Summit Agenda

MC OPENS

Welcome Address

Leading in an Age of Uncertainty – Are Banks in the Middle East Balancing Stability & Innovation?

• Adapting quickly to changing competitive conditions - What does it take for the banking industry to stay agile, innovative and productive?
• Defining successful innovation & meeting customers’ ‘needs’ – Are banking leaders equipped to deal with constant disruptions whilst retaining focus on the customer?
• Being the enabler & disruptor – adapting to changing customer demands and competitor behaviour

Embracing FinTech – Driving the Evolution of Superior Customer Experience

• Accelerating innovation: how can banks embrace collaboration in working with fintechs & other technology vendors to build new solutions?
• How are challenger banks & neo banks using cutting-edge digital neurology & AI to communicate with their digital-first demographic?
• Key takeaways & lessons learnt from neo banks & challenger banks for delivering a better customer experience

The Secret Recipe for Better Banking – How Automation is Driving Digital Transformation

• Understanding what tasks can be automated – enabling bankers to invest in productivity & focus on action leading to a real impact
• Exploring human interactions with technology – why do people need to work like robots OR why do robots need to start behaving like humans?
• Harnessing the power of automation – how banks can take a strategic approach to automate processes allowing their workforces to focus on high-value tasks & projects

Cyber Resilience in the Cloud – Security Measures for the Banking Industry Whilst Migrating

• Banks in the Middle East have started to embrace the move to cloud – who’s responsible for securing financial data though?
• Understanding the risk of experimenting with financial data – do Middle Eastern banks have a robust cyber-security system in place?
• Retention of human capital & key-skills during a crisis – finding new methods to utilise resources more effectively

No Card & No Password: No Problem – The Future of Biometric Banking

• Your customer is the new password – do Middle Eastern banks have the technology to simplify ‘Digital Onboarding’?
• Understanding the new standards for trust & security being offered to customers in comparison to regulations that the banking industry has to comply with
• Biometrics & mobile devices – how are technology providers & banking experts ensuring that the future of authentication is convenient yet secure

Interactive Panel Discussion: The Role of the CIO in Today’s Digitally Disrupted Banking Environment

• Addressing the continual challenge – how CIOs are constantly tasked with responsibilities and how are they prepared to execute strategies that steers growth and success of the organisation?
• How has digitisation changed the mandate for CIOs? Getting it right with hiring the best talent, inspiring a culture of high performance and staying ahead of the competition
• Are today’s CIOs up to date in adapting new technologies that is fundamentally reshaping the IT ecosystem in the financial sector?

AI – The Disruptor & the Transformer

• Exploring how AI will soon become the nerve centre for the banking industry & enable Middle Eastern banks to provide more value to its customers
• Using AI to help deliver hyper-personalised CX, improved decision-making & boosting operational efficiency
• Bridging the skill gap – why banks must invest time & resources in re-skilling the workforce to get the best of AI

Interactive Panel Discussion: Data & Analytics: Why Data Monetization is More than Just a Revenue Stream

• Going about data monetization and exploring how banking leaders are incorporating these strategies into their business processes – understanding what are the obstacles to overcome this in the Middle East?
• What’s the best method to capture data & analytics of customers here in the Middle East? Do customers understand that sharing their data might benefit them? Do banks understand how it could improve their service offerings to customers?
• Can customer data & analytics allow banks to ‘think’ from the customers’ shoes? Can adopting this strategy benefit all parties whilst encouraging trust & loyalty?

Beyond Digital: Data-Driven strategies for Next-Gen Banks

• Data-led organisations - How important is it to build data into the blueprint for both digital & traditional banks?
• Developing new & improved value propositions for customers in a digital era
• The future of banking ecosystems: Seizing the data advantage

Interactive Panel Discussion: Retail Banking - Threats & Opportunities with Digital Banks Entering the Retail Segment

• Are we catering to the changing demands of retail customers in the Middle East? What strategies are we adopting in order to address the needs of the changing customer profile?
• To what extent is the entrance of non-financial digital players
• To what extent is the entrance of non-financial digital players such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon perceived as a threat? What are the opportunities available for partnership with the digital giants?
• How can investment in technology help to keep the balance between digitization and human touch in the retail banking space?

The Growth of Customer Data Platforms – Delivering Cross Channel Personalization

• The new gateway to improved CX is CDP - what are the benefits of investing in a CDP and how does it result in improving customer lifetime value?
• Are CDP’s giving banks a 360-degree view that is necessary for enhancing customer experience?
• Building trust during times of uncertainty - how CDP’s help build customer trust and provide one-to-one engagement when in-person interactions are limited?

Financial Data Visualization: Communicating Data Insight Across the Enterprise

• How can data visualization help correlate metrics, reveal connections and clarify actions needed to improve banking performance?
• Exploring technologies available to support the creation of compelling visualizations that can explain complex concepts and present compelling stories
• What can banks do to enhance their team’s data visualization skills?

