY’s alliance relationship with Appian, a recognised leader in low-code process automation. In the short video above, Maria tells us how she builds trust and resilience with Appian to provide the best technology solutions for clients.

The collaborative synergy between EY and Appian has evolved into a strategic alliance defined by unwavering trust. Teamwork, collaboration and of course, fun, are key pillars for our resilient relationship.

Roberto Serrano
Senior Solution Consultant
Appian Corporation

Cyber resilience for financial services
____________________________________

Inês Garcia, Risk Consulting Manager, Ernst & Young SA works with EY Assurance teams to collaborate on external auditing projects for financial services organizations, with a focus on reviewing IT governance, management processes and risk assessments. By providing strategic advice, technological solutions, and proactive monitoring, EY teams help clients to rapidly identify and respond to threats, effectively recover from incidents, and continuously improve their cyber resilience.

Learn from Inês about how EY teams support clients with evolving regulatory demands and emerging technologies as well as how her role as a manager helps her to support her colleagues in their career development.