Orchestrate Effective Digital Transformation
Arapat Sangkharat, EVP Transformation, KTB - Krung Thai Bank
As discussed during the interview, could you detail the kind of challenges or business hindrances faced by organizations pursuing digital transformation in the banking sector?
Broadly speaking, the biggest hindrance to digital transformation is the organization itself. More specifically, there are two elements. Firstly, internal constraints that prevent transformation efforts to get off the ground. Past successes often create complacency and inflexible culture, hindering experimentation and innovation. Organizational communication and rigid decision-making also play a part in fortifying execution of the same formulas for success to maintain the status quo.
Secondly, once transformation efforts are off the ground, counterproductive approaches or strategies are often employed in an effort to establish the change imperative and to instil a sense of urgency. How many times have we all heard - ‘disrupt or be disrupted’ or ‘people need banking, but not banks’. The messaging is uninspiring and playing too much on fear of inaction. Over-hyping digital transformation as the only path to the Promised Land can have unintended consequences. Mantras like ‘fail fast, learn faster’ in execution becomes ‘fail fast, fail often’. The push to instill experimental mindset instead leads to trial and error, instead of well-conceptualized, disciplined experimentation. The organization is doomed to fall short of expectations.
Based on your experience, could you give us an example of how technological tools can catalyze objective-driven business processes, rather than serving as the focal point of engagement?
Problem loan management model is being transformed to increase capacity to handle greater volume coming from SME loans, to support early detection, and to triage higher risk loans for immediate processing. The goal is to lower NPLs and of course, recover. With clear objectives in mind, processes and policies are being redesigned, and technology will be employed in different parts of the value chain - Analytics / AI for early detection and loan triage; workflow automation for loan processing and decision-making.
Digital transformation is a race without a finish line
