A new balance in business models

Nevertheless, anyone with a keen eye for risk and change will still have business, says Hennen. He points to Ronald van der Vorst, who states: “The world is becoming an increasingly risky place. Assessing risk is essentially a bank’s core activity, and it is what we excel at.” Hennen: “As Head of Innovation at Rabobank Wholesale Rural, Van der Vorst has set himself the goal of capitalizing new revenue models and harnessing our current relationships and strengths to innovate. According to Van der Vorst, the Acorn carbon credit project is a good example of that, and the bank is working hard on getting more money flowing to projects that will help reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

Ingrid de Swart, COO/CTO and member of the board of directors of insurance group a.s.r., recognizes the emphasis from the ‘outside world’ on sustainability. She endorses it, too: “Our challenge was always to invest the money entrusted to us by clients in the best way possible. But a shift is occurring, and more is expected of our efforts with regard to vitality, long-term employment, self-sufficiency and impact based on the ESG principles. We are expected to adapt our business accordingly, and I think that's right. In fact, I think it's great that we're being asked to do so, as it makes us more appealing in what we do, which in turn lets us connect people to the organization.” Looking at the sustainable development goals, Patrick Hennen highlights a trend that has been accelerated by the pandemic: “The ‘war for the customer’, already going on for years between big retailers like Picnic, Jumbo and Albert Heijn, has entered a new era. In this world things used to revolve around profit, saving costs, and efficiency. Today, it’s all about optimizing multiple goals at once. It has become a balancing act between the business bottom line (profit), the contentment of customers and employees (people), and how a company impacts the environment (planet). This balance can vary per company, depending on its own purpose.”

Digitization has a huge impact on operational and logistic processes, but also on the technological side of things, claims Hennen: “There is going to be ever more data available, real-time and at your fingertips. Data that can give you more insights and from which you can learn. In order to be able to deal with that, you will have to use the cloud, smart algorithms and artificial intelligence.” When De Swart joined a.s.r. in 2019, a large part of her job was to initiate the digital transformation. She decided to start it by sitting down with all unit heads to draw up a joint management agenda that transcended the individual agendas of those existing units, innovation and IT: “Let’s define lofty goals together and determine what we need to do to accomplish them. It takes some investment, but – in my experience – setting the agenda together is the best way to ensure broad-based support. We are looking to strike the ideal balance between human interaction with real added value, the touch, the tech, and digitized convenience where possible.” Hennen notes that Van der Vorst thinks something similar. “Computers are excellent at making connections”, says Van der Vorst, “but so are people. Data-driven and intuitive innovation are both important. You should be trying to find a way to make opposites productive, getting one and one to add up to five. I am a big believer in Janusian thinking: the ability to entertain two contrasting ideas, perspectives, or concepts at the same time. It’s the basis for a myriad of technological inventions.” At a.s.r., they don't want to apply algorithms until they have very high-quality data, adds De Swart, “and not until we have thought carefully about inclusiveness and exclusivity.”

In Hennens experience, the explainability of AI becomes more important, the bigger the decision it supports is. “The board of directors will want to understand why a specific decision should follow the advice of the algorithm.” Marc Salomon, professor at the University of Amsterdam, affirms this. “It is incumbent on the government, businesses and the public to ensure that algorithmic decision-making stays verifiable and fair. Many companies still have quite some work to do if they are to meet the demand for transparency.” This need for transparency is also a sign of the times, Solomon adds, with equality, health and the environment becoming increasingly important. Companies should keep reconsidering their ethical compasses: “Any algorithm that makes decisions, discriminates by definition – making decisions is making choices, and making choices is discrimination. But does it discriminate more than we find ethically acceptable?” An ethical framework is crucial wherever you want to apply data science and artificial intelligence, says Hennen. Folkert Asselbergs, cardiologist at UMC Utrecht, agrees: “The skeptical attitude to using AI adopted by many patients and colleagues can also be traced back to trust, or a lack thereof, in data. This is one of the reasons why AI isn’t widely used in healthcare yet.” But that, he claims, is about to change: in ten years’ time AI could turn doctors into consultants. “Data scientists are far from having the final say, but AI support will come to play an increasingly important role in healthcare decision-making.”

Asselbergs believes the most important thing that AI will bring to healthcare is patient empowerment, thanks to the democratization of data. “The experience and knowledge gap between patients and doctors is tremendous, including data knowledge. We speak our jargon and wear a white coat, all of which creates distance. That distance will soon disappear because patients will know exactly what I know.” But for AI to take a flight, it is essential that more data become accessible: “Now is the time for action. The government has to facilitate data exchange before the next pandemic presents itself.” And, adds Salomon: “Education can play a key role in the success of a digital transformation. This includes academic education, of course, but also secondary vocational education, such as the Dutch MBO. MBO students may not go on to develop their own algorithms, but they would be perfectly capable of using applications that revolve around AI. I would therefore strongly recommend training MBO students in using AI algorithms. If we train and educate people properly, more people will be able to successfully make it through the digital transformation.” Hennen: “Awareness of data should be considered a great asset in every layer of an organization. That is the first step. If everybody logs data consistently, the information will become more valuable and more pure.”