MC OPENS

The Future of Payments 2020

• Exploring the Middle East’s pathway to a cashless economy – addressing the growing popularity of mobile payments & e-payments
• Reinventing loyalty in financial services given the rise of Gen Z
• Differentiating from your competitors & getting it right – UX & Rewards is the new gold

Innovation in Islamic Banking - Driving Shariah-Compliant Financial Services into the Digital Age

• Understanding the importance of innovation – maintaining Shariah compliance whilst adopting new technologies
• How is the Islamic FinTech landscape developing? Will traditional Islamic banks be impacted too?
• Taking Islamic banking to the next level with innovative financial services like automated money transfer, crowdfunding & digital banking supported by AI & robotics

BLOCKCHAIN STRATEGY 2021 – Plotting the Journey to the Future of Finance

• KYC – Using advanced blockchain technologies to facilitate a fast & secure onboarding process
• Enabling the promise of a digital tomorrow – offering better services to customers whilst fulfilling regulatory obligations
• Transforming the potential of blockchain into reality – Create, Protect & Generate

Adoption & Execution of Cloud Technologies in the Middle East: Myth vs. Reality

• Exploring a holistic cloud transformation strategy – how can banks get the full value from moving to cloud?
• Understanding benefits & barriers of the ‘lift & shift’ method
• Can moving to the cloud support banks in creating next-generation IT capabilities enabling business growth and innovation in the rapidly evolving digital era?

Interactive Panel Discussion: The 21st Century CMO – Navigating Complexities in Today’s Banking & Financial Services Industry

• How important is it for a CMO to be prepared and assume multiple roles in helping drive their organization to success?
• Advancing marketing innovation and aligning the organisation around customer centricity
• What is today’s CMO doing different? Is there a success formula in creating hyper relevant experiences that resonate with a bank’s target customers?

Interactive Panel Discussion: Better Late than Never - Embracing Digital Transformation & Making Sense of the Disruption

• Digitize or Die – Turning disruption to innovation
• With digital users set to increase rapidly over the coming years what are banks and banking leaders doing to win the digital transformation race?
• Cultural transformation at your bank – can forward looking leadership work hand in hand with talent & a risk-tolerant culture?

The Evolving Role of AI & Chatbots – The New Wave of Conversational Banking

• Virtual Assistants & Chatbots – offering millennial customers a new way to engage with their bank to get quick information and insights
• What do customers in the Middle East expect from intelligent banking bots and how do their expectations compare to the current reality in the region?
• How can chatbots be utilized within contact centres to automate repetitive, time consuming tasks and subsequently improve departmental performance?

Innovation Anticipated: Fraud, AML & Financial Crimes

• How can innovation in technology help mitigate some of these risks and allow human effort to be redeployed in revenue generating roles?
• Why departments within banks need to break silos to establish a common goal & prevent financial crime?
• Aligning people & processes is key - how an integrated & holistic approach will help banks identify & respond to attacks

Omnichannel UX – What’s Connecting Banks With Users Right Now

• What are banks doing differently to engage with their customers in this digital era?
• Omni-channel OR Opti-channel - Integrating & optimizing tools to ensure a seamless experience across devices both digital & offline
• How omnichannel banking platforms helps improve daily banking operations & improve experiences at different stages of customer lifecycle?

The Power of Social Media in Banking – Finding Innovative Ways of Connecting to People and Communities

• Why are some banks still finding it difficult to identify and engage with their audience?
• With consumers in the Middle East now following a mobile-first and omnichannel mindset, why is there not a bigger push towards marketing on social channels?
• How can banks use social media to deliver targeted & relevant product marketing yet drive intangible value in terms of customer loyalty and retention?

Driving Innovation in Corporate Banking – Understanding the Growing Impact of Technology in the Banking Industry

• The introduction of new technologies and fintech-led innovation has affected the corporate banking sector in the Middle East - has prioritizing a digital strategy helped?
• How smart banks see new technologies like AI, IoT & bots as opportunities & how are they reviewing their strategies for success?
• How have corporate banking clients evolved? What are the major differences to that of retail banking clients? Are there lessons to be shared & learnt?

Delivering Safe & Secure Transactions – QA & Software Testing Play a Vital Role in Assuring the Quality of Banking Applications

• End-to-end performance testing for delivering great customer experiences
• Why banking applications cannot fail security testing – exploring how banks protect & provide a secure environment for customer transactions
• Identifying the right testing & QA partner for delivering a seamless experience

Enhancing Regulatory Processes: An Overhaul of Regulations to Boost FinTech Activities in the Middle East

• Regulatory standards in the Middle East – addressing the growing focus on regulation & compliance
• How are government entities pushing for increased use of technology as part of improvements in regulatory compliance?
• RegTech 3.0 – Utilizing new technology to comply with existing & future regulatory requirements