Digital Innovation Magazine - June 2022 by iThink Media

Takes us on a journey of Kyndryl’s first six months as a newly independent, publicly traded company

Welcome to our action-packed June edition of Digital Innovation Magazine! Our fantastic team has delivered three intriguing interviews from Kyndryl (p6), KPMG (p34) and IAC (p70) this month, covering everything from company culture and intelligent automation, through to sustainability business strategies. We promise you will enjoy reading them just as much as we have loved putting them together. Joseph Toma, Managing Partner, Alliances and Partnerships, at Kyndryl, is our cover star this issue. As a newly independent, publicly traded company, Joseph charts Kyndryl’s fascinating story from its humble beginnings as a division of IBM. Plus, we talked to Jerwin Tholen, Partner Sustainability at KPMG Netherlands, and Anne-Cecile Moreno, Director in KPMG Global Climate Risks and Decarbonisation Hub. Jerwin and Anne-Cecile are passionate about net-zero and decarbonisation, so it was super-interesting to hear their advice on how organisations can boost their sustainability moving forward. Olivier Gomez is CEO and Co-founder at Intelligence Automation Company (IAC). Olivier shares how IAC plans to disrupt the intelligent automation service provider market by establishing a new industry norm... Watch this space! And that’s not forgetting our usual line-up of engaging tech features. Check out page 84 for Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe Technology report (p84), as well as page 94 for the top European tech events you cannot afford to miss this month… See you there!

Anna McMahon Editor editorial@ithink.media

Takes us on six month a journey of Kyn s as a new dryl’s firs publicly traded com ly independent, t pany

Danielle Harris Director d.harris@ithink.media

Tom Barnes Director t.barnes@ithink.media

Daniel May Senior Digital Designer design@ithink.media

+44 (0) 203 890 1189 enquiries@digitalinnovationeu.com All rights reserved. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of material published in Digital Innovation Magazine. However, the company cannot accept responsibility for the claims made by advertisers or contributors, or inaccurate material supplied by advertisers. Digital Innovation is a product of iThink Media Ltd. Company Registration Number: 10933897. Company Registered in England and Wales

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A rundown of the most inspiring individuals in tech under 30

pt the arket

KPMG Netherlands talks sustainability, net-zero and decarbonisation

Cybersecurity was a key topic at the EMVA Business Conference

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Tuum is our June issue’s start-up of the month

This month’s not-tobe-missed European technology events

54 Comparing how AI language models and the brain respond to sentences 5

C OV E R STO RY

POWERING PRO

BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM T

OGRESS:

THE KYNDRYL WAY

JOSEPH TOMA, who leads the Alliances and Partnerships organisation at Kyndryl UK and Ireland, takes us on a journey of Kyndryl’s first six months as a newly independent, publicly traded company, and gives us an insight into the lessons learnt during those early days.

s Kyndryl’s Alliances and Partnerships leader for the UK and Ireland, Joseph’s career background spans multiple continents, working in technology roles across Digital Consulting, Sales Leadership, and Ecosystem Building. In 2019, after IBM acquired Red Hat, Joseph was appointed the sales leader for Red Hat for the UK and Ireland. He remembers, “My first experience in building a successful partnership was our work in establishing the IBM and Red Hat relationship; working closely with Red Hat and their ecosystem of partners gave me a deep insight into the value partnerships can offer our customers. As time went on, and the formation of Kyndryl was announced, it organically made sense for me to continue this commitment to the ecosystem and to shift into a role responsible for building impactful relationships with a wide range of new partners.” In November 2021, Kyndryl became an independent publicly traded company.

Simply put, Kyndryl is the leading technology services firm in the industry; bringing over 88,000 team members and 4,000+ enterprise customers with them. Customers are Kyndryl’s North Star. Joseph explains, “Kyndryl at its core has been founded on three key principles: 1. Our commitment to our customers, who continue to trust us to manage their mission critical systems. 2. Our commitment to our people to develop a flatter, faster, and more focused organisation, with a strong identity and culture. 3. Our commitment to our partners to be open, transparent and bold in our approach to partnership. “I encounter the validation of these commitments every single day in my role, interacting with customers, our teams and our partners. For our customers, we can now harnesses our new

“The hyperscaler partnerships in particular will allow Kyndryl to grow our total addressable market globally from $250 billion to more than $510 billion”

freedom of action to address the real pent-up demand for technology choice, that in the past, we would have struggled to address. Being able to approach customer challenges with the full power of the ecosystem – to solve these challenges with agility, co-creation and innovation – is something we are seeing resonate across the UK and Ireland. Our customers need a trusted partner with the freedom and ability to design, implement and manage the best technology strategy to achieve their own long-term goals. Naturally, our teams are enthused and hugely energetic to bring this best-in-class approach to our customers, and our growing ecosystem of partners has really jumped on board with the Kyndryl story. 10

“Our first priority as an independent company was doubling down on this; we announced our partnership with Microsoft shortly after becoming independent, and this was quickly followed by Google Cloud and AWS. In our first 100 days as a new company, we signed agreements with NetApp, Dell, Pure Storage, VMWare, Nokia, SAP, Cloudera, and more. “The hyperscaler partnerships in particular will allow Kyndryl to grow

our total addressable market globally from $250 billion to more than $510 billion. We know this is exactly what our customers around the world need from us. In the UK and Ireland, we are already working with all of our customers to modernise and run their mission critical systems. Our customers here are the market leaders in financial services, telecommunications, media, entertainment, consumer products, and beyond. We are

fortunate that this list includes some very well-known enterprises: RSA Insurance in the UK, and Permanent TSB in Ireland.” Joseph says Kyndryl is founded on being flat (empowering and making teams accountable), fast (cultivating the ethos of simplicity), and focused (delivering exceptional services for customers), which are at the heart of everything it does. He continues, “It is interesting to see 11

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the benefits that becoming a faster, flatter, and more focused organisation bring to the fore. A big change was to remove the concept of having multi-tiered geography-based footprints and to form into 10 major countries around the world – this speeds up decision making, and importantly brings our top talent closer to our customers. To summarise the impact this has had, it means our teams are lean and have full empowerment to make quick decisions working sideby-side with our customers.” The advantages of being a new independent publicly traded company mean Kyndryl is more agile, it has the ability to form key partnerships, and it can address changes in culture and identity. Joseph says, “We are not only partnering with organisations to provide new technology, but we are also able to listen to customers and approach challenges that historically we were not being brought in to address – the level of innovation we can now provide has opened up the door for us on this. There 14

“We are not only partnering provide new technology, bu to customers and approach we were not being brought

g with organisations to ut we are also able to listen challenges that historically in to address” JOSEPH TOMA

has equally been a massive focus on the creation of our new culture, The Kyndryl Way. This change in identity and brand purpose has had a very positive impact on the teams.” Joseph talks about the Kyndryl Way as a vehicle for the business’ cultural transformation. He explains, “The Kyndryl Way is essentially our identity, principles and purpose that we aim to foster within Kyndryl. A key to this is listening and reflecting internally; we spent a lot of time collecting feedback from our teams to see what we were doing well and which areas we needed to improve on. “The big takeaway that I saw in the UK and Ireland was that a lot of our teams said that they place absolute trust in the people they work with, that they felt empowered to make bold decisions for customers, and that they have support from their management team to do so. A key element of this is placing people at the core of what we do; having empathy is critical, but also ensuring, as management, that we engage regularly to embed our culture into our customer and partnership approach. 15

The Kyndryl Way will evolve overtime, but this renewed purpose has made it clear that each and every one of us plays a part in advancing the vital systems which power human progress.”

