Technology Magazine January 2018 | Page 67

EUROPE

Finally , the fifth pillar articulates workforce and vendor strategy . Or , as Dargan puts it , “ how we actually get stuff done ”. Simplification and efficiency is the key : “ I inherited a workforce that was much more vendor than permanent staff . So we made some changes and continue to make changes on that , as well as vendors . We were operating with too many vendors . We ’ ve exited tens so far and we have more to do by the end of the year .” Crucially , they need their vendors and partners to meet not only technical requirements but also that they share similar values and support their cultural evolution .

While Dargan ’ s five vision-orientated operational pillars will power the engine of continuous improvement for UBS ’ technology group , another five focus points help him communicate what the outcomes of all that effort will actually look like . They are his A , B , C , D , and E of innovation .

He explains : “ I think the simpler you make things , the better it is . So the ABCDE is , for me , the simplest way to think of what are the five things we do .”

“ So automation , how do you automate processes or manual work to get the best possible outcome . So that may be AI , it may be robotics , it may be simple software , it may be unstructured [ data ], and so on . But : automation .”

“ Unbundling is really two aspects . How do you move to an open API type environment and / or blockchain ? Embracing those sorts of technologies to drive things in a different way .”

“ What do I see as the biggest change we all see ? I think it is banks embracing cloud as one of the core areas of what we do . Two years from now I ’ d expect 75 percent of our apps to be cloud-enabled .”

“ Banking is data . As a client you identify a number , generate a transaction . That transaction is data - it goes to an execution platform , a pricing , a trading ,

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