There is a clear gap in the space between the time that a management consultancy gets the CEO of a financial institution to sign off on some ambitious multi-year plan to put some antiquated process to rest.

The consultants, never wanting to dirty their hands with anything that isn’t a strategy, leave about as quickly as they came, forcing the bank, and its change function, if it has one, to turn to one of the big four accounting firms.

They then send in hordes of fresh university graduates who steadily proceed to chip away at the original targets of the change plan, usually leaving the bank with something utterly unrecognizable.

A Better Way

Nischal Tanna, who previously spent years in transformation functions at major US and Singaporean banks, is trying to come up with a better way of doing things.

In an interview with finews.asia, the CEO of Transform hub said he tries to join both ends of the consulting and execution functions more effectively by using AI and focusing on particular implementation phases.

As an example, he might enter projects as a consulting partner and then agree to implement the first phase of a planned road map. Once that is in place, it puts the bank in a better position to keep the subsequent phases recognizable with their change functions and teams from the big four.

Using AI

Many of the projects they are currently involved with involve helping banks and insurers to digitalize their processes and workflows internally, using AI to help with decision-making when it comes to things like setting financial objectives for clients.

But he says that AI is only useful when used in conjunction with human intervention in hybrid fashion. They are useful when it comes to selecting from the top three most suitable solutions but they should not be used to choose the final one.

There are also clear issues in having things like robo advisors solely recommend investment solutions for clients, particularly with regards to indemnification.

The Bot’s Fault

«They have to coexist together. Who is going to take responsibility and how do you even sue a bot?» Tanna said.

It does raise an interesting question that everyone in fintech will have to face eventually. Who is responsible when the AI runs amok and nobody is watching.

Whatever the case, the legal proceedings are likely to be quite entertaining.

finews.asia is a supporting media partner of the Singapore Fintech Festival.