2. Being empathetic – serving the trust and transparency to customers, partners and teams. 3. Being devoted – sharing success and being the champion of the organisation.

As a manager, Joseph heavily focuses on three key elements that form part of the Kyndryl Way:

Building a new company during a pandemic was not without its challenges, but Joseph remembers it as a very exciting time. He reflects, “In the UK and Ireland, we had multiple lockdowns, so we would have a month where we could be in

1. Being restless – continuously anticipating, learning and innovating. 16

“The Kyndryl Way will evolve overtime, but this renewed purpose has made it clear that each and every one of us plays a part in advancing the vital systems which power human progress” something exciting to look forward to as we exited the pandemic.”

the office, then a month or two of lockdown, then a period when only a certain number of people were allowed in, so it was with great relief when we announced our offices returning to normal operation. It was a huge step forwards in bringing the teams back fully energised. Today, the teams are in, and morale is soaring! It has been great to see. I think that building the company during Covid-19 gave us that extra motivation to create

So, what is Joseph’s approach to building a new ecosystem of trusted partners? He answers, “When I first took this role, I must have spoken to around 200 to 300 organisations in a period of three months. If someone reached out to ask for a conversation, the answer was always ‘yes absolutely’ because we were still in our discovery phase. It was all about understanding what was out there and how we can mobilise the power of partnerships for our customers. “As we started to understand the landscape of the best-in-class local partners, we always reflected on two key points; the first being if the organisation could support 17

us and our customers through technology or service excellence. Secondly, we wanted to know if the organisation would commit to a true partnership with us. Two organisations can easily work together, but being a partner is completely different to this; building a relationship with dedicated commitments to one another was key for us. Those two criteria formed the foundations of how we built our team.”

anywhere in the world. It is because of this that we have had huge traction and success with this partnership.” In building the ecosystem, Joseph has made a number of unexpected observations. He explains, “I have seen a few things that I did not expect. First of all is the blurring between competition and collaboration – the ability, as an example, for a NetApp, a Microsoft

“Kyndryl’s partners are paramount to bringing the innovation that customers increasingly demand. Joseph elaborates, “One of the best examples is NetApp” Kyndryl’s partners are paramount to bringing the innovation that customers increasingly demand. Joseph elaborates, “One of the best examples is NetApp. We had a relationship with them in the past, but as we became independent, NetApp came to us with a view to change the dynamic of the relationship and expand in the way we come together with our partners. They brought to us innovative technologies that we had not previously seen in their portfolio, and a unique ability to meet us hand-in-hand with our customers on prem, in the cloud,

and a Kyndryl to build solutions to address challenges across a customer’s entire estate. Going into this, I expected to be able to offer more innovation through our ecosystem, but customers have brought us their most complex, unsolvable challenges, and by working together with multiple partners, we are able to solve these. “The second observation touches on our culture at Kyndryl. For us, working with partners is like building a set of muscles that we have not exercised in the past.

“What this translates to is a shift in mentality from a ‘vendor or supplier’ based relationship to a ‘partnership’ one. That was the initial learning curve for us, and it is fundamental to being able to partner in the right way. There will always be circumstances where one

“I am truly optimistic that our Alliances organisation will lead to transformational growth internally, transformation innovation for our customers, and transformational partnerships that we can really leverage to provide true technology choice for our customers” partner may be competitive with another, but at its core, you have a commitment to one another and try to do the best for each other. That is the minimum expectation we should have as an independent company when working with our partners.” The final point Joseph makes refers to Kyndryl’s global 21

partnership announcements. He says, “By becoming flatter, faster and more focused, we have been able to locally drive the partnerships that have the most relevance for our customers. While a global partnership is always great to see, we need to ground our approach to what our customers in the UK and Ireland find the most impactful. The 22

ability to supplement our global alliances with niche start-ups and best-in-class future technology firms is really exciting, and something we are placing a big emphasis on.” Kyndryl is at the genesis of its journey and all the lessons learnt in its first six months only

stand to improve the customer experience. Joseph concludes, “I am truly optimistic that our Alliances organisation will lead to transformational growth internally, transformation innovation for our customers, and transformational partnerships that we can really leverage to provide true technology choice for our customers. Today, we

support the mission critical systems – the hearts and lungs of our customers – and I have no doubt that the trust placed in us will only result in a long-term customer experience with unlimited potential. The sky really is the limit!” For further information, visit www.kyndryl.com 23

CYBERSECURITY

AN IMPORTANT BUSINESS T PIC Cybersecurity is given centre-stage at this year’s annual European Machine Vision Association (EMVA) Business Conference.

The European Machine Vision Association (EMVA) Business Conference is a pivotal event for the machine vision and image processing industry, uniting business leaders and technical experts from Europe and around the world to present and discuss key trends and business challenges. Providing a unique platform for networking, establishing contacts and exchanging ideas, the event sets the course for developing and strengthening the machine vision and image processing industry in Europe. CEOs, managing directors, corporate strategists, marketing directors, technical managers and other industry executives meet each year to exchange market intelligence and news of innovative technologies.

The 20th EMVA Business Conference took place in Brussels last month, boasting a packed agenda of highly topical talks from industry leaders, combined with many opportunities to network with those players defining the future of machine vision. Providing participants with crucial insights into the continuing 28

evolution of the vision market, cybersecurity was given a special stage at this year’s event. Two presentations addressed cybersecurity from different angles, focusing on intelligent and networkable sensors in the Industrial IoT environment,

“The idea is to remove single points of failure which could be used for a cyberattack to stop the whole system”

and then the closing keynote looked at the situation from a wider perspective and also gave a glimpse into the world of hackers. Mark Hebbel, Head of Consultancy and Start-up Studio at Chainstep, discussed cybersecurity in decentralised computing and Industrial IoT.

