LAS VEGAS–What is sometimes referred to as Generation Next, or NextGen, may actually be better thought of as the “AI Generation” for artificial intelligence. And that’s going to have meaning for credit unions, according to one person.
Speaking to the California and Nevada league’s REACH Conference here, Futurist Mike Walsh, CEO of Tomorrow and a consumer innovation-technology expert, noted that “For all this talk of technology and disruption, it’s the human perspective that’s missing. We are profoundly changing our behavior. How will you need to change your credit union for the next generation? Who are they? And how will they shape your credit union’s operations and decisions?”
Walsh said that those with children eight-years-old and younger have “ringside seats” to what’s coming. It’s a generation that doesn’t think about digital disruption–that is their daily lives. “When they walk into your branch of the future, your credit union will know how to help them before they even start talking,” he told the meeting. “NextGen will have a deeply personal relationship with their technology.”
The future focus shouldn’t just be on members and consumers, said Walsh, pointing to the future of workers, as well. Successful organizations, he said, will need to create platforms that support “work and employee culture” as the operating system. “Really smart companies are increasingly looking at culture as the key lever for getting more creative, more productive, and more efficient,” Walsh said.
Work in the 21st century must focus on problem-solving instead of operational tools, and data can help transform work culture to help employees find new ways to communicate for efficiency. “Data is key to productivity,” he said.