FIMA Media Center

In Q1 of 2024, WBR Insights surveyed 100 of the most senior data executives from Buy-side and Sell-side organisations across Europe, to find out about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being implemented in their organisations, and the challenges they face when doing so. The results were compiled and anonymised by WBR Insights and are presented here with analysis and commentary by Cognaize, NEO4J, Redis and the FIMA Europe community. The WBR Insights topics detailed in this report will also be covered at the FIMA 2024 event.

The last day of the FIMA event in November is dedicated to insights, reporting, and transparency, with sessions ranging from the potential of AI and to the trustworthiness of ESG data. I expect the subject of ethical and responsible use of data to come up during the day. The moral compass of the organisation and its compliance with the law have always co-existed with the purpose of organisations. We may know this compass as company’s values, leadership tone, employees’ conduct, and brand perception. So why is ethics such a prominent concern now? Wasn’t it there before? Availability of data, cloud computing, and accessibility of AI have brought to light that the pursuit of profit is too tempting. Data leaders now need to "show" through data how ethical, compliant, and sustainable the organisation really is. To do that, data leaders may need a more candid partnership with the board, i.e. an open conversation about the limitations of data - data is not undisputed fact and may not even be a good representation of reality.

At FIMA Europe in November, where we will once again cover this important regular theme: how can data leaders effectively drive compliance – and stay compliant! – with a growing number of regulations on data, including the EU AI Act? Ahead of the event, Simone Steel looking back at the recent history of data regulation and offering a friendly provocation to the data leaders’ community. Think like a public health professional: would you go around checking how every restaurant is preparing every meal every day? Or would you focus on giving professionals sufficient knowledge (contagions, pathogen transmission), access to training (hygiene habits, apprenticeship, certification), clear and simple rules of the road (standards), and checks and balances (surprise inspections)? We cannot make data conform with all expectations from all stakeholders by redesigning the system every time; i.e. this is not sustainable. But we can improve the complex adaptive system by shifting our focus to people and their interactions in our businesses.

Calling all CDAOs in Financial Services! Access original thinking and new ideas to implement today from Simone Steel, Former Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Nationwide. Simone offers insights into Systems Thinking and Sustainable Data Practices: “At FIMA in London this November I will be talking about how data leaders can get the most out of their efforts by embracing the fact that large organisations are complex adaptive systems. To influence the outcome of the system, we must understand the agents (people) and their interactions (processes, systems, policies, and other unspoken norms). Implementing new technologies and systems of work often produce underwhelming results - despite some successes (we always shout about those!), the experience from the trenches is somewhat painful. The data leader has other options that don't look like either a "test lab" or a "multi-year transformation".

Fighting fraud and other types of financial crime like money laundering presents a constant challenge for companies. Unfortunately, fraudsters are also becoming more sophisticated, which means fraudulent activities are only expected to increase in frequency, speed, and effectiveness. So how can you save your company from the next attack?

In Q2 of 2023, WBR Insights surveyed 100 of the most senior figures in financial data. Chief Data Officers, Heads of Data and other executives told us about the challenges they are facing and the innovative solutions being brought to the table to solve them. The results are presented here with analysis and commentary from Informatica, Cognaize and the extensive FIMA Europe community. Topics in the report will be covered at the FIMA Europe 2023 event.

In Q3 of 2022, WBR Insights surveyed 100 Chief Data Officers and similar from buy-side and sell-side firms across Europe and North America, to find out about the challenges they are facing in 2022 and the innovative solutions being brought to the table.