“As the world becomes more connected with the internet, it has also moved to being decentralised in order to try and solve the complexity problem. The idea is to remove single points of failure which could be used for a cyberattack to stop the whole system. At the same time, independent parallel 29

“Independent parallel systems can provide an increase in processing speed and even maybe cost savings, when one also factors in things like power distribution”

systems can provide an increase in processing speed and even maybe cost savings, when one also factors in things like power distribution. “Industrial IoT (IIoT) makes sensors intelligent and networkable. More processing is moved to the edge (out of the cloud) because of latency issues, but also for balancing the load between different parties. This is especially true for intelligent vision sensors, where sending 60 fps 5MP pixels over any network is impracticable. For this reason, they are the main users of edge AI computing to reduce the information which has to be sent further. This results in the creation of complex decentralised systems. These have all the normal cybersecurity issues known from network computing, but also several specific to IIoT.” The talk gave a quick review of these topics, as well as offering some solutions.

“More than 90 per cent of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error – humans are clearly the weakest link. But something can be done about it”

Furthermore, it provided insights into how technology from the most famous decentralised system (blockchain) may prove useful in making IIoT systems trustworthy in the future. Mark T Hofmann, Business Psychologist and Crime Analyst, gave an inspiring keynote 32

speech on the psychology of cybercrime. “What motivates hackers? What are the latest social engineering techniques, used by cybercriminals? How can you become a ‘human firewall’? More than 90 per cent of cybersecurity breaches are

caused by human error – humans are clearly the weakest link. But something can be done about it.” Mark T. Hofmann delves into the mind of the perpetrator, having met and anonymously interviewed hackers, including individuals whose acts remain undiscovered to this day. His talk gave a rare

glimpse into the psychology of cybercrime (the technical aspects and human factor), informing, inspiring and creating awareness of how you can become a human firewall. For further information on EMVA, visit www.emva.org 33

Anne-Cecile Moreno

B U S I N E S S I N T E RV I E W

ith growing pressure on companies to focus on their sustainability strategies, Jerwin Tholen and AnneCecile Moreno at KPMG have been tasked with helping companies to achieve net-zero.

Jerwin Tholen

Jerwin Tholen, Partner Sustainability at KPMG Netherlands, and Anne-Cecile Moreno, Director in KPMG Global Climate Risks and Decarbonisation Hub, share their thoughts on net-zero, greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonisation.

Net-zero commitments have flourished over the last 18 months, so what would they say have been the main drivers? Anne-Cecile begins, “The main drivers span different dimensions. Investors, for example, are putting on the pressure. A couple of years ago, BlackRock sent personal letters to companies to ask them to consider climate change and its impact. In November, a transformative COP in Glasgow was a follow-up to the Paris Agreement (COP21). It aimed to implement the commitments of the Paris Agreement. We also had the sixth report of the IPCC a few months ago, which is pressing governments, companies and society to act on climate change. We see governments making net-zero commitments, such as China, which has said it will reach net-zero by 2060, as well as Japan, Korea, the UK, and Europe. The governing bodies are putting increased pressure on climate risk first; emissions and decarbonisation are following.” Jerwin continues, “Many companies enter into 36

conversations with their banks on refinancing debt and new loans which are more sustainability-linked and have clear requirements for the companies to reduce their carbon footprint. The banks are making demands of the companies to have a decarbonisation plan that goes beyond their current plan, stretching them to put more skin in the game. It is a real opportunity to look at finance differently.” 38

Net-zero presents several challenges for companies. First and foremost, it should include value chain emissions (scope 3) to be meaningful and credible. Anne-Cecile says, “Challenges include the economy and society. The world has been releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for more than 100 years, and now has to move close to zero within 20 to 30 years. Having the right regulations, innovations, and incentives in place presents further

“Digitalisation plays a vital role in every stage of any net-zero strategy” Jerwin Tholen, Partner Sustainability at KPMG Netherlands

challenges, but the main challenge is time. You have to understand what you need to reduce by measuring your carbon footprint, and then you need to act quickly to reach net-zero by 2050.” It would be best to look at the entire value chain from a company perspective. Jerwin explains, “How do you influence your suppliers when you do not necessarily have direct control? You are just one

client, so how do you persuade them to reduce their carbon footprint? On the other hand, what can you do to make the consumer use the product differently with less hot water, lower electricity use, and more efficiency? The net-zero of companies is therefore determined by many things they cannot control, and that complexity is a challenge.” Intuitively, companies often know the carbon footprint of their value chain, but before they measure it, they need to identify which parts they can influence. This takes time, and technology is required to get it right. Jerwin says digitalisation plays a vital role in every stage 39

of any net-zero strategy. He continues, “From procurement data to field data, digitalisation has a role to play. Smart data, including data obtained through advanced remote sensing, gives farmers worldwide information on how to make their farming systems optimal based on the weather patterns, which products to grow at which time of the year, where to plant shade trees, how to minimise

emission reductions. They enable companies to run simulations on how to structure a low emission network whilst running a profitable business. “To lower the carbon footprint is not always the primary driver in that case. The primary driver could be to optimise shipping routes, for example. Therefore, the classical supply chain

“It is something you obviously need to do for society, but as a business, if you are not reducing your emissions, you will be potentially lost in the future” Anne-Cecile Moreno, Director in KPMG Global Climate Risks and Decarbonisation Hub

fertiliser and pesticides, and how to have better price expectations.” Companies often have hundreds and thousands of suppliers, which need to be trained to understand what scopes 1 and 2 mean for them, and how they can be measured and reported using digital tools. There are multiple lenses to these digital solutions, bringing a scope of benefits such as cost reductions and optimisation. Jerwin adds, “You don’t always need new technology. Some supply chain tools like AIMMS, Llamasoft and other network optimisation tools can help to drive the carbon 40

optimisation tooling is now used to bring another layer to articulate the need for optimisation.” It helps to have a collaborative platform where you can see what others are doing in another part of the world. Anne-Cecile says, “The collaboration is between the suppliers, but it can also be within the whole sector. Companies are joining forces to develop tooling solutions, so there are multiple lenses of collaboration.” Jerwin adds that one of the difficulties companies face is which technology to choose.

