Anton Musgrave – “The future will see cashless society”

Futurist and strategist Anton Musgrave said businesses must stop focussing on incremental changes to the “Business of Today” and build a very clear picture about what would be the ideal “Business of Tomorrow».

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BUSINESS MAGAZINE. What are the major technological trends transforming business around the world?

The technology trend landscape is dominated by a few key technologies – Additive Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, Internet of Things (or as I prefer to say “Internet of Everything”), Digitisation of everything – leading to ubiquitous automation across industries; Block-chain, Bio and Nano tech; Cognitive neurosciences; Augmented and Virtual Reality and Advanced Analytics.

Then it gets really interesting as we see these key tech forces combine and trigger a plethora of new exciting changes in how we live, connect, communicate, transact, record and manage complex systems. Of course, many of these technologies are scary and will cause the destruction of many business models and industries, but will also create many new, some even not thought of yet, businesses and industries. However, to capitalise on this shift, businesses will need to maintain a keen eye on the future of their industries, and not be held back by legacy thinking, systems or even legacy people and products.

BUSINESS MAGAZINE. Mauritius recently celebrated its 50 years of independence. What could be the economy-shifting technologies for the country?

Mauritius is unique in that it has already seen, in my view, the shift from its traditional industry of agriculture, textiles, etc. to tourism and financial services. However, the world of global financial services is about to experience tremendous change itself and Mauritius will need to ensure a modern regulatory framework and skills base to stay ahead and relevant in the face of changing financial services. The inevitable shift to tech-enabled transactional systems, incorporating technologies like block-chain, crypto currencies and API’s, with an increasingly transparent and globalised record keeping systems, will demand new approaches and new value propositions for financial services players. The world of leisure activities will however remain buoyant with strong growth ahead.

The creative arts, including in textiles and clothing, will grow but with a strong tech foundation, new manufacturing system less reliant on manual labour but high tech driven is also an opportunity – however it will be dependent on Mauritius attracting the right tech skills – not that difficult with its favourable tax regime, great lifestyle and good air access. However, fast, ubiquitous, free or very low cost fibre access is key.

BUSINESS MAGAZINE. Internet of Things revolution is certainly underway and is set to have far-reaching implications for business and consumers. What will be the impact on jobs in a country such as Mauritius, where manufacturing is among the biggest employer?

The harsh reality is that traditional labour intensive industries will all face job losses in most categories – from manual labour to even some professional skills. All economies will need skills redevelopment programs to facilitate labour relevance in a high-tech world. Many countries are already exploring and even experimenting with the concept of universal minimum wages to prepare for a new world of work. Reskilling with future needed skills is critical. Even Finland, renowned as the world best education system, has recently redesigned their entire school curriculum, dispensing with teaching traditional siloed subjects! They now teach for systems thinking skills, critical analysis and problem solving. The good news for Mauritius is that future manufacturing relevance will depend less on low labour costs and more on high technological efficiency and speed.

“Future manufacturing relevance will depend less on low labour costs and more on high technological efficiency and speed”

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BUSINESS MAGAZINE. As technology is expected to eliminate some jobs but create new ones, how do next generation jobs look like?

Future relevant jobs will need to focus on adding humanness to the customer value proposition as machines take over more of the normal processes – from medical doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, to admin staff, etc. any tasks that can be automated will be. So, the core question is what can machines NOT do? A simple way of explaining this is that if you can describe what you do every day, you have a good chance of being disintermediated by a machine! Humanness extends from creativity, to empathy, insights, synthesis, emotional support, caring, attitude, and so on. For the short term, obviously all high-tech jobs will grow in demand, but beware as machines become smarter they will even be able to write code in the not very distant future.

BUSINESS MAGAZINE. What are the major trends and driving forces currently impacting the banking industry?

Big question but actually easy or relatively easy to answer – shifting customer needs is the core driver – we all want speed, efficiency, flexibility and choice. Old banking systems were never designed for that world and so struggle to integrate the benefits of FinTech solutions into legacy mainframe driven systems. It’s insane that in 2018 a customer cannot, for example, “freeze” a credit card that is temporarily lost and unfreeze it himself 30 minutes later when it appears from a shirt in the laundry. A call to a call centre (that itself is archaic) triggers a lost card process that demands a new card issue some days or even weeks later if it is an international card.

Payments from one bank to another internationally still take days to effect – when all it needs to be is a simultaneous debit and credit in a ledger – but enter block-chain and all these change. Enter the wonderful world of APIs and we can all have access to the very best solutions from multiple developers, now one day our own bank. Of course, the regulatory frameworks of the world need modernisation but regulators are not renowned for being ahead of the innovation curve. The future will see a cashless society, instant transactional capability and a wide choice of integrated instant solutions providers. Banks need to enable this world. Digitisation, and all that this encompasses and enables, is not the DNA of most banks, and it needs to be. The problem is that few banks have anyone younger than 45 on their Boards and very seldom have a tech guru on their boards so key strategic decisions are still filtered through yesterday’s insights and thinking.

“Corporations need to create a risk budget to fund change, innovation and experimentation… and be prepared to fail”

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BUSINESS MAGAZINE. How can businesses harness new technologies to thrive in today’s challenging marketplace?

Businesses must stop focussing on incremental changes to the “Business of Today” and build a very clear picture (and aspiration) about what would be the ideal “Business of Tomorrow». Technology is only an enabler for business growth and innovation, customers should not be troubled by technology complexities. For that, corporations need to create a risk budget to fund change, innovation and experimentation… and be prepared to fail. Businesses must be clear about what real differentiated value they bring to the society or the market. Everyone in your entire ecosystem must be excited to be a part of delivering and experiencing that solution! This goes beyond having a “mission” statement. It should be core of the entire business to inspire, excite and enable talent to really trigger exponential opportunities and do not accept simply linear goals.