Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

19 January 2026

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Michael Ault, Country Manager at integrated payments specialists myPOS, offers strategic advice for SMEs looking to scale through digital transformation and diversification

Scaling a small business is one of the most rewarding, yet complex journeys for any entrepreneur. While growth brings opportunities for greater reach, higher revenue, and stronger market presence, it also demands foresight, discipline, and the ability to manage risk strategically. Securely integrating new technology is the main obstacle for 47% of SME’s, even though 76% of these businesses intend to expand their IT investment. This underscores a key point of tension, as many businesses want to grow through digital transformation but struggle to do so securely and sustainably.

The business landscape continues to evolve with changing customer expectations, technology, and economic conditions. For UK SMEs, the key to long-term success lies in achieving growth but also in building resilience. Sustainable scaling comes down to three principles: embracing technology pragmatically, diversifying intelligently, and investing in people and partnerships that strengthen resilience.

Leveraging Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is the foundation of business growth, especially for small business. Cloud-based solutions, automation, and data analytics help to streamline operations, reduce inefficiencies, and create better customer experiences. However, transformation must be purposeful, not performative.

The smartest approach is to scale technology investment incrementally, integrating flexible, modular systems that evolve with business needs. This approach not only lowers risk but also helps ensure digital maturity evolve over time. When SMEs use modular, cloud-based technology, operations run more smoothly and changes can be effectively analysed. Ultimately, resilience is not built through one-time upgrades but through a culture of continuous digital evolution.

Diversifying Revenue Streams

Depending on a single product, service, or market leaves a business vulnerable to sudden changes in demand. Diversification, when guided by customer insight and data can turn volatility into opportunity. Expanding into online sales, introducing subscription models, or targeting fresh customer segments can make income streams much more stable and sustainable.

At myPOS, we know that even simple changes based on data, such as adding additional payment options or tapping into cross-border e-commerce, can help cash flow and protect against market shocks. The goal of technology is to mitigate specific challenges without adding layers of complexity.

Investing in Employee Development

Your people are pivotal to your ability to grow as a business; empowered teams are the engine of sustainable scale. A team that feels supported and motivated will bring fresh ideas, adapt to challenges, and push the business forward. Investing in training, mentoring, and development opportunities builds skills that pay back in the form of innovation and improved performance.

In fast-changing industries, having employees who are confident in learning and adapting can make the difference between struggling through disruption and taking advantage of it. Equally, strong partnerships extend this resilience beyond the organisation. Building resilience at the team level creates resilience for the whole business, so fostering a culture of continuous learning and celebrating employee contributions is key to maintaining motivation.

Focusing on Financial Health and Flexibility

Financial resilience underpins sustainable growth. Scaling often requires upfront investment, and without healthy cash flow or reserves, opportunities can be lost. Monitoring income and expenses closely, cutting unnecessary costs, and preparing for seasonal fluctuations gives businesses more control.

Having flexible financing options, like credit lines, small business loans, or even crowdfunding, provides a level of agility. Instead of being caught off guard by unexpected challenges, businesses with financial flexibility are positioned to respond quickly and strategically.

Financial management software can make it easier to track performance, spot issues early, and forecast future needs. When you can see your finances in real time, you can make proactive, data-driven decisions instead of waiting for problems to happen. In markets that change quickly, this kind of financial management helps small firms plan with confidence, stay flexible, and establish a stronger base for long-term growth.

Prioritising Customer Relationships and Feedback

Your customers are not just buyers; they are advocates, sources of insight, and the foundation of repeat business and brand loyalty. Businesses that scale successfully often place customer relationships at the heart of their strategy by actively gathering feedback, responding quickly to issues, and personalising interactions, which shows customers they are valued.

This loyalty becomes a form of resilience. In periods of uncertainty, a base of satisfied, returning customers provides more stability than constantly chasing new ones. Successful businesses use CRM tools to track customer preferences and automate follow-ups so no opportunity to strengthen a relationship is missed.

Building Strategic Partnerships

Partnerships can accelerate growth while also spreading risk. Working with other businesses, organisations, or influencers can provide access to new audiences, shared expertise, or additional resources. Collaboration can also create opportunities for joint marketing, co-branded initiatives, or innovative product and service offerings.

In times of uncertainty, strong partnerships act as a support network. By aligning with others who share your values and vision, you create opportunities that are mutually beneficial and more resilient than going it alone. It is important to find partners whose goals and audiences complement your own for the best long-term impact.

The next stage of small business success will be defined by resilience rather than speed, the ability to adapt, recover, and continue to create value in the fact of uncertainty. For SMEs, this means developing adaptable growth plans that include flexible technology, diverse models and empowered employees.

Learn more at mypos.com

  • Data & AI
  • Digital Payments
  • Digital Strategy
  • Fintech & Insurtech

Author

Nell Walker

Published

16 January 2026

Estimated Read time

6Mins

We talk to Kimberley Duarte, Strategic Programs and Operations at the Circular Supply Chain Network, about her experiences in supply chain

It’s common for procurement professionals to just fall into supply chain. How did it happen for you?

I guess I fall into the same camp. I came into supply chain through engineering. I started as an electrochemical engineer, working on energy systems. My master’s is in hydrogen economy, fuel cells, batteries, things like that.

However, I’ve always been in operations. My co-op during my bachelor’s degree was in operations engineering in a chemical coating company. My dad was a plant manager, so I was always walking the floor and looking at machines and thinking they were really cool in a manufacturing sense.

I didn’t really understand much about it until my first role coming out of my master’s program. I was heavily involved with the supply chain team. I worked with quality and sourcing for scaling up production of a component that we had. I had this realisation where that bottleneck in innovation isn’t necessarily the technology itself. You can make the technology work with all of the engineers and the scientists working hard together, but it’s the systems and the relationships that move materials, products, and ideas from prototype to production. Technology can only succeed when the supply chains are ready to carry that into production and scale that. And I found that very interesting. That’s when I felt I was way more interested in the nuances of supply chain than engineering. I liked being a part of the system that made something successful.

Tell me a bit about the Circular Supply Chain Network and what it does. 

The Circular Supply Chain Network was started a few years ago by Deborah Dull. She is a thought leader and world renowned speaker on circular supply chains. I really admire her. She’s written a couple of books and she works with the ASCM (Association for Supply Chain Management). She’s wonderful and brilliant, and her idea was to create a global community that’s dedicated to re-imagining supply chains as circular systems. 

We bring together practitioners, innovators, leaders, and we share tools, frameworks, and stories for making circularity practical and actionable. We do that through education, peer exchange, thought leadership, speaking events, pilot projects, and so on. We work on grants when appropriate as well, and we’ll go to events and host workshops. We hold and share toolkits and training information, and we participate in accelerator type initiatives.

Can you tell me about the sessions you led at CHAINge North America earlier this year?

That was great. I really loved my time at CHAINge this year. I did a couple of things. On the first day, I worked with Deborah and she brought in some members of the Circular Supply Chain Network for us to co-facilitate her workshop. Her workshop was really fun. It was called Reboot, Repair, Reimagine the Circular Supply Chain. We were talking in this workshop about the companies that are actually implementing advanced circular supply chain solutions, to show that it’s not science fiction. They are truly who’s leading the way right now, and we discussed the steps you can take in your own company to benchmark against them or to lead yourself to these types of success. It was really fun being a part of that and working with Deborah side-by-side.

I also co-presented with Samer AlMadhoon, Managing Partner at Muhakat Institute. He had a sustainability talk and I had a circularity talk, and we worked together in our presentation. It was called Sustainability in Action: Bringing Circularity and Best Practices to Life in Your Supply Chain. I led the audience through what a circular supply chain is, and a roundtable the next day to follow up on that, and find out people’s struggles.

That brought up some really hard conversations and a lot of pain that I think supply chain professionals understand. Maybe they feel that sometimes they’re not listened to, or there’s still companies where the supply chain is supposed to manage costs and they don’t necessarily have a seat at the table. 

How do sustainability and circularity differ, and how can we shine more of a spotlight on circularity?

That’s definitely challenging. If you look at sustainability, it’s the goal. It’s the big picture; it’s people, planet, profit, and circularity is a tool. Circularity is purely about material flows. It’s about how we keep the raw materials, the products, the energy that’s used in these processes in play for as long as possible. Circularity doesn’t cover water use, labour conditions, equity; it’s very focused on the materials themselves. However, circularity is also one way of getting to the sustainability boundaries, essentially. And that’s the interesting thing. 

Circularity itself is huge for economic value because it is value retention, it’s material flow, and keeping those materials in play with as little effort and waste as possible. If we think of lean manufacturing and waste in that aspect of wanting as minimal waste as possible, that’s true in circularity as well. But then how do you take these waste streams and extract more value out of them? How do you protect the value of the materials and the products that you’re working with? How do you keep as much of the shell of your product going for as long as possible with minimal effort? Those are the aspects of circularity that I think need more attention and understanding.