“The commercial and carbon footprint reductions go hand in hand. The challenge lies in finding new pathways where a company needs to pay to reduce its carbon footprint” He explains, “There is so much technology out there. At KPMG, we have built a platform for farmers that categorises all of the optimisation tools available to them to help them navigate the technology they require for a particular business challenge. We also help farmers in Africa, Latin America, and Asia to optimise their farming practices using technology. Agricultural trainers are instructed on how to bring technology to the farmer.” In many cases, companies focus on upstream emissions, particularly category 1 procurement emissions (i.e., emissions from all the purchased goods and services). Anne-Cecile explains, “When companies start measuring their carbon footprint, they categorise their value chain emissions using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Upstream emissions include everything around logistics and procurement, and downstream is around the customer, use of the sold 42

product, and end-of-life emissions. For many sectors, the emissions are generated very early in the value chain, so they are largely upstream, and these emissions are embedded in what you buy.” Companies are therefore focusing on procurement because it is something they can influence. Jerwin adds, “There are often quick wins if you help your suppliers reduce their energy spend, then they can lower the product’s price for you. The commercial and carbon footprint reductions go hand in hand. The challenge lies in finding new pathways where a company

needs to pay to reduce its carbon footprint. You need to get quickly to the point where you can influence. The natural procurement cycle is important because you can only reduce something in your procurement cycle if you have a new contract and can influence your supplier. A five-year contract presents fewer opportunities to influence because you have agreed on the terms over five years. If you know when a change is happening, that is the moment a carbon discussion can happen. If you don’t do it, you could lose the opportunity to influence. Everyone has to drive their emissions down fast, so you

might have to invest more in the long run.” So, what is required to decrease these emissions? Anne-Cecile answers, “Aside from technology, you need to understand how your contracts are structured and their end term. If you have a contract ending next year, you want to discuss ahead of the new contract emission measurement, target setting, and what can be done to reduce emissions. In addition, connecting with your suppliers and the sector more broadly enables companies to share their best practices, so everyone can 43

work towards decreasing their emissions.” Understanding where to invest depends on the type of industry you are in, whether it is an ingredient you need to tackle or a packaging material. Jerwin continues, “You might need to focus on using the lowest footprint packaging material by making it lighter, replacing it, or reviewing its production process

but it is about today versus tomorrow. In the future, it will present new opportunities, new jobs, and new ways of thinking.” Anne-Cecile believes decarbonisation will become an even bigger topic in the next few years. She adds, “It is great that everyone is moving towards decarbonising their suppliers, but what about the impact of this plan versus people? For

“If you are not reducing your emissions, you will be potentially lost in the future” for a more energy-efficient option. Optimising scopes 1 and 2 will result in better packaging materials and the company becoming more profitable, and, in turn, you strengthen your relationship with that supplier. You need a lot of data and insights to be successful.”

example, suppose you want your suppliers to access renewable electricity, such as solar panels. In that case, they need a lot of land, leading to greater competition between food and energy production, so how will the plan fit with the local economy?”

Anne-Cecile views reducing emissions not in terms of sustainability, but more from a business strategy point of view. She explains, “It is something you obviously need to do for society, but as a business, if you are not reducing your emissions, you will be potentially lost in the future. Being future-proof is key. It costs money to have digitalisation, data, engagement and innovations,

Jerwin agrees that such complexity means you need an ecosystem of tools, technologies and alliance partners to get things done. He explains, “Every challenge may have a different solution, and all major technology providers are bringing in ESG lenses. We help our clients to navigate this landscape. We are technology agnostic, which means we do not sell a specific 45

solution, but work with a select group of highly accredited alliance partners that are leaders in their fields of expertise, including Microsoft, Salesforce, ServiceNow, IBM and Appian, and can bring our tools, like KPMG CarbonView, built on our proprietary Sofy platform for data and analytics and workflow management, if there are no tools available.” Two of KPMG’s alliance partners include Appian and Coupa Software. Jerwin enthuses, “The Appian Low-Code platform offers organisations the opportunity to break down corporate silos that hinder ESG management. With data sources seamlessly integrated and crossfunctional workflows orchestrated and automated, ESG processes and management are simplified. Appian enables companies to quickly address evolving ESG criteria, including managing changes to processes, inputs collected, and reporting designations.

“The Appian Low-Code platform offers organisations the opportunity to break down corporate silos that hinder ESG management. With data sources seamlessly integrated and cross-functional workflows orchestrated and automated, ESG processes and management are simplified. Appian enables companies to quickly address evolving ESG criteria, including managing changes to processes, inputs collected, and reporting designations” Jerwin Tholen, Partner Sustainability at KPMG Netherlands

Appian for a Sustainable Supply Chain

In 2022, organisations across industries will continue to improve agility and resilience across their supply chain ecosystems. With ongoing disruption caused by the pandemic, changing customer expectations, an evolving technology landscape, and the demand for more sustainable practices, supply chain managers need efficient and transparent supply chain and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) processes more than ever before. According to Forrester’s State of Environmental Sustainability in the Fortune Global 200 report, sustainable targets are top of mind with companies across industries taking these actions:

58%

55%

23%

Appointing a sustainability lead.

According to Forrester’s analysis, 58% of G200 firms have created a position for a director, VP, or executive to lead the sustainability program.

Establishing GHG emissions reduction targets.

55% of G200 firms have established a target date for the partial or total elimination of GHG emissions.

Setting carbon neutral dates.

23% of G200 firms have set a date by which they will reach carbon neutrality, typically 2050 (in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement).

Manufacturing’s role in supply chain sustainability. Most manufacturers are taking a look at their supply chains as a core area for improvement in the move toward sustainable operations. On top of the demand for more sustainable practices, having a sustainable supply chain is a competitive differentiator. And as an added benefit, good sustainability practices reduce risk overall. While sustainability is often at the top of manufacturers’ mission or purpose statements, too many lack visibility and don’t have the right processes in place across the supply chain to achieve their goals.

Incremental steps toward a sustainable future. While there is no one right way to approach sustainability, Forrester advises looking for ways to make incremental changes that help reduce waste and boost efficiencies. Organisations that want to increase resiliency and sustainability in their supply chains are using low-code tools for agile change. The Appian Low-Code Platform provides the capabilities and centralised view of data that companies need to make well-informed short- and long-term sustainability decisions.

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Unified dashboard view of carbon footprint data in Appian.

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A unified platform for a simplified approach to ESG. Our platform integrates data from anywhere—no migration required—and optimizes processes by automating workflows with intelligent document processing, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and more to simplify your approach to ESG initiatives: •

Adapt to evolving regulations. Quickly address evolving ESG criteria by managing process changes, inputs collected, and reporting designations.

•

Embed ESG in automated processes. Orchestrate people, systems, data, and bots in a single workflow to streamline ESG activities.

•

Integrate with ESG data sources. Easily integrate with pre-existing data systems and virtually any third-party data source, including ratings, benchmarks, and analytics providers—no data migration required.

•

Ensure visibility and control. Gain a single, unified view of all your data in a secure platform to easily share ESG status with stakeholders. Quickly access data to support audits, meet compliance requirements, improve ratings, and escalate issues while maintaining data security.

