A Chat with Huawei’s Siri Børsum on What’s Next for Digital Transformation

Last November, I chatted with Siri Børsum, Global VP of Finance Vertical Eco-Development and Partnerships at Huawei, as part of our Women in Fintech series.

At Huawei, Børsum is responsible for building a team that ensures Huawei has all of the financial apps for their mobile ecosystem. Børsum, who recently entered into the fintech industry, gained an interest in the tech arena while working at Google in the early days. The thrill of the new industry and betting on something big excited her about the field.

During our interview, we discussed the evolution of digital transformation and what to expect going forward. Below is a brief summary of our conversation. You can check out the full interview on the Finovate YouTube channel.

How has the digital transformation narrative changed?

Siri Børsum: I think companies are focusing even more on it and, for the first time, we as consumers have actually followed. It’s been one of those chicken-and-egg type of scenarios because we’ve all seen it’s been possible but the users haven’t joined in as much as we in the industry would have hoped for.

I now think that both companies and consumers see the extreme benefit of having better technological tools to do their banking. Consumers have now experienced good customer experience within not just the finance industry but within the tech industry– they’ve seen how apps can help them in their daily lives. This makes them more demanding than ever before and when customers are demanding, we need to step up.

What are your recommendations to help fintechs and banks keep up with changing consumer expectations?

Børsum: Start to focus on it. Have it top of mind. Not just something you say you want to do, but actually something you are measured on and that everyone in any management group or the C-suite talks about all the time. They know what KPIs there are. They know the development. It’s not something that’s left to the developers on the second floor.

Make sure it’s your highest priority. Make sure it’s measured and also don’t think you can do it on your own…. Also, you don’t drive innovation without the right culture. You need to look after your people, you need to make sure they feel safe, that they dare to try new things, and that they come to you with all the ideas. They also need information. They need to know what’s possible and they need to know what’s going on in the company in order to contribute.

What’s next for digital transformation?

Børsum: I’ve tried to bet on the future and I haven’t succeeded many times– I don’t think most people do. For me, I look more at what we see now. What are the current trends and what do I wish for as a customer?

I think embedded finance is obviously the next step and we need to see that work, truly. For me, personally, I would love to see payments disappear, totally. We’ve already seen these things and were moving towards it. It won’t happen straight away, but it’s definitely the direction we’re going.

Siri Børsum will deliver a keynote address titled, “Capturing Your Customers’ Goals & Finding New Revenue Streams By Putting Yourself At The Heart Of Their Lives” at FinovateEurope which is taking place March 22 through 23 both in-person in London and digitally.

Photo by Mark Chan on Unsplash

Source: https://finovate.com/a-chat-with-huaweis-siri-borsum-on-whats-next-for-digital-transformation/