Besides a lack of conversation around the topic, what are the biggest challenges in circularity?

I think part of it is there are very large companies that are implementing circular practices. A lot of the heavy duty equipment companies have figured out how to make their very large, very expensive machines have new life, so they have whole remanufacturing plants. And that’s great, but these large companies have something a small company doesn’t: a huge supply chain ecosystem.

Circularity isn’t really a single company solution – it takes that ecosystem. You need your suppliers, you need your customers, you need to be able to get back to your material. It needs policy makers. It needs communities working together, reverse logistics, and local infrastructure – our big missing links in circular supply chains. Without them, it doesn’t matter. The loop stays broken if you’re not able to get back your material and do something meaningful with it. 

And the thing is, it’s also really hard for companies to understand the value in making those short loops, even though it’s less risky and more resilient to have share and reuse remanufacturing processes that are close and local, so you can keep those materials in circulation longer. That is a huge shift where companies are so much more used to obsolescence, like you want your product to fall apart so that somebody will come and buy a new one. So it is that business model of getting into the mindset of there actually being revenue to be had. Mindset is key.

Author

Robert Kraal

Published

6 November 2025

Estimated Read time

6Mins

Robert Kraal, Co-founder of Silverflow – a cloud-native payments platform designed to reduce cost and complexity while enabling innovation – examines the future for merchants and digital payments

There are dozens of examples of companies, and even whole industries, that have failed because they simply weren’t aligned to what people wanted. Nobody in 1985 was desperate for Coke to taste different. In 2001 no one needed a self-balancing electric scooter. And nobody in 2021 needed to have their ownership of JPEG images recorded on the blockchain. The history of business contains many instances of ideas that seemed to emerge fully formed from the minds of their creators rather than as responses to genuine needs.

The payments industry might not make as many headlines. However, it is just as full of companies that don’t seem to address any real need on the part of merchants. Too many providers build technology in search of a market, rather than starting with a clear understanding of the challenges merchants face.

As payments evolve, that misalignment becomes more visible. Merchants today operate in an environment defined by thin margins, rising costs, and fast-changing customer expectations. Payment Service Providers (PSPs), PayFacs, acquirers, and processors that fail to adapt risk losing touch with what truly matters. Enabling merchants to grow their business efficiently, securely, and globally.

So, what do merchants really want from their payments technology – and how can the industry close the gap between expectation and delivery?

Beyond ‘Just Getting Paid‘

At first glance, payments can appear to be a simple utility. Money goes in, money goes out. Merchants want to get paid quickly and cheaply – and nothing more. But that view misses the larger strategic role payments play in business operations.

Cost certainly matters. With corporate bankruptcies at a fourteen-year high and economic uncertainty still weighing heavily, cashflow is critical. Even a small reduction in processing fees can make a difference over time. But “low cost” doesn’t automatically equal ‘good value’.

Think of it like buying cheap shoes: they may save money upfront, but if they wear out quickly, the total cost of ownership is higher. The same principle applies to payments infrastructure. The right technology can reduce friction, improve customer experience, and unlock new revenue streams. Far outweighing a slightly higher transaction fee.

For many merchants, payments are not just a back-office function but a strategic lever. The ability to expand into new markets, optimise acceptance rates, or adapt quickly to new consumer payment preferences can directly influence growth.

What Merchants Say Frustrates Them Most

Across industries, merchants face a familiar set of pain points when dealing with payments providers. These often include:

Lack of transparency and control over fees

Slow onboarding and inflexible contracts

Poor technical support and inconsistent service levels

Limited access to useful payment data and analytics

Outdated systems that make innovation difficult

In short, merchants feel constrained by legacy processes and opaque systems that fail to match the agility of their wider digital operations.

What Merchants Want Now

To move beyond seeing payments as a commodity, providers must understand the specific outcomes merchants are trying to achieve. In practice, that means focusing on five key areas:

Higher Acceptance Rates and Fewer False Declines

Every false decline represents lost revenue and potential long-term damage to customer loyalty. According to Aite-Novarica, merchants lose billions each year to legitimate transactions mistakenly flagged as fraudulent.

Often, these issues arise from outdated or overly rigid risk rules, or from poor visibility into the transaction lifecycle. Merchants need access to data and tools that help identify patterns, adjust rules dynamically, and balance security with customer experience. Smarter fraud management – not just stricter – is key to protecting revenue.

Faster Access to New Payment Methods

The payments landscape is diversifying rapidly. Account-to-account (A2A) transfers, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), mobile wallets, and super-apps are reshaping how consumers pay.

For merchants, staying relevant means supporting the methods their customers actually use – without long integration times or complex vendor dependencies. Providers that can onboard new payment types quickly and seamlessly give merchants a crucial competitive advantage.

Simplified Cross-Border Payments

Global expansion is a natural ambition for digital-first businesses, but cross-border payments remain a major operational headache. Local regulations, currency management, and consumer habits vary dramatically between markets.

Merchants want simplified access to local payment methods, along with dynamic currency conversion and compliance tools that minimize friction when operating internationally. A provider that can simplify this complexity – through unified access to multiple schemes and currencies – creates tangible value beyond simple processing.

Intelligent Payment Orchestration

Many large merchants now work with multiple acquirers and payment processors to optimise cost, performance, and redundancy. But without an orchestration layer to intelligently route transactions, they risk inefficiency and downtime.

Modern payment orchestration platforms can automatically send each transaction through the most cost-effective or reliable channel in real time. That capability depends on robust infrastructure – not a tangle of APIs and patches. Merchants increasingly expect their providers to offer orchestration as a native feature, not an afterthought.

Modern, Cloud-Native Infrastructure

This is where the real bottleneck lies. Many PSPs and acquirers still operate on systems designed decades ago – architectures built for a different era of commerce. They’ve been maintained with patches, middleware, and manual workarounds that make innovation slow and integration difficult.

Merchants now expect cloud-native systems that are modular, scalable, and API-driven. Platforms that deliver real-time data visibility, analytics, and adaptability – allowing merchants to build and evolve without being constrained by legacy code.

Providers that cling to old systems risk not just technical debt, but strategic irrelevance. Payments infrastructure should be an enabler of innovation, not an obstacle.

Rethinking the Infrastructure Layer

The issue isn’t that modern payment solutions don’t exist – they do. The problem is that too many are bolted onto outdated foundations. Layering new features onto old systems is like fitting a Formula 1 engine into a 1970s chassis: technically possible, but structurally unsound.

The future of payments lies in rethinking the infrastructure layer entirely. That means building platforms that are natively cloud-based, flexible by design, and ready to integrate with tomorrow’s technologies.

Modern infrastructure enables:

  • Faster onboarding and deployment
  • Greater transparency into transaction data and fees
  • Easier compliance with evolving regulations
  • Continuous innovation without system downtime

This shift isn’t just technical – it’s strategic. It’s about giving merchants the confidence that their payment systems can scale with them, wherever their business goes next.

A New Standard for Payments

The payments industry has reached an inflection point. Merchants no longer see payments as a commodity or cost centre – they see them as a growth driver. Providers that continue to build products in isolation from merchant needs will fall behind.

Success will come to those who build with a merchant-first mindset: reducing barriers, improving performance, and enabling future growth.

The question for every PSP, PayFac, and acquirer is no longer “What features can we add?” but “Are we ready to deliver what merchants actually need?”

About Silverflow

Silverflow is a new kind of payment processing platform designed for today’s payment needs and fit for the future. A cloud-native solution with a single API to the card networks. One platform with one connection. Reducing cost and complexity, easy to use, data-rich, Silverflow frees you to innovate. Find out more at silverflow.com

Co-founder Robert Kraal is one of the few people in the world with over 20 years of experience in online payments.

After completing his degree in Geophysics, he started his career at Bibit, the first global Payment Service Provider (PSP) which was acquired by RBS/Worldpay. At RBS/Worldpay he went on to lead account management, before moving on to Google Netherlands. He joined Adyen in 2010 in the role of COO, where he was responsible for building and running the global acquiring and processing service.

As the Business Development lead at Silverflow, Robert is responsible for maintaining relationships with the card schemes, acquirers, PSPs and regulators.  

  • Digital Payments
  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

26 September 2025

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Join 3,000+ industry decision makers and influencers at Smart Retail Tech Show for your opportunity to gain the tools to stay ahead in a competitive market

If you’re in retail and looking to stay ahead in a fast-changing market, the Smart Retail Tech Expo is a must-attend event. With thousands of industry professionals, the show is a hub for innovation, showcasing the latest technologies to enhance the customer journey, streamline operations, and drive growth. Whether it’s improving operations, enhancing safety, enabling contactless payments, or elevating the customer experience, it’s all on the show floor.

Regardless if you’re an independent retailer or part of a global chain, this is your chance to explore cutting-edge solutions!