For more information about ESG visit: https://appian.com/solutions/use-case/corporate-esg-strategy-and-measurement-platform.html For more information about Appian for Supply Chain: https://appian.com/solutions/use-case/supply-chain.html

Build a Sustainable Supply Chain With Coupa, your business spend can create measurable impact for both the bottom line and the world. By optimising supply chain routes and suppliers, your business can minimise its carbon footprint.

Support Executive Goals for Ethical Business Practices Make business spend a lever for change to keep your company positioned to attract and retain the best customers and talent, and to support executive ESG commitments. Supercharge initiatives with proper governance across the supply chain to deliver greater impact.

Minimise Supply Risk in the Value Chain Develop a multi-level third-party risk assessment model that includes each third party and their relevant fourth parties.

Coupa’s global alliance with KPMG enhances our ability to help clients truly transform their business spend management processes. To truly gain an ESG advantage, companies should go beyond compliance, combining data with technology. KPMG’s Powered Procurement, enabled by Coupa’s Business Spend Management tools, embodies this mindset by empowering procurement teams with the necessary insights to make responsible, datadriven business decisions to turn ESG aspirations into action.

www.coupa.com

“Coupa help companies make their procurement processes smoother and play an important role in collecting supplierspecific data to optimise their carbon footprint”

At the moment, Coupa is mainly used in procurement and supply chain optimisation. They help companies make their procurement processes smoother and play an important role in collecting supplierspecific data to optimise their carbon footprint.” With many companies continuing to focus on the measurement of emissions, Anne-Cecile worries that they are spending too much time on this as opposed to leveraging what is already in place. She explains, “Suppliers should primarily focus on the purpose of the measurements, which is to reduce their carbon footprint. Measuring is great, but reducing should be the end goal.”

Jerwin adds, “You don’t need to have perfect data to know where changes should be made. If you think the data is inaccurate to go to action, you will fall short of the timelines. It would be best if you moved intuitively. The data that tells you when tenders change is more helpful than an accurate estimate of your carbon footprint.” The leaders started measuring their value chain emissions more than four years ago, and are now looking at supplier-specific data. Those not part of the leading pack require a tool that will allow them to go to the next level. Anne-Cecile concludes, “The leaders do not necessarily have the tool in place just because they were the only ones focusing on it. I feel that the companies waking up today will get to the same level quicker.” For further information on KPMG Netherlands, visit www.home.kpmg/nl 51

A RT I F I C I A L I N T E L L I G E N C E

Two French research agencies, CEA and Inria, are working with Meta AI on technology that mimics the way the brain works.

rench research agencies, CEA and Inria, have partnered in collaboration with the NeuroSpin neuroimaging centre, part of CEA, to compare how AI language models 55

and the brain respond to the same spoken or written sentences. Jean Remi King, Research Scientist at Meta, which owns Facebook, said, “Of course, we’re only scratching the surface – there’s still a lot we don’t understand about how the brain functions, and our research is ongoing. “Now, our collaborators at NeuroSpin are creating an original

a few snapshots of brain activities, typically from a small sample size. To meet the demanding quantity of data required for deep learning, the research is using thousands of brain scans recorded from public data sets using fMRI, and also simultaneously models them using magnetoencephalography (MEG), a scanner that takes snapshots of brain activity every millisecond. These neuroimaging devices provide the large neuroimaging

“With magnetoencephalography, we can identify the brain responses to individual words and sentences at every millisecond. We can then compare areas in the brain to modern language algorithms” Jean Remi King, Research Scientist at Meta

neuroimaging data set to expand this research. We’ll be opensourcing the data set, deep learning models, code, and research papers resulting from this effort to help spur discoveries in both AI and neuroscience communities. All of this work is part of research into ‘human level’ AI that learns with limited to no supervision.” Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies capture only 56

data necessary to detect where and in what order the activations take place in the brain. King explained, “With magnetoencephalography, we can identify the brain responses to individual words and sentences at every millisecond. We can then compare areas in the brain to modern language algorithms.” The data sets were collected and

shared by several academic institutions, including Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Germany and Princeton University in the US. Meta is at pains to point out that each institution collected and shared the data sets with informed consent from the volunteers in accordance with legal policies as approved by their respective ethical committees, including the consent obtained from the study participants. King said, “Our comparison between brains and language models have already led to valuable insights.” Language models that most closely resemble brain activity are those that best predict the next word from the context. Predictions based on partially observable inputs is at the core of self-supervised learning (SSL) in AI and may be key to how people learn language. King noted, “However, we discover that specific regions in the brain anticipate words and

ideas far ahead in time, while most language models today are typically trained to predict the very next word. Unlocking this long-range forecasting capability could help improve modern AI language models.” The research works both ways, providing more understanding of how the brain works.

“Our comparison between brains and language models have already led to valuable insights” King said, “Our work is a part of the broader effort by the scientific community to use AI to better understand the brain. Neuroscientists have historically faced major limitations in analysing brain signals – let alone comparing them with AI models. Studying neuronal activity and brain imaging is a time and resource-intensive

process, requiring heavy machinery to analyse neuronal activity, which is often opaque and noisy. Designing language experiments to measure brain responses in a controlled way can be painstaking too. For example, in classical language studies, sentences must match in complexity, and words must match frequency

complex narratives while being recorded with fMRI. Those models were enhanced with long-range predictions to track forecasts in the brain. King added, “Our results show that specific brain regions, such as the prefrontal and parietal cortices, are best accounted for by language

“These results shed light on the computational organisation of the human brain and its inherently predictive nature, and pave the way towards improving current AI models” Jean Remi King, Research Scientist at Meta

or number of letters, to allow a meaningful comparison of brain responses.” Working with Inria, the researchers at Meta compared a variety of language models to the brain responses of 345 volunteers, who listened to

models enhanced with deep representations of far-off words in the future. These results shed light on the computational organisation of the human brain and its inherently predictive nature, and pave the way towards improving current AI models.”

Source: www.eenewseurope.com

5G NEWS

The EU has suggested big tech companies may have to start paying for telco infrastructure.

