Shaping the Future of Banking and Financial Innovation

Executive Summary

From August 18 to 23, 2024, a delegation of C-suite leaders and Vice Presidents from Zanaco—one of Zambia’s leading financial institutions—participated in a five-day executive immersion program in Silicon Valley. The objective was to explore the future of banking and finance by engaging directly with global technology companies, venture leaders, and academic institutions at the forefront of innovation. Through a curated mix of workshops, site visits, and strategic discussions, the program provided actionable insights into digital transformation, innovation leadership, open banking, platform economies, and the evolving role of customer experience and cybersecurity in financial services.

Client Background

Zanaco (Zambia National Commercial Bank) serves as a key driver of financial inclusion and innovation across Zambia and the region. With a forward-thinking agenda and strong national presence, the bank aims to stay ahead of industry shifts by investing in digital transformation, customer-centric strategies, and operational agility. The immersion in Silicon Valley was designed to expose Zanaco’s senior leadership to global best practices and innovation models that could be applied to their own organizational evolution.

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The Challenge

Zanaco’s leadership sought to:

• Understand the Disruptive Trends in Financial Services and how global innovators are reshaping banking and fintech.
• Explore the Role of Culture, Strategy, and Leadership in driving sustainable innovation.
• Gain Practical Insights into Emerging Technologies, including AI, cybersecurity, open banking, and omnichannel platforms.
• Develop Internal Agility and Innovation Capacity to lead transformation efforts effectively.

The program needed to deliver a mix of visionary thinking, practical frameworks, and exposure to real-world innovation within just five days.

The Solution

The program was carefully structured to build on each day’s learning, with themes ranging from strategy and leadership to technology, ecosystem thinking, and customer innovation.

• Day 1: Setting the Innovation Agenda
  • SVIC Workshop: Innovation & Strategy – an interactive session to align innovation goals with market realities and long-term value creation.
  • Microsoft: Finance Disruptors – exploring global trends, AI in financial services, and the changing face of banking.
  • Sureify: Key Takeaways & the Innovation Roadmap – lessons from an insurtech scale-up on how to iterate, innovate, and adapt in highly regulated industries.
• Day 2: Inspiring Innovation Culture & Exploring the Fintech Frontier
  • SVIC Workshop: Becoming the Chief Excitement Officer – empowering executives to lead innovation with energy, vision, and team alignment.
  • Plug and Play Tech Center: Startups shared success stories and strategies to scale, offering exposure to disruptive business models in fintech.
  • Amazon: Culture of Innovation – a deep dive into Amazon’s leadership principles and how innovation is operationalized company-wide.
• Day 3: Teams, Tech, and the Future of Financial Services
  • IntoActions Workshop: How to Build an Innovation Team – frameworks for building cross-functional, high-performing innovation teams inside legacy organizations.
  • Silicon Valley Bank (SVB): Beyond Banking – insights into embedded finance, fintech partnerships, and innovation in customer experience.
  • Mastercard: Open Banking: Opportunities and Challenges – global trends, regulatory insights, and strategic implications for traditional banks.
• Day 4: Strategic Agility and Ecosystem Thinking
  • Santa Clara University: Strategic Agility for Executives – how to make faster, smarter decisions in a world of rapid change.
  • Salesforce: Building the Platform Economy – understanding how to participate in, or build, digital ecosystems that extend beyond banking.
  • Veem: Innovative Product Development – how to identify, prototype, and scale new offerings in a competitive and evolving market.
• Day 5: Leadership in the Digital Age
  • UC Berkeley Workshop: Silicon Valley Leadership – mindset shifts and leadership competencies needed to thrive in times of transformation.
  • Moxo: Omnichannel Customer Experience – redefining customer engagement in the era of personalization and seamless service.
  • Google: Meeting the Cybersecurity Challenge – how to future-proof digital financial services and ensure customer trust in an age of constant threats.

Implementation

The program delivered high-impact value through:

• Executive-Level Workshops and Applied Learning
• Exposure to Cutting-Edge Technologies and Business Models
• Direct Engagements with Founders, Innovators, and Strategic Thinkers
• Customized Discussions Framed Around Zanaco’s Growth Priorities

Each session was designed to spark new thinking and build momentum for change, equipping leaders with both vision and tactical tools.

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Results & Outcomes

Zanaco’s immersion in Silicon Valley led to several transformative outcomes:

• Strategic Alignment on Innovation Goals across leadership tiers
• Practical Playbooks for Internal Innovation Teams and product development pipelines
• New Partnerships and Connections with fintechs, technology providers, and platform companies
• Deeper Understanding of Open Banking, Embedded Finance, and AI Use Cases
• A Renewed Focus on Culture, Agility, and Leadership in Digital Transformation

Conclusion

Zanaco’s five-day executive immersion in Silicon Valley (August 18–23, 2024) marked a strategic milestone in its innovation journey. By engaging with world-leading companies, startups, and educators, the leadership team gained a comprehensive understanding of how financial services are evolving—and how Zanaco can lead that evolution in Africa. The experience helped crystallize a roadmap for embedding innovation into every layer of the organization, laying the foundation for a bold and future-ready banking model.