Why Attend Smart Retail Tech Expo?

With only pre-qualified decision-makers and key influencers in attendance, it’s the perfect place to network, learn, and invest in the future of retail.

Visitors include Key Decision-Makers: CTO | Director of Retail Experience | Digital Transformation Director | Director of Innovation | Head of Customer Experience | Head of Digital & E-commerce

  • 3,200 visitors in attendance
  • 86% have purchasing authority
  • 76% are looking to source new products & services
  • 95% are senior management or above

Smart Retail Tech Expo is where retail innovation happens! Small business or global, discover cutting-edge solutions and in one place and shape retail’s future.

“Thanks @smartretailexpo! Packed with innovation, connected with lots of great problem solving startups doing amazing work in the space!”

Daniel Himsworth, Marks & Spencer

Keynote speakers include experts from e-commerce, retail, and tech backgrounds, alongside many more. They will be sharing insights from their personal journey and future-proofed strategies on customer engagement, globalising your business, social media commerce, and lots more. Come and hear from the industry’s biggest voices and learn about how to keep ahead in the white and private-label sector. Keynote speakers include expert insights from Pinterest, Tik Tok, Uber Eats, Alibaba and many more…

Register now for free tickets and gain insider knowledge… Beyond networking, Smart Retail Tech Expo offers expert-led sessions and insights into emerging trends, sourcing strategies, and retail technology—giving you the tools to stay ahead in a competitive market.

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

15 September 2025

Estimated Read time

6Mins

Enterprise-wide AI platform security protects sensitive data and governs integrations to help organisations scale Agentic AI with confidence

ServiceNow the AI platform for business transformation, has unveiled its new Zurich platform release. It delivers breakthrough innovations with faster multi-agentic AI development, enterprise-wide AI platform security capabilities, and reimagined workflows. New intelligent developer tools enable secure vibe coding with natural language. This helps turn employees into high-velocity builders and creators and lower the barrier to app creation. Built-in security capabilities, including ServiceNow Vault Console and Machine Identity Console, natively secure sensitive data across workflows. This governs integrations to help organisations scale Agentic AI and innovations with confidence. The introduction of autonomous workflows turns data into action through agentic playbooks. Uniquely offering the flexibility to apply AI and human input in workflows where and when it’s needed for greater control and efficiency. 

AI Transformation with ServiceNow

Enterprise leaders are racing to move beyond table-stakes AI implementations to unlock transformative, tangible results.  According to Gartner, “By 2029, over 60% of enterprises will adopt AI agent development platforms to automate complex workflows previously requiring human coordination.” The ServiceNow AI Platform delivers this transformational promise across the enterprise. It underpins a new era of highly efficient human-AI collaboration. 

“Zurich marks a turning point for enterprise AI. ServiceNow is delivering multi-agentic AI systems in production that are not just powerful, but governable, secure, and built for scale,” said Amit Zavery, president, COO, and chief product officer at ServiceNow. “We are transforming the enterprise tech stack to be AI-native. From autonomous workflows that act on data with precision, to developer tools that democratise high-velocity innovation. With built-in controls for security, risk, and compliance, we’re helping organisations move beyond experimentation. And into a new era of intelligent execution.” 

Vibe Coding Meets Enterprise Scale 

According to Gartner, “Agentic AI features will be near ubiquitous, embedded in software, platforms and applications, transforming user experiences and workflows.” The introduction of ServiceNow Build Agent and Developer Sandbox provides resources for employees to work with AI more efficiently. They can now do this conversationally, and at scale, to solve real problems in every corner of the business. 

  • Build Agent is a breakthrough for enterprise app creation—bringing vibe coding to the rigor of the ServiceNow AI Platform. In seconds, employees can turn an idea into a production-ready application by asking in natural language. Say, “Create an onboarding app that assigns tasks to HR, IT, and Facilities,” and Build Agent handles the rest. Design, build, logic, integrations, testing, and industry-leading governance included. What sets it apart is enterprise discipline: every app comes with audit trails, security, and compliance built in. Developers and citizen creators alike get the speed of AI with the confidence of enterprise-grade control, in a streamlined interface. 
  • Developer Sandbox empowers developers to build better applications, faster, while maintaining the highest standards of quality. Sandboxes provide isolated environments within a single instance, so multiple teams can collaborate, build, and test new features without conflicts, and rapid scale doesn’t come at the cost of control. Teams can version, iterate, and deliver without waiting in line for developer resources. Developers can safely experiment with vibe coding, test AI-powered workflows, and resolve version control issues before changes go live. This reduces rework, shortens feedback loops, and helps teams ship higher-quality applications rapidly with lower risk. 

Security That Enables AI Strategy 

As enterprises adopt autonomous workflows powered by agentic AI, securing how these systems access data and communicate across environments is essential. Zurich introduces new built-in AI platform security capabilities to make it easier to protect sensitive information. It can also govern integrations and manage growing AI footprints. 

  • The newServiceNow Vault Console provides a guided experience to discover, classify, and protect sensitive data across workflows. For example, an admin managing customer service operations can now identify personal data across tickets, apply different types of protection policies, and track compliance activity. The console also offers recommendations for protecting newly discovered sensitive data, along with customizable dashboards to monitor key metrics. What used to require manual configuration across multiple tools can now be managed in one place, with intelligent insights and a streamlined experience. 
  • Machine Identity Console addresses the need for integration security with enterprise-grade authentication and authorization, delivering control over bots and APIs head on. As the ServiceNow AI Platform scales, every API connection, including those from AI agents, introduces another identity to manage and determine what it can access. This console gives platform teams visibility into all inbound API integrations using machine identities such as service accounts and keys, flags outdated or weak authentication methods, and provides clear steps to strengthen security. If an integration is using basic authentication or hasn’t been active in 100 days, the console spots it and helps resolve it. 

Digital Transformation

“At Kanton Zürich, digital transformation is central to how we deliver secure and efficient public services. Since 2018, ServiceNow has enabled us to centralize and standardize our processes with data security as a top priority,” said Jürg Kasper, head of business solutions, Kanton Zürich. “Zurich’s latest advancements in both security and AI will allow us to automate more complex workflows, unlocking new efficiencies that enhance how we serve our citizens—with greater speed, clarity, and assurance.”  

Without built-in security and trust, scaling AI comes with risk. These new security features in Zurich build upon ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower, announced in May 2025, which provides enterprise-wide visibility, embedded compliance, and end-to-end lifecycle governance for Agentic AI systems. By centralising oversight of every AI agent, model, and workflow, native or third-party, the AI Control Tower ensures organisations can scale AI with confidence, aligning innovation with enterprise-grade security and trust. 

Turn Data Into Outcomes With Autonomous Workflows 

As organisations rapidly scale AI, they face the added challenge of delivering solutions consistently, reliably, and responsibly. Enterprises need the right guardrails, full visibility, and strong governance to achieve service delivery. Or they risk eroding trust and slowing results. ServiceNow’s AI Platform does all this in a single platform. It sets a new standard for how organisations can create autonomous workflows to turn data into action and AI into measurable business impact. 

  • Agentic playbooks from ServiceNow bring people, automation, and AI together seamlessly, powering autonomous workflows. A traditional playbook is a structured sequence of automated steps. These are based on predefined business rules and processes—ideal for ensuring consistency, efficiency, and trust. Agentic playbooks amplify this model by embedding AI into the trusted framework. AI agents eliminate manual effort, completing tasks in seconds and accelerating execution. This frees employees to focus on higher-value work where human judgment matters most. For example, in a credit card support situation, an agentic playbook can guide an AI agent to verify someone’s identity. It can freeze a card, send a replacement and notify the customer while allowing a human agent to step in. The result: governed, efficient, and trusted work—supercharged by AI to deliver faster, smarter outcomes. 
  • The ServiceNow Zurich platform release also seamlessly combines Process and Task Mining insights within a unified platform. These new capabilities give organisations an end-to-end understanding of how work gets done. Revealing where human expertise is essential, and where AI agents can deliver the greatest impact. With process intelligence built directly into the platform, customers can move seamlessly from insight to action. Streamlining operations, applying AI where it matters most. And accelerating real business outcomes without the complexity of disconnected legacy tools. 

All features announced as part of the ServiceNow AI Platform Zurich release are generally available and can be found in the ServiceNow Store

  • Data & AI
  • Digital Strategy

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

4 August 2025

Estimated Read time

8Mins

Read in brochure format

FinTech Strategy met with Standard Chartered’s Head of Digital Assets – Financing & Securities Services, Waqar Chaudry, at Money20/20 Europe to discuss how the bank is connecting traditional with digital, collaborating with FinTechs directly and via SC Ventures, and taking a measured approach to entering the crypto market

Money20/20 Europe Exclusive

There is a buzz in the air at Money20/20 Europe. Waqar Chaudry, Head of Digital Assets – Financing & Securities Services at Standard Chartered, has just spoken on Mastercard’s Horizon Stage about the great digital assets opportunity. We meet up with him at his bank’s stand in the heart of the action at the Amsterdam RAI Arena.