Discussing complaints by European telecoms companies over the costs of building out new telecommunications infrastructure whilst Silicon Valley internet providers have been profiting, the EU has said big tech firms should contribute to the cost of building and running mobile and broadband networks because their services generate so much data. study suggests that companies such as Google, Netflix and Amazon account for over half of global data traffic, benefitting from investments in fibre and cellular infrastructure, while operators are forced to ensure there is enough capacity to meet demand. It claims the top six tech firms make up over 55 per cent of all telecom networks’ traffic. EU Digital Chief Margrethe Vestager has suggested the bloc agrees that the telcoms companies may

have a point. She said, “The (tech giants) have not been contributing to enabling the investments in the rollout of connectivity. “I think there is an issue that we need to consider with a lot of focus, and that is the issue of fair contribution to telecommunication networks. Because we see that there are players who generate a lot of traffic that then enables their business but who have not been contributing actually to enable that traffic. They have not been contributing to enabling the investments in the rollout of connectivity. And we are in the process of getting a thorough understanding of how could that be enabled.” The European Telecommunication Network Operators Association (ETNO) put out a document which amounted to a rephrasing of the previously made demands – that big tech should pony up for some of the cables that underpin their businesses. This latest report makes the claim that €72 billion worth of 66

“It is about our ability to put Europe at the forefront of the global 5G and FTTH race” Lise Fuhr, Director General of ETNO

GDP growth and an additional 840,000 jobs is on the table for Europe by 2025 via the telecoms industry if the internet giants were to plough €20 billion a year collectively into it. Lise Fuhr, Director General of ETNO, said, “The EU has been determined in tackling power imbalances in the online and tech space. With this report, we want to launch an open dialogue with policymakers, consumers and tech companies on how to address the specific imbalances in internet traffic markets. This is not a technical issue – it is about our ability to put Europe at the forefront of the global 5G and FTTH race”. 67

Firms such as AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure have been making extraordinary amounts of money out of cloud services, for instance, and none of that would be possible without the investment of telcos and fibre companies. The problem is that however

justifiable the complaint is, it is not as if any rules are being broken or bent simply by some firms being successful at running a business utilising the internet. The fact there is less margin in running cable underground than there is in serving digital advertising is just a feature of the respective industries,

and it feels implausible to expect US companies to start essentially subsidising the infrastructure.

shell out billions to fund 5G towers, investors and shareholders might not be convinced.

And apart from anything else, even if the CEOs were convinced of the moral argument and recommend that the corporations they run should ‘do the right thing’ and

It makes sense then that the current status quo may be unsustainable, but we are still some way from a definite solution to this debate. Source: www.telecoms.com 69

B U S I N E S S I N T E RV I E W

IAC: A STRICTLY RESULTS-DRIVEN APPROACH Olivier Gomez, CEO and Co-founder at Intelligence Automation Company (IAC), takes us through his company’s plans to disrupt the service provider market.

ntelligent Automation Company (IAC) is a service company specialising in intelligent automation. Intelligent automation is defined as the combination of automation technology and AI, and is one of the fastest growing markets in the software industry. 71

Olivier Gomez is CEO and Cofounder at IAC. He explains, “We automate processes for our clients. And what makes us different from other service companies is that we are willing to go as far as signing outcomebased contracts with them. This means we simply commit on results. When the environment allows it, we go even further with gainshare contracts, where we commit to delivering certain results and then share the benefit with the client. For instance, if the current cost of delivering a service is $1 million per year, we drop it by half a million, and share the benefit with the client. If we don’t deliver results, then we do not get paid by the client. From our point of view, we are all about de-risking the client.” Previously, a client had to take all the risk, for example, by buying intelligent automation software or subscribing to a software or a service provider without any guarantee that they would get any return on their investment. Olivier continues, “We share the risk with the client by coming up with a win-win solution. To ensure there is a return on the client’s investment, the first thing we do is to leverage existing 72

investments in technology that the client has already made. Some companies have already invested in automation and AI, and have software on their shelf. We try to optimise what has already been deployed before introducing any new solution.” Having successfully delivered automation in the past, against a range of verticals, industries, and business processes (e.g. HR, finance and IT), IAC has many uses cases in its automation library, and these can be leveraged to map opportunities 74

in a client’s environment. Olivier says, “When we have done it before, our time to value is much shorter, so we do not need to reinvent the wheel. The confidence level that we are going to deliver results is also much higher.” Having said that, Olivier adds that IAC has no issue in adapting, modifying, or customising existing market solutions to suit a client environment. He confirms, “We like to deliver something that we know will work, but we also want to be able to adapt to the client

“WE LIKE TO D E L I V E R SOMETHING T H AT W E K N OW WILL WORK”

environment and therefore offer both standard and bespoke solutions.” Olivier makes the distinction between intelligent automation and AI, as he explains, “What we are doing is looking at how we can use AI in a situation where we are trying to automate something. If automation is the leg and the arm, AI is the brain. We take the legs and arms, and add a brain.” Olivier refers to three phases within any intelligent automation project:

1. Discovery – This phase involves understanding and analysing a client’s environment by using process or task mining tools to build a digital blueprint of their environment; utilising AI to analyse, clean and structure the client’s data (especially if unstructured or semi-structured); then correctly identifying the opportunities and understanding which solutions are needed to achieve substantial business results. 2. Build – This phase involves designing, building, testing and deploying a given automation solution, as well as injecting AI into the solution in order to make it more intelligent. 3. Automation Ops – This phase involves running and maintaining a solution whilst making sure the automation continues to do what it is supposed to do. AI is used to help identify a problem before it occurs, using the data to fix it fast. 75

As far as the finance industry is concerned, IAC has a number of well-defined use cases that can be applied to a typical finance department. Olivier elaborates, “In order for an intelligent automation solution to have a tangible business impact, we need to identify the consolidation points. For example, finance has an operation team that manages the bills, processes the invoice, chases the client if the money is not forthcoming, and makes sure the process is working smoothly. Companies must apply a lot of people to these separate activities. By automating a large number of them, the finance department can apply less operational bandwidth to running those business processes, saving costs whilst making quality improvements.” But, if fewer people are required to run such activities, thanks to intelligent automation, does this result in a loss of jobs? Olivier answers, “Every time a major disruptive piece of innovation enters an industry, people are afraid that they are going to lose their jobs. But, what we see is that technology simply changes the nature of the jobs that humans do. By removing boring, repetitive and mundane tasks, people can be redeployed more effectively elsewhere. In fact, automation 76

“WE ARE A PURE P L AY E R B U T W I T H G LO B A L D E L I V E R Y C A PA B I L I T I E S . THIS MEANS WE A R E A S A F E PA I R O F H A N D S FO R OUR CLIENTS” Olivier Gomez creates more jobs than it removes. If you take the automotive industry, cars are now built by robots in the factory line, but there is still a large number of people doing a whole host of different jobs in the factory.” As a service delivery company, IAC helps a client to decide which is the best software for them to utilise. To this end, IAC’s strategic direction is to partner with key players in the industry to enable the client to make the right decisions for their specific company. Olivier says, “We have a technology agnostic approach, which means we come with a business, outcome and return on investment first mindset. We

www.robocorp.com 78

always make technical decisions solely based on the impact they will deliver to a business. By using the right tool for the right job, we deliver best-in-class results. In fact, if there is a specific business need that is not fulfilled by an off-theshelf product, we also have the capability to develop, engineer and integrate a bespoke solution for our clients. Our software development team is entirely focused on making our clients’ services better.”

