FORWARD, le forum de l’innovation

Journée très inspirante à l’EPFL , dans le cadre du Forum pour l’innovation des PMEs qui s’est tenue le 19 avril, avec plus de 900 participants. Un vrai succès ! Bravo aux organisateurs d’avoir réussi le pari d’un événement interactif permettant l’échange et le partage. Ce forum a été une belle vitrine, montrant la richesse des initiatives en cours et la profondeur des solutions très concrètes qui se dessinent dans le canton de Vaud et en Suisse romande.

Le Président de l’EPFL n’aura pas manqué de rappeler que la souris, outil d’interaction entre l’homme et la machine, sort des laboratoires de son institution soulignant même non sans humour son origine vaudoise du côté d’Apples, ponctuée d’un s.

Si la pensée computationnelle semble être sur toutes les lèvres et ambitionne d’être la mère de toutes les disciplines scientifiques (après les mathématiques et la physique), notre école polytechnique fédérale séduit par sa vision académique, le nombre de projets qui y naissent et s’y développent. L’EFPL s’engage aussi clairement à créer des ponts et passerelles avec le secteur privé, offrant ainsi tout l’éventail des compétences de ses chercheurs et étudiants dans ce qui ne peut qu’être un partenariat gagnant. Il suffit de consulter ce site pour s’en convaincre : VPI – EPFL.

Martin Vetterli, président de l’EPFL

On le sait, la digitalisation changera nos vies et nos habitudes. Le professeur Tawfik Jelassi de l’IMD à Lausanne a imagé ce changement sous forme d’un cyclone, en désignant les industries qui se trouvent en son centre :

Le cyclone du professeur Tawfik Jelassi

Cette journée aura surtout permis de découvrir comment les PMEs prises dans ce tourbillon organisent la bataille autour de projets et solutions très concrètes, permettant ainsi de profiter des opportunités créées par la digitialisation. On trouve des entreprises locales ayant réussi cette transition comme Laura Star, l’école Moser, Aeschbach, senseFly, Sensile Technologies ou encore JMC Lutherie (compte-rendu complet disponible ici).

Il est ainsi intéressant de constater que l’auditoire – en majorité des PMEs – s’est montré optimiste, comme un sondage interactif l’a montré en temps réel :

Sondage en temps réel

En guise de conclusion, Bruno Bonnell, député français de La République en Marche, qui se présente comme un “multi-entrepreneur robolutionnaire”, a commenté et confirmé cette tendance de création d’emplois – et rassuré peut-être les plus anxieux. Il prédit certes un boom de la croissance autour de l’utilisation des nouveaux outils numériques, mais insiste aussi sur la redéfinition du travail et de la valeur ajoutée des métiers. Il nous plonge dans l’ère de l’humain augmenté en insistant sur l’apport de la technologie dans nos vies privées et professionnelles, au point d’ailleurs de qualifier d’ “handicapé numérique” les personnes qui en seraient privées. Il ne s’agit donc pas, pour l’homme, de vouloir entrer en compétition avec la technologie, mais bien de composer avec son aide.

Nous voilà donc en homo sapiens numeris avec une question à résoudre qui est plus que jamais d’actualité : Qui a l’autorité sur nos données et comment on en définit la propriété?

Rendez-vous est déjà pris pour l’édition 2019 !

IFSA Event : Geneva students are hungry and getting prepared to face the challenges !

Geneva students are hungry and getting prepared to face the challenges !

How do the students perceive the new reality that will emerge from all the challenges affecting our financial industry ?

How is tomorrow’s workforce considering the future of our country and financial place ?

On November 24, I had the pleasure to animate a workshop at Geneva university organized by the International Finance Student Association (IFSA) about the evolution of our industry, the context in which the changes are occurring and some of the questions bankers are currently asking themselves about fintech, regulation, evolving clients needs, new operational mindset, etc.

This was an interactive session full of questions, thoughts and pertinent remarks. The students are still not convinced banks are innovative companies but are not ready to open a bank account with Apple, should this company become once a bank… They are curious of all the value the start ups and tech companies can bring and how they can contribute.

