| | June 20178CIOReviewThe Age of Digital BankingBy Sangy Vatsa, EVP & CIO, Comerica Bank [NYSE: CMA]OpinionIn My Over the course of last few years, relevance of technology and as a result, the role of a CIO in the banking sector has both been elevated. In my view, the following five major factors have contributed to this change. First, there has been a fast emergence of "Digital First" demand by consumers. Second, there now exists a rich eco-system of advanced data analytics, which has been enabled by open-source technologies and crowd-sourcing delivery models. Third, a wide range of Fintech offerings have emerged. Most of these capabilities were born in the digital era and have been challenging the banking status quo. At the same time, many progressive banks are embracing this as a growth opportunity by investing in digital, increasing customer loyalty, and attracting the next wave of millennial customers. Fourth, there is fast growing cyber threat coupled with emergence of cyber security technologies to mitigate these issues. Finally, the presence of technology-savvy talent across divisions of banks is creating a healthy dialog amongst stakeholders to deliver digital products faster. The CIO is in the middle of this transformation and is co-shaping, co-leading and co-delivering this change for the external customers of the company in collaboration with major business stakeholders. The `Two-in-a-Box' ModelI believe creating awareness about the importance of IT begins with establishing genuine collaboration between CIOs and their business counterparts. The CIOs and their technology organizations have to demonstrate working knowledge of business domains and business priorities before they introduce compelling technology solutions. The business counterparts and their organizations too have to embrace the basic understanding of the evolving technology landscape. Once this cross-knowledge is in place, a business-savvy technology leader and a technology-savvy business leader are ready to anticipate customer needs and co-create "out-of-the-box" experience to delight their customers. This construct focuses on co-creation of Minimal Viable Products (MVPs) that can significantly speed up product delivery, while drastically cutting delivery cost. We refer to this collaboration framework as a "Two-in-a-Box" co-creation model. The user-centered design ensures that what is being designed and developed is market-driven and consumer-validated. While the focus on systems availability, cybersecurity, and financial performance is prime, such approaches that the CIOs are taking are enabling the shift from "IT as a cost center" to "Technology as an enabler of business transformation."Today's banking universe is inundated with a wide range of emerging trends that include advanced analytics, software-defined computing, mobile platforms, advanced biometrics, legacy modernization, and technologies like Internet of Things and Blockchain. I have, however, been impressed by the pace at which technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence are transforming the banking sector. A horde of opportunities exist to employ these two technologies to transform customer acquisition, customer loyalty, fraud management, and talent management.A few major changes have been triggered by the emerging needs of our customers and the growing capabilities of the bank. Our customers are demanding digital capabilities. The digital personas of our retail and corporate customers are converging. Our colleagues are becoming passionate to deliver digital capabilities Sangy Vatsa
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