To enable IAC to focus on what it does best, the company has curated an ecosystem of trusted partners. Olivier continues, “Our partner ecosystem is very important to us. We have formed strong commercial partnerships with the best partners in each industry space. Each partner has committed to supporting IAC to deliver a return on investment and each possesses the same mindset as us, which is an obsession to

“ W E A R E PA RT N E R I N G W I T H R O B O CO R P B E C A U S E T H E Y E N A B L E U S TO B U I L D B E S T- I N - C L A S S R PA S O LU T I O N S T H AT O F F E R A N OVERALL RETURN ON INVESTMENT” IAC leverages a variety of intelligent automation capabilities to: 1. Decrease the time to value for its clients. 2. Increase confidence levels that a solution will work and deliver results. 3. Allow IAC to deliver a much better price point to a client than if it were to start developing a technology solution from scratch.

committing to and delivering results.” One such partner is Robocorp. Olivier enthuses, “Robocorp is a Generation2 RPA software provider. They are an opensource platform, which means that one of their key values is being able to provide highquality software at a very reasonable price point. This has been a game-changer for our clients who were historically 79

using Generation1 RPA solutions, which did not allow them to see a return on investment. “We are partnering with Robocorp because they enable us to build best-inclass RPA solutions that offer an overall return on investment. They also have very high innovation capabilities. We are currently working on a conversion solution, focusing on how to enable a client to quickly move from one software provider to Robocorp. Given their innovation capabilities, Robocorp is able to quickly come up with a robust solution that will allow us to migrate clients from a Generation1 RPA provider to a Generation2 RPA provider.” To conclude, what is IAC’s global vision for 2022 and beyond? Olivier answers, “We aim to disrupt the intelligent automation service provider market by establishing a new industry norm. Going forwards, de-risking a client will be the only way for service providers to deliver an intelligent automation program. We want clients to 80

“ W E R E A L LY P R OV I D E T H E B E S T O F B OT H W O R L D S FO R OUR CLIENTS” 82

understand that service providers are now past the automation innovation phase and very much in the maturity phase. There is sufficient industry understanding of intelligent automation technology use cases for service providers to share program risk and establish win-win partnerships with their clients. We want clients to start challenging existing one-sided

service provider contracts and demand their provider shares the risk.” Headquartered in France, IAC has delivery centres in the Philippines, Slovakia and India. Olivier concludes, “We are a pure player but with global delivery capabilities. This means we are a safe pair of hands for our clients, at the price point of

a company that has both nearshore and offshore operations. Typically, these are attributes of only very large companies. At the same time, because we are a pure player, we have the agility, flexibility and reactivity of a smaller company. We really provide the best of both worlds for our clients.” For further information, visit www.iac.ai 83

TOP 30

The Visionaries Cre New Digitalised Eu

eating a urope

Meet some of Europe’s 30 Under 30 In Technology 2022.

Forbes has published its 30 Under 30 Europe Technology report for 2022, celebrating a group of individuals whose vision, tenacity and technological know-how serve as a ray of hope for building a more sustainable, economically developed and digitally advanced society. he honourees have earned their place on the coveted list thanks to a wide array of entrepreneurial endeavours, ranging from payroll processing firms and DevOps automation platforms, to neurotechnology startups and even mobile apps for Christian prayers. The face of this year’s list is Ignacio Moreno Pubul, 28, Co-founder and Vice President of Platform at fintech firm Capchase. The NYC and

Madrid-based company, which aims to give start-up founders alternatives to financing that avoid diluting their ownership, announced an $80 million Series B funding round in March of this year. To date, it has raised nearly $550 million total in a mix of equity funding and debt financing. Joining him on the list is exfootball player Jonas Bøgh Larsen, 29, Co-founder and CEO of Danish enterprise payroll processing firm Pento, which has raised $53 million from the

likes of Tiger Global and General Catalyst. Among the most interesting founder stories is that of Ed Beccle, the 23-year-old Thiel Fellow who co-founded and serves as CEO of mobile app for Christian prayers and daily worship Glorify. Since its inception, it has gained four million subscribers and raised $84 million from investors like a16z, SoftBank LATAM, Kris Jenner, Michael Ovitz, Michael Bublé, and more. Lillian Breidenbach and Charlotte Kufus, both 29, cofounded female-led Legal OS, a platform that allows lawyers to automate lawyer-client relationships without having to code, and have raised over $9 million from investors including Gradient Ventures, Google’s AIfocused venture fund. The list also features an exR&D team lead in the elite Unit 81 intelligence unit of the Israel Defence Forces. Alon Gubkin, 25, co-founded Aporia, an endto-end solution that enables data science and machine learning teams to instantly gain transparency and explainability

“Though historically largely focused on founders, the list occasionally honours a particularly outstanding non-founder”

for their ML models in production, and has raised $30 million. Though historically largely focused on founders, the list occasionally honours a particularly outstanding non-founder, and such is the case with Alan Chang, Chief Revenue Officer at fintech behemoth Revolut, which has raised over $1.7 billion to date. Since joining as the company’s fifth employee, the 28-year-old has held numerous key operational positions at Revolut, starting from Operations Analyst to Head of 89

“The country with most citizens honoured on this year’s list is United Kingdom with 12, followed by Germany with seven, and Italy with five”

Operations, Vice President, and Senior Vice President. The country with most citizens honoured on this year’s list is the United Kingdom with 12, followed by Germany with seven, and Italy with five. Other countries with representatives on the list include Switzerland with three; Israel, Denmark, Russia and the Netherlands with two; and Spain, Romania, Ireland, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Sri Lanka (though not European by birth, the honouree works in Finland) with one.

The youngest honourees on this year’s list are 23-year-olds Beccle, the aforementioned co-founder of Glorify, and former Red Bullsponsored sailor Morgan Wirtz from Brussels, who co-founded and serves as a CEO of money app Rise. Since starting the company two years ago, he’s raised a $1.9 million seed round and gathered a team of 20 experts to build a bank for teenagers, helping them with their spending and savings. For further information, visit www.forbes.com 91

The COO at Sara Assicurazioni charts the company’s successful digital transformation journey

Michael Voegele, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Philip Morris International, explains why encouraging female representation is more than just a box-ticking exercise.

D a n n y

portance of the digitalisation of or customers, and why cloud he company more scalable.