If they clearly expect to find difficult working conditions when they will start their career, they appear to be aware of the industry challenges and the expectations of their future employers. While I was listening to the their aspirations and vision of life and business, I understood these young people are getting ready to enter this complicated world with the right mindset : not with optimism but with realism ! and with the conviction that hard work, sense of initiative and responsibilities and development of the right skills will put them in the driving seat.

We can encourage efforts made by the International Finance Student Association, Geneva’s section to create a bridge between university and companies. For more information, please visit : http://ifsa-network.com/geneva/.

Be hungry, there is a lot to do and we need your energy, commitments and ideas.

Bon appétit !

Final demo day at Fusion

The Fintech Fusion Demo Day took place on September 7th 2016, concluding the first year of the Fintech acceleration program in Switzerland.

And we can say with enthusiasm that the start ups presented in a very professional and convincing manner their company and solutions to business angels, corporate investors and venture capitalists. We had the impression that we were in a TED conference or an Apple Keynote!

Biowatch pitching at Fusion Demo Day

All these entrepreneurs have a vision, strong technical skills and great motivation. And dreams! And this day was not only the occasion to celebrate a group of entrepreneurs by recognizing their achievements to date but also an opportunity to make their dreams come true.

This is certainly one goal of the Fintech 12-month acceleration program. As Guillaume Dubray, Founder of this incubator, mentioned in his welcome word: “acceleration is a hard work where start ups must show determination and commitment, acceleration is all about building better products, validating customer interest and accepting to make changes when things do not work. It is about sharpening the business proposition, learning how to pitch well and convincing buying interests”.

What we can bring home from that Demo Day ?

First, solutions are being developed and offered by innovating companies. All these people are participating to the reshaping of the asset management and banking industry.
Second, we start feeling that the advisory services are being redefined to a more collaborative approach and closer relationship between the providers and the customers. Not only do we see solutions that facilitate the profiling of clients’ needs but also a willingness to democratise offerings that were offered so far only to high net worth individuals.
Third, these start ups are positioned in the B2B segment and target to help traditional actors to improve their processes by evolving from artisanal and subjective tasks to accurate, automated and objective processes. This is called digital efficiency or, in other terms: faster, better and less expensive.
Fourth, without any surprise, a lot of solutions are related to big data. These aim to increase portfolio management facilities by enabling deeper and broader analyses of investment universe when it comes to build or to monitor clients’ assets.

Technology seems to be magic but it has to remain built on core competences, understanding of clients’ needs and commitments to quality. We still need all these ingredients to build and maintain trust and long term relationships with clients.

@ to all the entrepreneurs participating to the Fusion Program : make your dreams come true ! Find the right partner and let’s make Switzerland a strong and successful financial center.

Final Demo Day at Fusion – KYC3 during its pitch

Meeting tomorrow’s bankers @UNIL

On May 12, 2016, I have been invited by Professor Amit Goyal to participate and animate a course for future bankers within the financial market cursus (3rd year bachelor) at Unil (University of Lausanne).

I met approximately 50 students to whom I presented the key challenges that our industry is currently facing, how a market player such as Notz Stucki approaches these issues. I also went through a couple of key questions and structured my presentation as follows:

I have not only presented my ideas but we also exchanged views on certain topics which I am pleased to share and summarise below:

Two third of the students consider the financial industry is (still) offering good working conditions (challenging, interesting and remuneration).

Not a single student dared to express a (strong) conviction that swiss banks are innovative companies.

One third believed the swiss banking secrecy is still alive while 2/3 believed it does not exist anymore.

As a majority of the students were using a Macbook during the class, I asked them if they would trust Apple as a bank. In other words: if Apple was a bank, would they consider having this company managing their assets. Surprisingly, no one was ready to open an account.

Finally, the students shared their views on the key skills an asset manager should have to meet clients’ needs:
– Technical skills (financial markets)
– Ability to create trust
– Transparency
– Understand clients needs
– Risk management abilities

Food for thoughts !

This was a useful exercise which offered me the opportunity to take a step back, and keep in mind what is key to help us to make the appropriate decisions and schedule the right priorities for our future.