The financial services sector has long since embraced technology for online banking and customer experience, investment insights and decision making, back-office automation, in-store retail banking experience and much more. Yet, financial services corporate real estate (CRE) departments are still lagging behind other support functions in their digital transformation journeys. By creating an integrated technology strategy, however, a CRE team can use data-driven outcomes to reduce a company’s operating costs, optimize existing technology systems, create consumer trust, understand the needs of its workforce and achieve numerous other critical-to-business outcomes.

Several obstacles keep CRE teams from making decisions on technology and business process outsourcing that drive positive change. Data is foundational—but creating a data architecture and governance process seems daunting and expensive when it involves the complicated integration of disparate technologies. “CRE leaders are drawn to advanced technologies and AI as they recognize how fast digital innovation is sweeping across every function of Financial Services, but they often struggle to find the right starting point,” said Mike Sandridge, Head of Technology and Client Solutions, Financial Services Work Dynamics, JLL.

“CRE leaders are drawn to advanced technologies and AI as they recognize how fast digital innovation is sweeping across every function of Financial Services, but they often struggle to find the right starting point” 

- Mike Sandridge, Head of Technology and Client Solutions, Financial Services Work Dynamics, JLL

Additionally, the regulatory environment coupled with cybersecurity and data protection risk make this industry’s digital transformation journey particularly nuanced.

Building the business case for investment can be challenging without expert input, whereas other aspects of capital planning —like replacing outdated equipment— are much easier to defend. But without prioritizing technology strategy, “data-driven” is not possible, and the application of advanced artificial intelligence becomes a pipe dream.

All financial services organizations have technology in place, but that technology (and the data it produces) is almost always disconnected and not delivering optimal business value. To achieve transformative data outcomes, it’s critical to pull all the siloed information together, build rigor to make that information completely reliable, and most importantly, align and apply it to clear business objectives.