Danny Berry, VP of HPE Pointnext Services Supply Chain, on the critical role of digital technologies

E X C L U S I V E S

Danny Berry, The Vice President of ointnext Technology Services Supply Chain

Scale up

Takes us on a journey of Kyndryl’s first six months as a newly independent, publicly traded company

Driving forward the next generation of European tech giants

ands

sive IT ntinued and efficiency

Capgemini Invent’s Door va and Dico van Dijk talk about sustainability in the wake European Green De

exclusives

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an der Wiel supply chain e of the eal

"The team were professional and diligent throughout" Leigh Feaviour, CTIO for BT’s Supply Chain

"Absolute pleasure working with the Digital Innovation team" Mun Valiji, Chief Information Security Officer at Sainsbury’s

"A highly professional approach" Andy Brierley, Vice President, Cloud Application Modernisation at IBM

"Digital innovation Magazine is a very flexible and professional team" Kim Larsen CTIO, T-Mobile Netherlands

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D I A R Y D AT E S

REGISTE

June marks an act in the European te

ER NOW!

tion-packed month ech events scene.

WOMEN IN TECH GLOBAL CONFERENCE

When? 7th to 10th June, 2022 Where? Various locations Why attend? This hybrid conference brings women in tech, minorities and from all over the world together through an interactive platform featuring educational and training content, keynotes, engaging panels, breakout ro technical workshops, and networking with virtual and in-person sessions. I you’re a software engineer, product manager, designer, data scientist, bus manager in tech, work for a tech company, start-up, digital agency, consu firm, or in a tech department, you can learn the latest technology, grow yo skills, and deliver more value to your organisation. Build a stronger network women in tech communities worldwide, collaborate locally and globally, fi new opportunities, and contribute to the community to make an impact.

allies live ooms, If siness ulting our k with find

LONDON TECH WEEK When? 13th to 17th June, 2022 Where? London, UK Why attend? The UK’s flagship tech event attracts over 20,000 global government and corporate leaders, inspirational start-up founders, senior investors and tech rising stars to discuss the power of technology for societies. Held in one of the world’s most vibrant tech hubs, this year’s week-long festival will focus on exploring the next gen of tech innovation, impactful innovation at scale, and building a thriving tech industry. At London Tech Week, there really is something for everyone, with events on topics from AI and 5G, to quantum computing and the future of work.

DIGITAL ENTERPRISE SHOW When? 14th to 16th June, 2022 Where? Malaga, Spain Why attend? Digital Enterprise Show is a global event that brings together the top international tech companies to drive the world’s business digital transformation. An event that showcases the most cutting-edge solutions and products in cloud, IoT, social business, cybersecurity, big data and analytics, mobile, and the new job positions in the digital era, it is a must-attend for any business leaders who are ready to face the challenge of digitally transforming their businesses and becoming part of the new digital economy.

ODSC EUROPE When? 15th and 16th June, 2022 Where? London, UK Why attend? ODSC Europe is one of the largest applied data science conferences, with speakers including core contributors to may open source libraries and languages. It is comprehensive and totally community-focused, offering numerous opportunities to engage, build, develop and learn from the whole data science community. The 4,200 attendees will benefit from 30 workshops and 24 training sessions over eight focus areas. If you work in the industry or have a keen interest in data science, then this is the event for you!

DUBLIN TECH SUMMIT When? 15th and 16th June, 2022 Where? Dublin, Ireland Why attend? The Dublin Tech Summit bills itself as one of Europe’s fastest growing international tech conferences, boasting 8,000 attendees from over 60 countries, 200 speakers, 50 corporate partners, and 150 start-ups. Gathering together the most influential minds in tech and business from across the globe, themes include emerging technologies, machine learning, space exploration, tech for good, diversity in tech, big data and analytics.

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CLOUDFLARE CONNECT When? 16th June, 2022 Where? London, UK Why attend? Connect to the future of networking and security! By attending Cloudflare London, you will learn from Cloudflare executives, listen to expert guest speakers, and find out more about the future of the internet and network security. This event brings together leaders in network and security transformation to discuss what is happening next in the space, with keynotes and learning sessions, demos, hands-on labs, and real-world use cases.

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THE NEXT WEB CONFERENCE When? 16th and 17th June, 2022 Where? Amsterdam, The Netherlands Why attend? The Next Web Conference is where founders, investors, corporates and governments unite to discover the future of technology. A two-day technology gathering in the greater Amsterdam area, industry leaders and tech enthusiasts come together to explore how tech will shape the world of tomorrow, with over 150 guest speakers sharing their fresh and unique insights that audiences can bring back to the office. The 10,000 attendees can connect with peers and future employers during the many networking sessions, combining all the benefits of a conference with the energy of a festival!

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INFOSECURITY EUROPE When? 21st to 23rd June, 2022 Where? London, UK Why attend? Infosecurity Europe is the biggest cybersecurity event for the information security community, taking place at ExCeL London. A meeting for the industry’s finest minds, the aim is to deliver expertise, knowledge and networking opportunities to grow stronger and more resilient together. Connecting practitioners with suppliers to find true solutions, and bringing together industry peers to share innovation, learn from each other, test and benchmark solutions, build relationships, and drive new business, if you work in this space, it is not to be missed! In an industry characterised by constant change, it’s vital to keep abreast of all the latest developments, and Infosecurity Europe is designed to help you do just that.

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IN THE SP OTLIGHT

Tuum is a cloud-native, next-generation core banking platform built on decades of industry expertise. uum offers a modular platform that facilitates the integration of core banking features. It is built for allowing any business to rapidly offer seamless, tailored financial services to its customers. The highly modern

banking platform follows the microservice architecture and is composed of flexible and independent modules that cover end-to-end everyday banking processes. The company likes to take the analogy of Lego blocks: they fit together flawlessly, however, you can always take the blocks apart, use only some of them, leave others aside, or add some when necessary. The platform is APIbased for quick and easy integration with your existing ecosystem and can run on all main cloud

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“Heralding a new era in financial services, Tuum believes that launching unique, customer-centric products should be fast and straightforward, not complicated, risky and expensive”

providers, as well as on private clouds. If you need to introduce new lending products, new payment facilities, or even a new banking core, Tuum can help you to do it all in weeks. Heralding a new era in financial services, Tuum believes that launching unique, customercentric products should be fast and straightforward, not complicated, risky and expensive. Combining business know-how with advanced technology, the Tuum team of fintech pioneers is breaking down the barriers

inhibiting digital innovation in banking, allowing any business to launch exciting new financial products and services. Co-founded by five Estonian banking technology pioneers, Tuum currently powers clients ranging from large multinational banks to emerging fintech and SMEs by getting to the heart of their business and supercharging them from within. Tuum likes to think of itself as the innovation engine powering the next generation of financial services.

For further information, visit www.tuumplatform.com

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