The first session of the Expert Talk Series for Finance professionals was organized along with the Institute of Management Accountants and World Trade Center Twente. The programme titled “The Race for Relevance in a Digital World” had Mr. Alain Mulder, Senior Director, Europe Operations, IMA as the speaker. 

Mr. Alain Mulder spoke about the advances in RPA process mining, blockchain, AI & quantum computing. He is of the opinion that finance professionals should upskill in a faster pace in data science, analytics, visualization and strategy to be able to leverage the fast-evolving technologies. He spoke about the 11 forces of macro disruption - education, infrastructure, government, geopolitics, economy public health, demographics, environment, media & telecommunications and wealth distribution. The pandemic has accelerated the growth of technology with advancements predicted over years now occurring in a few months. He shared the findings of a 2021 LinkedIn learning report that predicts that 66% of organizations will use L&D to rebuild themselves, and that learning is now a must have. Finance functions have also changed over time with professionals spending more time on analysis and less on controls and transaction due to the intervention of technology.

Mr. Vivek George, Manager, World Trade Center Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi; Mr. Freerk Faber MA, CEO, World Trade Center Twente and Ms. Lata Murli, Manager- Corporate Outreach, India, IMA also spoke.