What do we mean by agility? Most people, when they talk about agility, mean one thing in particular—and that thing, of course, is speed. People think about being agile as being able to move rapidly, and frankly, for a bank, that's really important. Time to market affects time to profit. Yet, speed is not the whole of agility. It’s not sufficient for the cheetah we see on the screen to be fast; it is necessary for the cheetah to be something more than just fast.
Things change. There are things you know for certain—you have a team to manage, you have targets to hit—but you also have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen tomorrow. None of us does. We can predict, we can forecast, but none of us truly knows what tomorrow holds. So, in addition to speed, what we need—and what the cheetah needs—is agility: the ability to move in more than one dimension rapidly, to respond immediately, and more importantly, to predict and prepare. When one is chasing a market at high speed, it is necessary to anticipate which way that market will move in order to be as agile as a cheetah in catching a rapidly changing opportunity.
I had a conversation with a businessperson the other day who was complaining about everything happening in the world and how it was affecting her business. At one point, she said, “Why is this all happening to me?” I laughed and said, “It’s pretty obvious why this is happening to you—it’s because we live in a world of change.” A year ago, nobody had heard of COVID-19. A month ago, Donald Trump was still the President of the United States. Now we have a President-elect who isn’t Donald Trump. A week ago, BBVA and Sabadell were in the process of merging; today, they’re not. Things change incredibly fast.
Operating at scale amidst this kind of complexity and uncertainty means coping with major, unconnected changes. Speed alone is not enough; agility is what’s needed. Someone recently asked me, “What’s the difference between speed and agility?” I pointed out that when we watch a cheetah chase another fast-running animal, that animal is trying to get away—it dodges, moves, and changes direction quickly. Agility can be summed up as the ability to predict, prepare, and pivot rapidly. In a world of change like the one we see today, that is what’s necessary.
What’s happening in retail, business, or commercial banking is entirely different from what’s happening in corporate or wealth management. Each division operates differently, and no single person can make all the decisions, let alone for an entire bank. Managers need to let go of decision-making power and devolve it closer to the customer. When the market moves rapidly in unpredictable directions, the people in touch with customers need to make the decisions. The customer expects it.
Asking “What’s going on?” is a great question—but there is no time to ask that when the market shifts. By the time you ask, it’s too late. There are three types of banks in the world: banks that make things happen, banks that watch things happen, and banks that wonder what happened. The methodologies of agility—devolving decision-making, fostering innovation, being flexible, and empowering frontline teams—are necessary but not yet sufficient.
How do we move from watching things happen to making them happen? Through data. Banks collect enormous amounts of data and use it well, but they can use it even better. It’s not enough to just have data; we need analytics. We need to use that data to anticipate what should be done next—before the customer even realizes they need it. Predict and prepare. This is how technology enables agility. It is critical for bankers to understand that agile methodologies are not something being done to them—they are something we must adopt as an organization. Agile technologies are also not something happening to us; they are something we need to integrate into our mindset. We must think differently—not just looking at data to understand yesterday, but using analytics to predict tomorrow. Be the bank that makes things happen.
Why are we doing all this? Why can’t we just relax? Everybody needs a bank. Why can’t we just keep doing what we’re doing? The point of business agility is twofold: customer connection and competitive advantage. Agility is about decentralizing decision-making to where the customer is, creating a deep connection between the bank and its customers. Without customers, the bank cannot exist. Without the bank, many customers would struggle to operate. Our goal is to create an unbreakable connection between the bank and its customers.
When I first joined Santander, I heard the term “re-banking event.” I had never heard it before. It simply refers to an event that makes a customer think, “I need a new bank.” This could be a domestic business wanting to expand internationally or a retail customer seeking a mortgage they can’t get from their current bank. The key to agility is identifying these re-banking events before they happen—because that is a competitive advantage.
It’s not just about methodology or technology—those are just tools. The real advantage comes from how we use them to deepen customer relationships and gain a competitive edge. So, who cares about agility? Everybody should. We all should care about connecting with customers. We all should care about achieving competitive advantage. The bank certainly does, as financial services is one of the most brutally competitive industries in the world, evolving faster than ever.
Your team cares about agility because they want to succeed, whether they are in retail, corporate, or wealth management. Each requires a different skill set and business model, demanding a level of agility that doesn’t come naturally. We must learn to be agile. And you, as individuals, should care about agility because of a great quote from Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park: “Whenever an animal’s behavior puts it out of touch with the realities of its existence, it becomes extinct.” If you, as a banker, lose touch with the realities of the marketplace, it will leave you behind. If the bank is agile and you are not, there may not be a place for you in the bank. But if you are agile and the bank is not, you can carve out a place for yourself.
There are three key things to remember about agility. First, purpose. The purpose of agility is competitive advantage. The way we achieve this is by strengthening our connection with customers. This is not something that happens naturally—we must actively work towards it.
Second, principles. These guide our mindset. Agility is not just a methodology or a mindset—it is both. It requires management to let go of control and allow frontline teams to make decisions. This is difficult and challenging, but it is essential. Principles such as flexibility, responsiveness, and customer orientation shape how we approach agility.
Finally, practice. We can talk about agility for days, but we are not an agile organization until we behave like one. Decision-making must be pushed to the frontline. Our ways of delivering products and services must be adaptable. Good intentions are not enough—agility is about action.
Peter Drucker, the management guru, once said that entrepreneurship is not a character trait—it’s a behavior pattern. The same is true for agility. It’s not something an organization acquires once and for all. No one can ask, “Are we agile yet?” and expect a simple “yes.” Agility means continuously being prepared to adapt to the needs of the market. The competitive advantage we seek is not just against other banks—it is against the volatility of the marketplace itself.
Agility is the only antidote to market uncertainty. That concludes my presentation. I hope it has been interesting, I hope it has sparked some thoughts, and I look forward to discussing it with you later this afternoon. Thank you.