Waqar works in custody to secure digital assets at Standard Chartered. It also has a fund accounting business and offers transfer agent services. “The financing in the Financing & Securities Services elements are in our FX Prime offering,” he explains. “At the moment my sole focus is on crypto custody, tokenisation and building an ecosystem around those products.”

The Rise of Digital Assets

It’s an exciting time for Standard Chartered with crypto custody and the rise of stablecoins and tokenisation… Whether the asset is Bitcoin, a tokenised money market, or anything tokenisable, there have been a lot of conversations with the bank’s partners in terms of the technology quest.

“Most of the conversations historically have been led by the fact that technology does give you the capability to do 24/7 trading and settlement. Risk management from the technology side is much better. The blockchain dream is sold to everyone, which remains true,” notes Waqar. “The issue has been that on the business side, tackling the areas that actually can work with this technology. You have your near instant settlement availability on blockchains. On the other side you have a T+1 or T+3 cash settlement time – that doesn’t gel very well.

“Entrenched in the day-to-day business of these really large institutions is to be able to inject a new piece of technology. And then suddenly say, hey, all these things are solved. For all the inefficiencies in the system it doesn’t work that quickly. We’re actually taking one step at a time. That’s why it’s exciting that we can see in five or ten years from now what the world will look like. Basically, in our vernacular that means we have near instant settlements and near instant international transfer of value. So, that’s the kind of stuff that we are really interested in for the future.”

Meeting the Blockchain Challenge

Waqar explains that when something like a blockchain comes into a traditional bank, and especially blockchains like the ones that support an asset like Bitcoin, you don’t know who the counterparties are (which are clear on the SWIFT network).

“You have to build capability from a technology side, operations side, risk management side,” he continues. “You need to develop the governance of all those functions to be able to get the value of the asset in the ecosystem. And then be able to add value to that to transact on it. We don’t yet have those ingredients, so it becomes very challenging for us to accept the assets. A lot of the work that the bank has done over the past five years has been around embedding those elements into our day-to-day operations. It’s about understanding the risk profile of the coins and understanding the risk profile of the blockchains.”

Waqar’s team works on how to protect the ecosystem from risks from both an AML and KYC point of view. “We’re also making sure that by doing that we don’t create such a burden to the client that the service becomes useless,” he adds. “We’re trying to balance that out and that’s where the challenges lie at the moment. The next stage is to also be able to integrate all of our traditional cash and assets rails into this. And that’s where the next level of risks will come in… Where people are not used to seeing things on the blockchain… They are used to seeing things on the SWIFT network or a CSD. But when the blockchains come in, profiles will change and that’s where we have to meet the challenges.”

Traditional Meets Digital

For an asset manager with a variety of equities and bonds, but keen to start in crypto and other digital assets, the rails are very different… “The liquidity venues and the way you settle the instrument are very different. And they don’t naturally talk to each other,” confirms Waqar. “It’s a big challenge. But to be able to go with the provider that has all the capabilities, which includes the cash side, the asset side, the crypto side and the blockchain side, is something people are looking for now. Without having the end-to-end picture, it would be very difficult for our clients to have an equitable strategy for their clients. We need to be able to service them appropriately based on the rails they operate in.”

For Standard Chartered’s clients it’s increasingly important for payments to facilitate activity on-chain regardless of the use case of digital assets. “There is a key challenge with payments at the moment. If you do transfer value across geographies or between B2B and B2C, what do you do with that value afterwards?” asks Waqar.

“Are you going to keep it on the books for your treasury or account purposes or are you going to find a way to liquidate the position to pay your employees or pay your service provider? Without the capability to store the asset appropriately and then convert it into a usable form, you can’t do much with it. The only thing you can do is actually transfer value. So, for us what’s important in payments is that we get the transfer value happening immediately. Or as quickly as possible. And then also connect our payment infrastructure and the banking behind. We aim to support the transfer of value from a digital asset into an actual cash asset.”

Building on Success

Standard Chartered’s work with OKX in Dubai has spurred demand the bank didn’t expect. “The key ingredient is that a really large crypto exchange has come together with a really large bank,” reasons Waqar. “When you combine the product features of a large bank like ours with the liquidity of OKX it creates a unique proposition in the market. The traditional players have started to show interest in that because now they can buy diverse assets, pledge them as collateral and start trading while the assets remain safe in a genuine large institutional bank. And at the same time, they also have access to a highly regarded institutional exchange. That story is for us quite important and we’re fostering these relationships more and more…”

It’s been a real success story for Standard Chartered on the money market fund side which is also connected to what the bank is doing on the collateral side. “Money market funds are used to gain value and have an asset that does generate yield on the one side, but also the capability to use the asset as collateral is important,” adds Waqar.

“The money market fund that we launched for China Asset Management in Hong Kong, albeit it’s a retail use case for a start, but then the ambitions are big. The next thing is how do we start using that same asset for pledging for trading purposes and then how do we inject that into a portfolio basket of assets that people buy? At Standard Chartered, we aim to create a supermarket of tokens in a centralised ecosystem. So, our collateral story and the tokenised money market funds is connected, and we want to continue building around it. We’re thinking about other assets now too… We’re looking at equities, bonds and enabling more cryptocurrencies in the same ecosystem as well. It’s just the start of all the things we need to build in the future.”

Why Money20/20?

“This is my first time coming to Money20/20 Europe. Digital asset companies are here alongside financial services and related FinTechs. It’s great that they’re able to talk to each other and it’s quite evident there are lots of great meetings happening. There are many companies here we are either supporting or we’re working with. We’ve also had meetings with UK government representatives geared to attracting talent into the country. They’re trying to make sure that their FinTech ecosystem grows quite significantly for us in the UK and for other footprint markets in Asia; Middle East and Africa are also quite important in how we do that and continue to grow.”

The Evolution of Collaboration between Banks and FinTechs

Standard Chartered is also working in harmony with its ventures partner SC Ventures. The bank is working closely with Libeara for tokenisation and with Zodia Custody as Saas. “Our core institutional bank and our Ventures business are quite tightly coupled from that point of view,” says Waqar. “And it’s quite obvious that the reason for that is how we’ve made significant investments into them. We’ve given part of our DNA into this ecosystem and now, at the bank, they’re building the ecosystem around these capabilities, so we’re keen to bring them in and use their solutions for our services as well.”

Standard Chartered may be a traditional bank but it is a seasoned collaborator with innovative FinTechs. “They need traditional services too,” reasons Waqar. “Once they get to a critical mass, a FinTech may not have the bandwidth to manage certain client sizes. By partnering with some of the FinTechs, we’re seeing that once a certain size of a client comes in, they prefer to work with a large institution like ours. So, that partnership is proactively managed as well from our side. From our ventures side, bringing their innovative approach to product development and technology into the bank, building the ecosystem around risk management and governance from the bank side and then connecting into the FinTechs outside of that ecosystem is something I think is quite an interesting proposition for us. We’re going to keep building on top of that.”

Standard Chartered – Financing & Securities Services

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By working with local governments and industry associations, we bring you early insights and access to new opportunities. Partnering with leading asset managers, fintechs, and infrastructure providers, we connect you to the best of the industry, via a single partner. Because in a world of complexity, collaboration is your greatest advantage.

Learn more at sc.com/en/corporate-investment-banking/financial-markets/financing-and-securities-services/

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

9 July 2025

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Solidarités International goes live with FinScan to strengthen AML compliance in global humanitarian operations

Solidarités International, a French-based humanitarian aid organisation, has gone live with FinScan. The Innovative Systems solution comes from a leading provider of advanced anti-money laundering (AML) compliance solutions. This will enhance screening processes across its global operations in a cloud-based environment.

As a nonprofit committed to providing life-saving assistance in areas affected by conflict and natural disasters, Solidarités International faces increasing regulatory expectations from public donors. These include the United Nations, the US Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), and European funding bodies. These expectations include rigorous AML screening of suppliers, staff, and local partners to ensure accountability and transparency.

FinScan for AML

Solidarités International’s decision to adopt FinScan followed a thorough selection process involving external advisors and peer recommendations from within the NGO community. Criteria such as workflow flexibility, user delegation, audit history, and alignment with data privacy standards were central to the evaluation. FinScan is now fully operational at Solidarités International’s headquarters.

“With FinScan, we’re able to delegate screening responsibilities across field missions while maintaining centralised oversight and data privacy. The responsiveness of the FinScan team and the tool’s intuitiveness and configurability have been key positives,” said Pierre DeSoil, IT Project Lead at Solidarités International. “Our users picked up the system quickly and are more confident with the process.”

Designed to support complex compliance needs, FinScan helps organisations like Solidarités International meet donor due diligence requirements. It does this through customisable workflows, robust matching algorithms, and scalable deployment.

