This upcoming week, Informa Connect’s FinovateFall will be held in New York City. During fintech trade shows like these, speakers’ and attendees’ thoughts on developing technologies, labor trends, and competitive strategies will be at the forefront.
Below are seven questions we at CFO seek to answer that can help CFOs and finance executives in their decision-making processes.
1. What is the Future of Labor and Return to Office?
Fintech, like many other subsets of the technology sector, has lots of remote employees who are adamant about keeping it that way. With renowned companies like BlackRock, Disney, Zoom, and Barstool Sports having their return-to-office initiatives and hiccups made public, I am interested to see how growing fintech companies envision their labor force’s future working environment, and what strategies they will employ to maintain cohesive culture.
2. What is Cybersecurity’s Biggest Threat?
With AI’s prevalence in today’s technology made evident in events from last Spring, vulnerability is a rising concern. As AI grows in both use and sophistication, I am interested to see what tactics the fintech space is developing in order to prepare its SaaS products for highly technical and AI-powered data breaches.
3. How Does Fintech Pitch Strategies?
Finovate is infamous for its product pitches. These pitch sessions give start-ups a window of opportunity to showcase their products in front of a large audience.
Not only am I interested in the new technologies being offered, but I am interested in seeing how these entrepreneurs develop their elevator pitches for when the moment arrives.
4. Has AI Surpassed Blockchain?
These events have crawled with blockchain-inspired offerings in years past. With AI’s emergence, I am curious to see whether developers have lost interest in blockchain technology if a bounce back is possible for the space, and if anyone is considering mixing these two elements into their offerings.
5. Will M&A and Access to Capital Improve?
As M&A activity is expected to rise this year, I am curious to see how fintechs seek funding while also growing revenues. A task made much easier when rates were low and money was cheap now must be approached with greater creativity. Whether it’s packaging up equity, taking out higher rate loans, or a balance of the two, I am looking to identify the change in strategies fintechs are using in their efforts to raise capital.
6. What Are Gen Z, Gen X, and Baby Boomer Leadership Tactics?
Gen Z and older generations of leaders face myriad challenges in part because of the contemporary workforce. While we hear a lot about how Gen Z employees cause issues in the workplace, fintech is a space in which founders and CEOs can be in their early 20s. How Gen Z leaders manage older teams — and vice versa — will be key to how culture and growth evolves over time.
7. What is ESG’s Legitimacy and Legacy?
While this one may be tough to pry out in conversation, I want to see where fintech leaders' thoughts are on ESG. As efforts in the name of ESG have come under scrutiny lately, tech leaderships view toward the mass oversight and lack of direction of ESG is of particular interest. These viewpoints will be insightful in identifying both the legitimacy and trajectory of ESG as a trend.
Stay tuned for FinovateFall 2023 coverage, and be sure to bookmark CFO’s conference and event tracker for all in-person events for finance executives.