Mr. Shafqat Azim, Managing Vice President

Mr. Nicolas Tollie, Managing Partner

Gartner Japan

Many innovations have emerged in the past few years which have used new technologies to improve banking operations on both corporate and retail services. Faster digital platforms for client background checks, AML, settlements and other processes made possible for financial transactions to become increasingly simpler and faster.

These innovations are pushing traditional financial services players to change their structure and facilitating the market entry of new players.

Experts from Gartner Japan will present their views on the current state of play of digitalisation in the financial services industry. Topics will include:

• Key drivers for banking digitalisation.
• Expenditures benchmarking, key development areas and current state of the industry.
• The Competition between traditional firms and fintech players.
• Regulatory trends for digital operations.
• Best practices for digital and IT transformation.

Shafqat Azim leads the Digital Business Transformation, CXO/Executive Leadership and Security/Risk Management Practices within Gartner Consulting. He is focused on helping large enterprises gain differentiation and business advantage through the adoption of highly digitalized business models. He brings more than 25 years of business and IT management experience to the firm, including international business management experience in North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. Throughout his career, Mr. Azim has led the ideation, incubation and operationalization of new capabilities within the organizations he has led. He has built many new service lines based on emerging business trends and technologies for innovative firms such as Inacom, Vanstar, Meta Group and Gartner.He graduated from the State University of New York with a double major in Physics and Computer Science, and he completed his M.B.A. in Information Systems and Finance. He has also completed an Executive Development Program from Darden Business School, University of Virginia.

Nicolas Tollie is a Managing Partner with Gartner Consulting based out of the Gartner Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Nicolas joined Gartner in 2016 and is focused on identifying, developing and growing Gartner’s engagement with the international Financial Services and Insurance industry across the Asia/Pacific region. Previous to this he was the Representative in Japan of a consulting company. He has spent most of his career in Europe and Asia supporting financial services firms with their ongoing business challenges. His capabilities include business transformations, regulatory impact analysis and readiness, cost management, business improvement and remediation, trade cost management, target operating model and new business launch. Prior to consulting, he held various managerial positions in banking in Japan where he developed industry knowledge. He holds an MBA from Duke University and is a CFA holder, and is a happy father of two half-French half-Korean daughters.