“We’re proud to support the mission of Solidarités International with a powerful, cloud-based AML solution that helps protect humanitarian aid from financial crime risk,” said Steve Maul, Chief Customer Officer at Innovative Systems. “Their dedication to both compliance and the communities they serve exemplifies how technology and purpose can align.”

About Solidarités International

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Clichy, France, Solidarités International provides urgent humanitarian aid in conflict zones and disaster-stricken areas. Its core mission is to meet the vital needs of vulnerable populations—providing water, food, and shelter in life-threatening conditions. Learn more at https://www.solidarites.org/en/.

About FinScan

Trusted by hundreds of organisations worldwide, Innovative Systems, Inc.’s FinScan® offers advanced Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance technology and consulting solutions. Built on decades of experience in data management and proprietary matching technologies, FinScan provides a data-first, risk-based approach to ensure unparalleled accuracy and efficiency in identifying and reducing risk, accelerating AML compliance workflows, and optimising team productivity. FinScan’s comprehensive, integrated platform includes Know Your Customer (KYC), unparalleled sanctions screening, risk scoring, data quality, and advisory services for implementing a holistic compliance program. FinScan offers flexible deployment including SaaS, on-premise, and hybrid options. FinScan’s SaaS clients are screening more than 300 billion names a year. Learn more at www.finscan.com and follow us on LinkedIn.  

  • Cybersecurity in FinTech

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

16 May 2025

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Join 25,000 attendees for Seamless FinTech, the Middle East’s biggest FinTech event, at the Dubai World Trade Centre May 20-22

FinTech Strategy is proud to be a media partner for Seamless FinTech 2025.

Register for your free event pass here.

Why attend Seamless FinTech?

Welcome to the Middle East’s biggest fintech event for 25 years. Seamless Fintech brings together big tech, government, banks, financial institutions, fintechs, investors, and media. Perfect for anyone passionate about the Middle East’s fintech and payments landscape. This event allows you to explore the fast-evolving ecosystem and engage with top industry players and innovators. And visit the Identity Showcase to discover cutting-edge solutions.

“If I wanted to take a pulse of the vibrancy of the region, then look around at Seamless. The amount of interest and intent people are showing in us and FinTech in the region is very visible at Seamless Middle East.”

Managing Director, Amazon Payments Service

Furthermore, whether you’re presenting your latest payment innovations or showcasing impactful demos, this is your opportunity to foster connections and accelerate business growth. Join 25,000 attendees and 800 exhibitors gaining insights from a stellar line up of 750+ expert speakers from the likes of Revolut, J.P. Morgan, Monzo, Citi and more.

Seamless Digital Commerce

Seamless Fintech will be co-located with Seamless Digital Commerce. This event caters to payments companies seeking to connect with merchants, SMEs, retailers, and e-commerce platforms. The event offers valuable insights into revolutionising in-store experiences, optimising e-commerce strategies, and mastering digital marketing techniques. It provides unmatched opportunities for growth and collaboration in the digital commerce space.

This event is perfect for those looking to forge new partnerships, gain valuable insights from industry trailblazers and drive innovation to stay ahead in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Moreover, whether you’re a startup, an established player, or an SME, Seamless Digital Commerce is designed to push the industry forward.

Register for your free event pass here.

  • Artificial Intelligence in FinTech
  • Digital Payments
  • Event Newsroom
  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

7 May 2025

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Sprout, the creator of a smarter mortgage payment platform to drive financial freedom, has been named the winner of of…

Sprout, the creator of a smarter mortgage payment platform to drive financial freedom, has been named the winner of of Pitch360 at Level39 during UK FinTech Week.

Sprout’s Co-Founder, Asis Tewari, thanked the judges and organisers for running an inspiring session and offered praise for fellow finalists. “It was a privilege to pitch alongside such passionate and innovative founders. We learned a lot… Thank you also to London Business School and Jeff Skinner for helping validate our journey, and to Sir Andrew Likierman for giving us the confidence to kick off. And for introducing us to Professor Joao F. Cocco and his white paper on Portfolio Choice in the Presence of Housing.”

Sprout

Sprout empowers homeowners to build lasting wealth by making smarter mortgage decisions. With AI-driven insights, smart automation, and a user-friendly interface, it can simplify homeownership – aligning your mortgage with long-term financial goals and future flexibility.

Tewari was inspired to launch Sprout after a dinner with Anil Agarwal, billionaire industrialist and Chairman of Vedanta… “He told me: The only way to build real wealth is through investing in markets — and every generation needs to start as early as possible.”

Why Use Sprout?

  • Do you know the true return of your property? Sprout tracks the real costs and value of your property to give an accurate return.
  • Are your mortgage repayments really building wealth? Sprout makes it simple to allocate your payment wisely, giving you the ability to pay down your mortgage smarter.
  • Is your money working hard for you? Sprout gives you exclusive access to best-in-class funds.

Pitch360

Innovate Finance’s flagship pitching competition, Pitch360, is taking place across the UK in 2025. There are six regional pitch events across a 12-month campaign, featuring live events in the North, South West, Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Pitch360 shines a spotlight on the best FinTech talent and emerging technologies the UK has to offer. It’s aim is to showcase how FinTech innovation can help drive the growth agenda and transform financial services.

Find out about future events, and apply to pitch, here.

About Innovate Finance

Innovate Finance is the independent industry body for UK FinTech. It’s mission is to accelerate the UK’s leading role in the financial services sector. It does this by directly supporting the next generation of technology-led innovators to create a more inclusive, more democratic and more effective financial services sector that works better for everyone.

  • Embedded Finance
  • Neobanking

Author

Husnain Bajwa

Published

30 April 2025

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Husnain Bajwa, SVP Product – Risk Solutions at SEON, on KYC detection and verification to combat fraud in financial services

Many fraudsters today are no longer just criminals – they’re technologists wielding powerful artificial intelligence (AI) as their primary weapon. As fraud techniques evolve, businesses are becoming increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated adversaries. With the rising wave of AI-powered fraud, traditional fraud prevention methods, which heavily emphasise Know-Your-Customer (KYC) processes, are struggling to keep pace.

Fraudsters have learned to exploit the inherent delays in standard KYC processes. They use AI to generate synthetic identities and automate infiltration techniques at an unprecedented scale. By the time most verification processes kick in, significant resources have already been spent, and potential damage has been incurred. To gain the upper hand, companies must move beyond isolated identity checks and adopt a more integrated approach. This combines pre-KYC detection with advanced KYC verification. A dual-layered defence system that’s both proactive and agile enough to adapt to the evolving threat landscape.

Introducing Pre-KYC fraud detection

Since KYC processes are essential for businesses to meet regulatory requirements and maintain compliance, the solution isn’t to abandon KYC but to transform it. Organisations must adopt a pre-KYC detection layer that detects fraud before it reaches verification processes.

What does this look like in practice? It starts by analysing a user’s digital footprint. This includes key data points, such as the age of an email address, phone number history, IP address patterns and social media activity. These indicators help assess the authenticity of a user’s identity. For example, a newly created email or an IP address associated with a known VPN service can be red flags, signalling possible fraudulent intentions and enabling businesses to proactively intervene before harm occurs.

Device intelligence further strengthens the initial stages of pre-KYC user verification. This technology detects discrepancies in device integrity, such as emulators, proxies or device spoofing techniques. These are common tactics fraudsters employ to conceal their true identities. Advanced device fingerprinting tools are critical in identifying when a device’s profile does not match its user’s provided details or shows unusual behaviour, adding an extra layer of security.

Adding to this framework, behavioural analytics play a pivotal role by monitoring how users interact with platforms. Analysing navigation patterns, session durations and behaviours during account setup can expose irregularities that suggest fraudulent activities. Indicators such as repetitive account creation attempts with varied data points or abnormally quick typing and navigation speeds often point to bot-driven fraud. This provides businesses with opportunities to intervene early in the user engagement process.

Combining Pre-KYC Technology with traditional methods

While pre-KYC tools can identify potential threats early, KYC verification remains essential for ensuring that the users who pass initial screening are legitimate. Once a user reaches this stage, robust identity verification methods must be in place to confirm the authenticity of the individual’s information.

Modern KYC processes must combine several features: document verification, biometric checks and address verification. The first, document verification, involves using optical character recognition (OCR) and machine learning to scan government-issued IDs and detect forgeries in real time. Additional security in this realm can be attained via facial comparisons – matching a user’s selfie with the photo on their ID – to ensure that the person behind the camera is the same as the one in the presented documentation.

Next, advanced liveness detection aids in combating both deepfake technology and image-based fraud – two fraud vectors on the rise. By requiring users to perform specific actions or gestures during verification processes, liveness detection ensures that fraudsters can’t simply upload a static image or video to impersonate someone. Lastly, address verification provides further protection, confirming a user’s address against authoritative databases or recent utility bills. These checks are crucial for businesses in regulated industries, where proof of residency is often a compliance requirement.

