Innovation often requires leaders to pivot entire institutions toward unfamiliar offerings, a task that can be difficult to manage.
To help ease this burden,
Speakers on a panel discussion Tuesday at the
Speed is a crucial element across many stages of a product's development lifecycle, from idea to execution, and requires properly assigning skilled staff members to keep the pace of work moving, said
"We think about how we can cut out fat, how we can make sure that the right people are in the right places so that we're clearing barriers. … One of my favorite sayings at work is 'you're looking at your calendar, I'm looking at my watch,'" Morais said.
Morais has been with the organization since 2008, when she started out as a deposits executive and went on to lead the company's Ally Bank unit as its president and CEO from 2015 to 2017. In her current role, she spearheaded Ally Financial's efforts to
Ally Financial has launched several tech initiatives this year, including a
Morais emphasized that "informed and measured speed matters, not stupid speed," and part of that means "knowing who your teammates are and making sure that they are there from the beginning" of any project, she said.
"The times that we see that things did not go well and we got tripped up on the 5-yard line is when somebody maybe didn't have that necessary context from [the start] and is now asking all these questions standing on the brink," Morais said. "So we get all of our partners in early to not get out of alignment."
But before addressing concerns about managing campaigns, securing the confidence of other decisionmakers within the company is the first key hurdle to navigate when deciding if a tool is a best fit for all involved.
"With speed, people are concerned about what they don't know and what's ahead if we're going really fast. … When we go throughout the organization to convince others that we have an opportunity for innovation at speed, we also make sure to tell them how we can exit as well," Chayt said.
In her role for the $206.4 billion-asset Fifth Third, she oversaw its back-to-back acquisitions of payments company
Chayt remarked that it's important to remember the original purpose of the acquisition "as they have something you don't" while underscoring how the value of the deal is greatly impacted by the level of assimilation after the fact.
"Whether that was in the mindset, or whether it was the technology, there was a formula there that was working that you weren't recreating in your own organization," Chayt said.
The concept of partnerships with fintechs has grown across the financial services industry, as
In the last few months, the $7.7 billion-asset
Panelists highlighted the importance of recognizing the benefits of these campaigns to consumers.
"We're in the business of trying to help our customers be more successful," Chayt said.
