Interview with Pranjal Kothari, Board member at Sparkasse Bremen

KOTHARI We are in the midst of an ongoing process of cultural and digital transformation, which is why this is a top strategic priority for us. It covers the whole spectrum of questions from "who are we actually?" and "what will our business model be in five years?" to "what kind of people and technologies do we need to implement the targeted business model?"

KOTHARI For example, we plan to digitalize all our key processes as far as possible by 2024. In order to keep pace with the associated changes and to ensure that all employees are "on board" in this regard, we have also completely transformed our business from an organizational perspective. However, this cultural change is far from complete and will certainly occupy us for some time to come.

KOTHARI I'm convinced that the world will look very different in the future due to AI applications, which will have a major impact on our value chains and our service portfolio in particular. To give just one example: In a few years, the majority of all credit decisions will be made by machines – and we'll be asking ourselves how it could ever be otherwise.

REINKE Our new organizational structure without managers gives our employees a great deal of creative freedom and development opportunities. We have also invested heavily in new building concepts and workplaces. In addition, we offer our employees flexible working models to help them reconcile the demands of family and career. Of course, we are also investing enormously in digitalization to automate our administrative processes and enable our employees to spend more of their valuable time with customers.

KOTHARI Let's face it: Despite the fact that we bankers constantly rail against the regulatory framework on account of our profession – it is actually regulation that protects us like a fortress against attacks, and even keeps our business model alive in the face of the BigTechs and the numerous FinTechs.

A simple example: What could Apple – with USD 300 billion in free liquidity, a penchant for disrupting traditional business models, and a massively loyal customer base – do if it didn't run the risk of having its entire core business "infected" by the banking regulators?