The growing threat of AI-powered fraud

Now that fraudsters can access AI tools, the fraud game has entirely changed. Bad actors can generate synthetic identities, manipulate biometric data and even create deepfake videos to pass KYC processes. Additionally, AI enables fraudsters to test security systems at scale, quickly iterating and adapting methods based on system responses.

In light of these new threats, businesses need dynamic solutions that can learn and evolve in real time. Ironically, the same technology serving sophisticated fraud can be our most potent defence. Using AI to enhance both pre-KYC and KYC processes delivers the capability to identify complex fraud patterns, adapting faster than human-driven systems ever could. These AI-powered tools don’t just detect fraud – they predict and prevent it by continuously learning from each attempted breach.

At the pre-KYC stage, machine learning (ML) algorithms can identify patterns and anomalies across vast amounts of user data, providing more accurate and faster risk assessments. As fraudsters evolve, these systems can recognise emerging fraud patterns, preventing bad actors from bypassing security.

Similarly, AI-driven verification methods can detect increasingly sophisticated forgeries and manipulations in the KYC phase. At the same time, adaptive authentication systems can increase or decrease the level of verification required based on the user’s risk profile. This flexibility strengthens security and enhances the user experience by reducing friction for legitimate users.

The stakes are set to climb

The battle against AI-empowered fraud isn’t just about preventing financial losses. It’s about maintaining customer trust in an increasingly sceptical digital marketplace. Every fraudulent transaction erodes confidence, and that’s a cost too high to bear in today’s competitive landscape.

Businesses that take a multi-layered approach, integrating pre-KYC and KYC processes in a unified fraud prevention strategy, can stake one step ahead of fraudsters. The key is ensuring that fraud prevention tools – data-rich, AI-driven and flexible – are as adaptive as the threats they are designed to stop. The future of fraud prevention isn’t about building higher walls; it’s about creating smarter, more adaptive and intelligent systems to anticipate and neutralise threats before they materialise.

  • Cybersecurity in FinTech

Author

Amelia Lowe

Published

18 October 2024

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Amelia Lowe, Vice President of Operations at SquareTrade, on the potential for AI to revolutionise InsurTech

We have all witnessed the growth of AI in the past year. It’s quickly becoming an innate part of how we work. In the UK alone, the number of AI registered companies has increased by over 600% in under a decade. While the size of the AI market is expected to grow to over £800 billion by 2035. AI holds the power to radically reshape the way we live, learn, and conduct business. It can unlock possibilities we once only imagined. In the past two years, we’ve witnessed this transformational potential come to life. It’s driving innovation and redefining industries at an unprecedented pace.

We stand on the brink of a new era. AI is poised to become an integral force that not only enhances our daily lives but also paves the way for a more effective way of doing business and connecting with customers. AI holds the key to supercharging the customer experience, by creating seamless, intelligent customer journeys. So how do we do it?

In today’s highly competitive world, great customer service is essential. Customers do not want to feel like just another number. They want their individual needs to be recognised and addressed with personalised responses.

At SquareTrade, we aim to engage with our customers in ways that feel authentic and personal, even when they are engaging with AI. Our objective is to deliver a level of personalised interaction that was once thought of as unattainable with automated systems. Furthermore, ensuring every customer feels appreciated and understood in each exchange.

Enhancing customer experiences with AI for seamless, intelligent journeys

At the core of any customer relationship is the confidence that issues will be resolved quickly and effectively. Your team, and the people behind your company, play a pivotal role in delivering that trust across all customer touchpoints.

When integrating AI into a business, it is essential to align the technology with the company’s core objectives. For us, the focus has been on driving innovation and streamlining processes while ensuring customer service remains uncompromised. Our goal is to ensure, no matter how AI is implemented, the customer experience feels personal and authentic. Even with automated systems, we want to provide a level of personalised interaction that was once unimaginable. We see AI as an extension of our team. In light of that we apply the same values and principles to those we apply to our team, which focus on trust, transparency and respect.

Have you met Sally?

We now live in a world where AI tools and customer experience must work in harmony. According to Statista, 73% of consumers believe AI can enhance customer experience, with 80% reporting positive interactions with AI so far. Clearly, AI has reached a point where customers can appreciate its benefits during their times of need. It can seamlessly recognise and addresses issues productively.

When businesses explore integrating AI solutions, it’s crucial to align them with their unique standards, customer service approach, and company culture. No two AI solutions are alike. For us, it was vital that any AI implementation seamlessly complemented our existing operations. A key example of how we’ve achieved this is through the introduction of Sally, our AI chatbot. Sally provides one of the quickest and most efficient ways for customers to engage with us when visiting our website. This enhances the user experience while staying true to our service values.

We are already witnessing the benefits of introducing Sally. She consistently achieves high success rates in resolving customer incidents autonomously. By deploying her in a strategic and targeted manner, we can reserve human interactions for more complex queries and claims.

AI Training for Operational Excellence

AI’s potential goes beyond customer interactions. It is increasingly being leveraged for training and education within organisations. In an industry like insurance, where no two claims are the same, InsurTech companies need training systems that prepare team members to adapt to a wide variety of scenarios.

Given that individuals learn in diverse ways and at varying speeds, the ability to create personalised learning experiences is immensely valuable. We see AI training tools as the equivalent of providing each employee with a personal tutor. Moreover, one that can adapt to their unique strengths, challenges, and learning styles.

And the learning doesn’t stop when the training does. AI-powered platforms can now continuously assess performance in real-time. If an employee is struggling in a particular area, the AI can automatically adjust the learning program to address those needs. This ensures ongoing growth and development tailored to each individual.

Fraud Detection

AI is poised to revolutionise fraud detection and prevention. It is becoming an invaluable asset to the teams that monitor for suspicious activity. In the insurance industry, AI can be deployed at multiple levels to enhance fraud detection. For example, through intelligent automation that swiftly analyses large datasets and flags potentially fraudulent claims for further investigation. This can save valuable time and resources.

AI can also enable the creation of predictive models that forecast fraud based on historical data and emerging trends. This helps insurance players to stay one step ahead of evolving threats. These models improve risk assessment accuracy by reducing false positives and allowing us to focus more effectively on genuine risks.

Looking ahead, the potential for AI in fraud detection is immense. AI is breaking new ground in areas where traditional rule-based systems fall short. Its ability to process vast amounts of data in real time, identify patterns and anomalies that would be nearly impossible to detect manually, makes it a game-changer in tackling complex problems.

Embracing AI Advancements

AI has the potential to revolutionise countless industries, but its impact is particularly profound in InsurTech. Given the critical role insurance plays in people’s lives, the opportunities for innovation and improvement are vast.

As an industry, it’s essential we recognise AI’s ability to transform customer experiences. As early adopters, we have witnessed its potential firsthand. We will continue to leverage these advancements to enhance personalised and automated processes. We can bridge language barriers, and create new methods of interaction.

However, our focus must always be on finding the right balance. Identifying where these solutions can deliver the greatest impact in serving customer needs quickly and effectively. Moreover, also ensuring that we retain the opportunity for human connection whenever it is needed. As well as ensuring compliance and security are a core part of how we think about implementing solutions to enhance business operations.

  • InsurTech

Author

Nell Walker

Published

28 August 2024

Estimated Read time

4Mins

We caught up with Shachi Rai Gupta from ORO Labs to discuss the importance of orchestration in procurement.

Simplifying procurement in smart ways is the ultimate goal for ORO Labs. Utilising the best of AI, ORO Labs aims to implement procurement orchestration across sectors, creating an experience that is simultaneously automated, augmented, and humanised.

Shachi Rai Gupta is VP Strategy at ORO Labs, with a wealth of transformation and technology experience behind her. Rai Gupta’s sharp eye on procurement has allowed her to witness the rise and fall of various trends, and understand what the sector needs as it – along with technology – evolves. 

We caught up with Rai Gupta at the DPW NYC Summit back in June, a special North American version of the event. Procurement trends, especially AI and orchestration, were very much the theme of the day, prompting lively conversations amongst some of the world’s most influential procurement leaders.

Procurement as a net positive experience generator

For Rai Gupta, the trends right now are guided by the fact that procurement has more of a  strategic and evolved role than ever, giving the function the opportunity to have a great impact on the enterprise bottom-line and the environment and community at large 

“Procurement is morphing into a function where one of its biggest responsibilities is to be a net positive experience generator,” she explains.

“Procurement really is a service function for the whole business stakeholders. We, as procurement professionals, need to see things through the lens of the business. This includes what issues the business is trying to solve, and meeting the business where it’s at for good collaboration.

“It’s also important to make this experience as easy as possible, rather than cumbersome and time intensive. That needs to be catered and customised to the individual business segments.”

