«I would pay to hear bad news communicated in an empathic way»

Precisely because technology sometimes overwhelms people, emotion managers are in demand. There will always be «human interaction as a service».

Did you create this term? (laughs) I think so, yes. But I can only offer «human interaction as a service» if a client sees value in it. And I would question the added value of investment advice today. For someone to give me bad news in an empathic way – I would gladly pay for that experience, and banks can position themselves for that. That's why I believe there is a future for «experience» client advisers.

For a select few client advisers, you mean?

Possibly. Certainly, the profile will have to change – the vision of a digitally-complemented adviser has its limits. There are countless attempts, none of which became public, which show that client advisers can hardly process new information from screens in chats with clients, for example.

«Let's not transport dinosaurs into the future»

Maybe the next generation will master this. Gamers, for example, are good at taking in multiple sources of information visually.

Don't tell me the client adviser of tomorrow needs to be a gamer. 

That would be a great headline for you! I only said that gamers have wonderful capabilities which could be helpful for us. That's certainly better than transporting dinosaurs into the future and pretending their are psychologists and trusted medical professionals. 

Is finance hostile to technology?

No. Historically, banking is even tech-heavy. The challenge today is to exploit the exponential advancement of innovation as a company. Of course, not everyone can do this.

«Technology is a way to reach the end goal, not the goal itself»

It is crucial to acknowledge that technology is a way or reaching the end goal, but it isn't the goal itself. We see this with the example of data.