Are you ready for change? Dr Catriona Wallace is and at the 2019 FPA Professionals Congress, she will show planners how to adapt to changes that are going to transform the profession.

Whether you like it or not, innovation and automation is going to radically change the financial services landscape over the next decade, but don’t hit the panic button just yet! These changes, whilst transformative, will also provide financial planners with new opportunities.

This will be one of the insights shared by Dr Catriona Wallace as part of a panel discussion at this year’s FPA Professionals Congress in November, where she will join two other panelists who will talk about their personal experiences of how they have adapted to challenges and change as business leaders.

Facilitating the panel discussion will be business marketing specialist and podcaster, Tim Reid. Joining Catriona on the panel will be Simon Costa, who led the largest horticulture company (Costa Group) in the southern hemisphere, before becoming the Director of the United Nations World Food Programme. Taking up the third spot is former CEO of Swisse multi-vitamins, Radek Sali, who was instrumental in selling the brand for an impressive $1.67 billion.

When it comes to emerging and disruptive technologies, Catriona knows a thing or two. She is the founder and CEO of fintech company, Flamingo Ai, which provides cognitive virtual assistant (artificial intelligence) and knowledge management technologies.

Catriona has also founded three other businesses – a customer experience design firm, Fifth Quadrant; a market research firm, ACA Research; and a women’s co-working space, The Ventura. And just as an aside, this serial entrepreneur has a PhD in Organisational Behaviour: Human Technology Interaction.

By anyone’s reckoning, it’s an impressive biography.

Get ready for change

However, it’s the world of emerging technologies that Catriona thrives best. She confides to having a deep interest in sociology and human behaviour, which has given her an uncanny knack of predicting what type of technology is coming next, particularly in areas like artificial intelligence, that’s likely to affect businesses.

But she admits that in order to adapt to change – like technology or innovation – can be hugely challenging and stressful, requiring individuals to step out of their comfort zones.

“We are in an unprecedented time of not actually knowing what the future will be like beyond the next five years. Will 40 per cent of financial services jobs actually be automated and will artificial intelligence really be as transformative as we think it will be?” she asks.

“Regardless of what you might think, new and emerging technologies are going to force change upon businesses. This change is going to come very quickly and it’s likely to catch a lot of businesses by surprise.”

In order to prepare for this change, Catriona advises business leaders to:

1. Educate and explain
Clearly explain to staff about the core areas that the business is likely to experience change in. For example, in the area of technology, the greatest change is likely to come from artificial intelligence, blockchain, cyber security, the internet of things (IoT), and peer-to-peer economies.

2. Agility
Create agile workplaces and workforces that are able to adapt and pivot more easily to change.

3. Programs
Provide programs from the grassroots level and up that assist staff transition with the change. These programs need to comprise three elements: they educate staff about the change, they train staff in the area that is going to require the change, and they clearly articulate what this change will mean for them.

“If you properly consider and implement these three key areas, then you’ll be in a good position to manage change more effectively,” Catriona says.

Change requires leadership

Adapting to all these changes in innovation and technology will require leadership. So, what does leadership mean to Catriona?

“Leadership is the ability to influence a person or a group of people to do something that they wouldn’t ordinarily do on their own. It’s about being a strong influencer towards a particular outcome.”

The style of leadership that Catriona leans more towards is ‘servant leadership’ – a philosophy in which the main goal of the leader is to serve.

“This style of leadership is all about how I can be of service to my team, in order to help them successfully realise the company’s vision. That means I like to be the last person to speak or to put forward ideas.

“By doing so, I am creating an opportunity for others in the team to voice their opinions and empowering them to make a difference. It’s about creating a culture of diversity and inclusion.”

Interestingly, for someone as successful as Catriona, who was recently recognised by the Australian Financial Review as Australia’s Most Influential Woman in Business and Entrepreneurship and who has also been inducted into the Australian Business Woman’s Hall of Fame, she assiduously believes that in order to succeed, you first need to be totally at ease with failure.

She says that to be a leader during uncertain times, like now, it’s important that leaders are confident and visionary. And while confidence can come from learning and experience, Catriona adds that perhaps a better path for leaders to take is to test yourself out by trying things and failing at them.

“By doing so, you learn at a visceral level, rather than an intellectual level. By recovering from these failures, learning from them, and leading a team through them, a truly confident leader can emerge. So, don’t be scared of failing. The lessons learnt will set you up for success.”

Adapting to change

Without giving too much away, Catriona is confident that planners attending her panel discussion at Congress will take away a number of key insights that will enable them and their businesses to better adapt to change as it happens.

“I want to help planners better understand what is coming in terms of innovation and technology, in particular artificial intelligence, and how this is going to change the way they work and interact with their clients,” she says.

“I also want to help them understand how the landscape is going to change for consumers and clients as well, particularly in regards to the financial planning tools they will have access to and the automation of these.”

At the heart of Catriona’s message to the profession is the undeniable fact that the financial services industry is ripe for automation and change.

“It’s already happening,” she says. “But it’s not all doom and gloom, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. However, planners need to be right across these impending changes. They need to understand how they are going to work with artificial intelligence and predictive tools, and how they are going to transform as a profession.

“We already know there are some great planning tools that have been automated. So, it’s important to work out how planners are going to evolve to that next level, where they are providing services and value above and beyond a basic financial plan.

“That’s the next step in the profession’s evolution and it’s one to be excited about.”

Dr Catriona Wallace will be part of a panel discussion at the 2019 FPA Professionals Congress in Melbourne (27-29 November). For more information on the program or to register your attendance, click here.