Prioritising the planet

Another area Rai Gupta is seeing talked about a lot is sustainability. This topic has, for some, been sidelined a little in favour of advanced technology. But it’s just as important as it’s always been, and it’s vital to keep the discussion alive – especially in procurement.

“More and more, companies are realising the impact they’re having on the environment,” Rai Gupta explains. “It’s an increasing priority on all our agendas. The technology is still nascent in that space, in the sense that there aren’t good ways to do benchmarking or tracking. That’s going to be an interesting space to watch out for.”

The next generation

Another hot topic of the DPW NYC Summit was the talent shortage. We at CPOstrategy discuss this topic a lot with procurement professionals, and there’s no one answer for fixing the issue.

“There’s a dearth of good digital talent,” Rai Gupta states. “The skillset you need today in procurement is very different from what we’ve had before. To be able to leverage that, to really make use of the procurement teams you have and the operational model you want, it’s a different challenge. The structure of your team is more important than ever. 

“While that shortage is there, when you do have the right people in place in procurement, that’s where the department shines,” Rai Gupta adds. “That’s where procurement becomes a group of trusted advisors for the business, providing proactive opportunities. We wear a lot of hats in procurement, and we’re stepping up to a new level of evolution.”

Advanced tech for good

And, of course, AI and orchestration are terms on everyone’s lips right now – procurement included. AI is, in Rai Gupta’s words, “a solver”. Many of the blockages and challenges procurement is experiencing as it evolves can be solved, or at least aided, by AI and orchestration. “There’s so much tech out there,” Rai Gupta states. “AI is one such possibility. Every segment of procurement comes with its own risks and requires its own expertise and tool sets. 

“To manage that whole ecosystem is where that orchestration comes in. There’s a real beauty in this because it’s collaborative. It makes the whole bigger than its parts.”

Author

Nell Walker

Published

15 August 2024

Estimated Read time

4Mins

We chatted with Johan-Peter Teppala from Sievo about why procurement needs to use technology wisely.

When CPOstrategy attended the DPW NYC Summit back in June, one of the buzzwords of the day was trends. Trends in procurement, trends in technology, and how to combine the two. The event was filled with productive discussions around how procurement can benefit from data and advanced technology. This led to a hopeful vibe throughout the day, despite and because of acknowledgements of procurement’s shortfalls. 

We caught up with Johan-Peter Teppala, Chief Customer Officer of Sievo, at the NYC conference. For Teppala, that hopefulness is something he took away from the event. “It is great to see so many companies out there with keen interest in adopting new securities and technologies,” he says. “Procurement has increasing demand to do more with less, which explains also the need for technology to drive efficiency and to deliver more. I think it’s just inertia that’s slowing us down.”

However, advanced technology is helping shift the inertia that’s so prevalent across procurement. “Developments in GenAI have been exceptionally fast, especially recently,” Teppala adds. “With an increasing amount of practical Gen AI use cases, this has become a topic that touches each and everyone in procurement. At Sievo, we are dedicating R&D budgets to AI innovations. We have quickly been able to ramp up many practical use cases for our clients to deliver business value in this area.”

Using data and technology wisely

Teppala continues: “Sievo strives to withhold our position as the leading Procurement Analytics partner for large enterprises. We are driven by the goal to close the data-to-action gap. We believe analytics alone has zero value, it’s the actions that we take that drive the value.” This was a topic that was repeated several times during the DPW NYC Summit.

“As a result, SIevo’s goal is to ensure our customers can use their time most efficiently. We help them make business-impacting decisions and best use their expertise, whilst Sievo automatically surfaces insights that they can take action on. First and foremost, our work is about carving out insights. And once you have those insights, how do you automate those actions to create opportunities? That’s definitely one thing we’re keen to solve.”

Sievo is also focusing its attention on gen AI – how it can be adopted and what the use cases are. “AI for data cleansing has been around for a while,” says Teppala. “Right now, Gen AI is getting really good traction from a technology point of view. It’s not just insights, but adopting AI into chat interfaces, and reaping the benefits with implementable actions. It’s amazing.”

The changing talent landscape

The increased adoption of AI is going to also change the talent landscape within procurement. Another heavily-discussed topic during DPW NYC was the talent shortage and how it has the potential to slow procurement down. However, advanced technology may be the thing that accelerates it once again.

“The talent you need is changing,” says Teppala. “The procurement mandate has widened  beyond delivering cost savings. Now, it’s also about driving sustainability initiatives, emission reductions, increasing diverse spending, and preventing supply chain risks. Procurement has to be creative and resource-effective for reaching ideal outcomes. This is a big challenge but also a big opportunity and also impacts the talent needed in procurement. 

“You don’t necessarily need to hire superstars who know everything. It’s about teamwork. Building a procurement team out of people who possess all these modern talents, who can support each other. I can’t know whether this is going to solve the talent shortage, but at least we’re shifting towards a different kind of talent as capabilities change. 

Teppala concludes: “We need to be thinking more about what kind of team we actually want to build – not just what kind of really good, talented individual we can find.”

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

25 July 2024

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), has announced an expansion…

Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), has announced an expansion of its partnership with a leading neobank. What’s more, Stripe offers a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, to help improve cashflow management and payment processing for SMBs. The partnership is key to helping businesses to move money easier and faster

Sage partners with neobank Stripe

Stripe is trusted by millions of businesses around the world, ranging from startups to enterprises. The partnership with Stripe provides Sage customers with more options to pay and get paid quickly. Additionally, leveraging Stripe’s financial infrastructure, Sage will offer its customers a trusted solution to help ease cashflow and simplify financial processes. From streamlined checkout and payment processing, to Tap to Pay contactless payments, and auto-reconciling bank transfers.

Also, in partnership with Stripe, Sage intends to expand its payments ecosystem. Therefore, ensuring that a growing number of its customers have access to services that will help them to manage their cashflow.

“This partnership signifies a shared vision between Sage and Stripe. To transform how SMBs pay and get paid, helping our customers to simplify cashflow management,” said Walid Abu-Hadba, Chief Product Officer, Sage. “Furthermore, we are committed to harnessing the power of technology to drive innovation, enhance efficiency, and pave the way for growth.” 

Addressing cashflow problems

Supporting customers globally, Stripe’s integration into Sage is currently available in the UK through Sage Accounting, Sage 50 and Sage 200. Also, Stripe is fully integrated into Sage Network, enabling customers to easily plug into the broader Sage ecosystem. Moreover, they can choose additional applications and features such as Sage Connect, automating AR and AP processes to help manage their cashflow and payments.

The expansion of the partnership will see customers benefits including:

Streamlined checkout and payment processing: SMBs with cash trapped in outstanding invoices can make it easier for customers to review their accounts. They can pay with Sage Connect’s customer account portal and Stripe Checkout.

Multiple payment methods: Accept payments from customers through different methods including digital wallets, cards and bank transfers. Additionally, Stripe uses machine learning to surface the most relevant payment methods for customers depending on their location.

Unified payments experience: Collect payments online and in person through Tap-to-Pay, for seamless, in-person, contactless payments No terminal hardware required.

A safe and secure payment experience: Leveraging Stripe’s advanced security protocols and compliance with global financial regulations. Customers can be assured transactions are protected against fraud and data breaches. Providing peace of mind for both businesses and their clients.

Auto-reconciling bank transfers: Saving time with automatic reconciliation. Finally, bank transfers enable customers to pay invoices via bank transfer, streamlining the payment and reconciliation process.

“Sage understands the importance of innovating for its customers. We’re thrilled to be part of its journey,” said Eileen O’Mara, Chief Revenue Officer at Stripe. “Stripe is building a suite of software-defined financial services. Ultimately, we can enable leading platforms like Sage to provide integrated features that make their customers’ lives easier.”

Lastly, this partnership adds to the broad range of payments and banking partners within Sage’s ecosystem.

  • Neobanking

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

8 February 2023

Estimated Read time

4Mins

We look into the supply chain production process of Easter Eggs and the journey to their final destinations in supermarkets

Chocolate is arguably the world’s most popular sweet treat. Depending on who you ask, of course.

After, perhaps Christmas, it is the most common time for people to indulge in chocolate if they don’t do so anyway throughout the year.

And synonymous with Easter are the eggs themselves which are loved by children and adults alike all over the world.

The journey to Easter Eggs

The supply chain process is split into eight stages of production: cultivating, harvesting, splitting, fermentation, drying, winnowing, roasting and grinding. Following production, the supply chain process is extended further with logistics which is the final step to providing customers with their favourite seasonal sweet treat.

The journey actually begins with cocoa tree plantations being established which is done by scattering young cocoa trees amongst new shade trees or by planting the cocoa trees between established trees. These are planted in humid tropical climates, with temperatures between 21 and 23 degrees Celsius. This is consistent rainfall periods and a short dry season because these conditions provide good quality cocoa.

