Sparking Innovation

Designers have gradually risen in corporate org charts as companies started to recognize the concrete contribution that design can make to innovation agendas.Many companies now even describe themselves as "Design Led" and a handful of companies have even appointed Chief Design Officers, reinforcing the centrality of design to their success. Aon is one of these trailblazers and, in this podcast, xLabs' Stephen Wood talks to Aon's CDO Lyle Sandler.They talk about Lyle's route from film school into founding design practices in investment banks, his pioneering Service Design work, and ultimately his journey to becoming CDO and the lessons he learned on the way. Lyle is an expert raconteur as well as being an accomplished designer. Sit back, listen, and enjoy. This podcast was recorded under COVID conditions and audio quality may vary at points.

In this episode of Sparking Innovation, we talk with design luminary Clive Grinyer about the role that design plays within tech-enabled innovation progammes. Over his career, Clive has worked with Bill Moggridege, the father of UX, employed (Sir) Jony Ive and worked with cutting edge tech firms, such as Samsung and Cisco, wrestling with the wicked problem of getting tech-engineering and design to work harmoniously and create great products, great services (and profit).Now leading the Service Design department at the RCA, Clive takes us through his design journey, the lessons that tech companies should learn about employing designers to get the best out of them and, interestingly, raises a question about whether tech companies will be able to attract the next generation of designers.Please note that this podcast was recorded during Covid Lockdown and audio quality varies.

Who do you trust to provide you with the best advice about managing your finances? The traditional banks clearly feel that they own this space, but the rise of Open Banking and the increasing sophistication of AI has created new money management apps and opened the door to new entrants. In the battle for retail banking customers Personal Financial Coaches (PFC's) are becoming ground zero. Players understand that winning this battle will define who thrives and who may not survive in the new banking world. In this episode we talk to Mandana Dilmaghani, Virtusa xLabs Service Design Lead, and Anil Awasthi, Virtusa's head of Retail Banking about the evolving PFM space and how players like Toucan, Plum and Yolt are designing and delivering engaging solutions using emerging tech.

In this episode we speak with Richard Ransom, Payments lead for Virtusa and banking industry veteran, about the impact of the Open Banking movement and how its reshaping the banking industry. Although most banks initially saw Open Banking as another compliance hurdle and as something that would primarily impact Retail banking, banks are now discovering value from Open Banking in unexpected areas. But will banks move fast enough to meet the needs of their corporate clients?

As the first wave of enthusiasm for building corporate innovation labs begins to subside, organisations are starting to question whether formal labs are the best way to stimulate and manage their innovation programmes. Although the pressure from new entrants and tech disruptors means that "innovation" remains at the top of corporate agendas, Virtusa xLabs has seen a number of the initial innovation lab evangelists redefine the role of the lab.In this micro-podcast your host, Audrey Mifsud, discusses the evolving shape of innovation labs the with industry veteran, Stephen Wood. VP of Design for Innovation at Virtusa xLabs.