Easter eggs

Each tree produces 20-30 cocoa pods a year which grows straight from the tree’s trunk and main branches. With this tree also yielding fruit, the crop is carefully pruned, and as a result, it is easier to harvest the cocoa pods. The next step is the labour-intensive task of harvesting the crop.

The harvest is a whole community affair on small West African farms. Large knives are then used to detach the pods from the trees and placed in large baskets on workers’ heads. The pods are then manually split open to remove the beans so they are ready for the two-step curing process. Each pod consists of between 20-40 purple cocoa beans.

The curing process consists of fermenting and drying the beans to develop the chocolate flavour. There are several fermentation methods but the most traditional is the heap method. This requires placing mounds of wet cocoa beans in between layers of banana leaves on the ground for between five to six days. Following this, the drying stage begins. This involves the wet bunch of beans being spread out in the sun or using a more advanced method of special dying equipment.

From plant to factory

Often, a lot of large chocolate brands then buy the cocoa through intermediaries. The beans are then packed into sacks ready to be exported to the brands processing facilities in other locations globally.

After arrival, the beans are cleaned and quality inspected before the winnowing stage takes place. The dried beans are cracked to separate the shell from the nib which is where the small chunks are used to produce chocolate. Afterwards, the roasting phase begins in which the nibs are baked at high temperatures reaching 120 degrees Celsius in special ovens. This is where the colour and flavour is acquired.

Subsequently, the next stage is grinding which creates the basis of all chocolate products. The roasted nibs are grounded in stone mills until a thick liquid chocolate consistency is achieved.

Chocolate to egg

The final step is creating the chocolate egg masterpiece by using highly efficient computer-operated technology which has been used since the mid-20th century. The molten chocolate is placed in heated egg molds which are rotated so there is an even thickness. Following this, the eggs are left to cool and then removed from the molds. Once cooled, the eggs are wrapped in coloured foil and packaged into individual boxes before being sent out for retail. The transportation and exportation throughout the various supply chain stages is vital being a seasonal product. This means they are heavily relied upon for their timings to deliver to large supermarkets and independent stores.

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

7 May 2020

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Read in brochure format

Interface Magazine talks to Vladimir Arshinov, IT Director at steel producer SIJ Group regarding the company’s massive digital transformation

Going into 2017, SIJ Group (Slovenian Steel Group) – Slovenia’s biggest steel producer and one of the largest manufacturers of stainless and special steels in Europe had typical IT structure with semi-independent IT departments on each plant. And like many modern enterprises, SIJ was at work drafting a strategy to transform its operations, systems and processes into a more unified structure in a bid to improve productivity, safety and the all-important bottom line.

Vladimir Arshinov is SIJ’s IT Director and his initial focus in 2017 was trained on the digital transformation of SIJ’s IT department to a more transparent organization with a clear workflow. Previously, IT was a department of innovation with each individual plant having its own independent function, none of which connected with each other, often across varying geographies. “This meant that lots of efforts were wasted solving the same issues with different solutions,” Arshinov reveals.

At the end of 2017, SIJ established a Project Management Office. PMBOK was selected as a master methodology and the Head of PMO received PMP certification and developed internal regulation documents, rules and methodology. After finalizing the initial establishment phase, hiring project managers and the organization of the operational work, SIJ came to the conclusion that to raise the scope and complexity of the projects program, they needed a tool. The MS Project Management Server was duly selected and implemented allowing SIJ to simplify observation of the progress of projects and control, while ultimately reducing duration. Project team meetings were almost eliminated, and the distribution, control and execution of project tasks, were assigned to the project team members who managed and controlled projects including budget consumption. Each project member would then be measured for effectiveness.

Turning the IT department into a leaner function was a massive first step for SIJ as it needed a firm foundation upon which all future innovation could sit. And so, the next step in SIJ’s internal IT transformation was aimed at the most sensitive and critical area: software development. As with many metallurgical companies SIJ had a bulk of different IT systems, which were supplied or developed in the past and had to be either permanently supported, or, due to the business requirements, changed. One concern with the legacy system was the reliance on locally based productive software developer engineers developing new solutions and then, after, supporting them, resulting in a massive drop in development speed, as development and the subsequent support increased. This situation was causing overloading, burnout and frustration, triggering a desire to change something; sometimes resulting in employer change. However, SIJ IT considers people as its major asset and were determined to break the vicious circle of “one system – one person – forever”.

“What we did from an organizational point of view was to unify all geographically distributed developers from 4 different companies into the several virtual groups in each department,” Arshinov explains. “Each group has a Team Leader role, who assigns tasks to the group members and controls the execution of each individual task.”

Development at SIJ is now organised according to an agile approach using scrum boards and Microsoft Project Server to control all the time sheets of the people involved in the projects, plus their schedules and budgets. SIJ uses Microsoft Azure DevOps Server for unified storage of inter-company source code and Change Request Scrum board monitoring and control. Process and technical solutions now allow SIJ to involve external software development partners into the development process while controlling their activities, deliverables and costs. Developers can now use the Azure DevOps Server with the scrum board and are now able to register change requests in their system by themselves, where they see the progress of all individual change requests coming through the process with the integration of the IT Director informing the exchange and updating the status of the task development. 

In October 2019 SIJ revamped and migrated its Corporate Business Intelligence system to a new MicroStategy platform. The project took six months and provided SIJ with an extensive corporate Business Intelligence system with more than 180 different dashboards covering production, finance, sales, procurement, HR, Legal and investment functional areas. The overwhelming majority of the data now uploads automatically and the business intelligence tool has created a unified reporting system across the group utilizing the same source of data in order to integrate it. “There was huge involvement of the business customers with Oracle BI and this year, we moved to this new platform,” Arshinov explains. “The front end of the system was changed (from Oracle BI) to MicroStrategy for usability and a unified interface. Now, SIJ has a system that looks the same no matter the device it’s accessed from. This project allows us to organize and develop the team that tests the trial usage and develops the processes of the PMO (Project Management Office) inside the IT function.”

The BI System contains the entire spectrum of corporate data and allows SIJ to move quickly and transparently when taking a management decision, while reducing the number of mistakes, misunderstandings and time-consuming meetings.

The next system to be unified across the group was the Salesforce CRM system, which is now fully integrated. Then, an Oracle supplier portal followed, which opened the possibility of organizing tenders, thus massively simplifying the purchasing process. Oracle Innovation Management is another successful implementation, which, although a relatively small project, has had a big influence on the business transformation and innovation through increased flexibility. “It is also used to motivate people to suggest improvements and new innovative ideas,” he says.

So, what have been the major successes, according to Arshinov, following the ongoing digital transformation at SIJ? “The main difference between now and then was that each individual company was living alone, and I see now that the IT function in this case is unifying the people and allowing them to speak in a single language. It doesn’t matter if it’s a steel center or a big plant,” he explains. Costs have been dramatically reduced too, outsourcing being a prime example. In 2016, SIJ was spending more than 70% annual budget for operational external services. For 2020, that part of budget reduced to 40%. Meanwhile, the capital investments part of the budget has grown from 4% in 2016 to 56% in 2020.

The implementation of a Supply Chain Planning system (from Quintiq) incorporating the Oracle Business Suite, has improved the delivery, safety and performance of SIJ’s plants. “We improved Delivery Performance OTIFF (on time and in full) of a stainless steel plant by 12.8% in six months,” he enthuses. “And we shortened the production cycle by 15,4% from ordering to shipping, which is a brilliant result within six months of going live.”

In SIJ Matal Ravne has replaced the melt shop technology system and entire plant manufacturing execution system to replace the obsolete legacy system – which had zero planning functionality – with PSI Metals. “First of all, we’re increasing the level of understanding and the knowledge of the internal IT team, while dramatically decreasing project cost by involving internal specialists into the supplier team. That allows us to save several hundred thousand Euros of project budget and it’s a win-win situation for the supplier as well. First of all, the supplier is receiving our team, which knows the production and the limitations and has extensive inside knowledge. At the end of the day, the commercial value, in this case, is the cheaper price. Cheaper than anybody else is able to receive.”

Another and no less important project for Sij Metal Ravne is the joint development work with Comtrade Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). Laboratories in metallurgy companies are complicated and highly demanding environments with unique processes required for quality control of all products and this solution covers and improves core laboratory processes and will be highly integrated with the PSI manufacturing execution system from one side and Oracle ERP on the other.

Through this massive digital transformation, SIJ has also managed to increase quality control through sophisticated AI, which has massively impacted its operations. The acquisition of scrap metal, a major influence on SIJ’s bottom line, can now be influenced through advanced detection systems that can detect impurities, thus representing huge savings when it comes to procurement. “The conservative saving is €1.4m,” he says.

The digital transformation at SIJ is touching every aspect of the company’s growth and is certainly an ongoing journey rather than a destination. “We are not an IT company, that’s understood,” Arshinov says. “But we are supporting services inside the business, and of course our main concern will always be supporting the production of steel. But we’re not there yet.”