Edelman Financial Engines

Can you walk us through your key roles and responsibilities?

My days and weeks in the role I serve are spent in planning, strategizing, and reviewing projects and project roadmaps to analyze our business objectives’ success and stakeholder engagement. It is usually done with the organization’s business and technology teams. The process also includes working with our business stakeholders to understand their needs and manage the relationships.

In addition, I deal with escalation issues in operation by managing our solutions and its vendors. Staying up to date on factors within the business and outside the business, that may impact our strategies and roadmaps, is another crucial part of my role.

What are the prominent challenges existing in the marketplace today?

The most prominent challenge is prioritizing a company’s resources and its requirements in a balanced way. Considering the limited budget and workforce in the present market conditions, companies need to prioritize their operations effectively to make an efficient use of their resources.

Oftentimes, people are seen spending too much time entangled in details and complexities, not getting enough time to deal with the problems that are causing these complexities. They must prioritize time to improve operational resilience and efficiency, thereby solving the root issues bothering them.

How can leaders deal with the changes in the IT infrastructure?

Leaders should put effort into understanding their business stakeholders’ needs, current technology’s capabilities and performance. The understanding helps them identify opportunities where technology can facilitate their stakeholder objectives. Stakeholder engagement can be accelerated through the use of dedicated agency apps, analytics, and artificial intelligence tools.

​ Leveraging AI in job roles can possibly bridge the gap between what people with longer and shorter job experiences would accomplish in similar roles 

Moreover, a company’s key performance indicators (KPI) should reflect the impact technology-driven solutions are having on their business objectives and goals. It should be value-based metrics rather than operational IT metrics.

What are the different ways in which AI is revolutionizing the financial planning industry?

Artificial intelligence is relevant in every industry, and financial services are no different. In the future, AI will replace many job roles, enhancing productivity. This includes tasks that would require days if done manually, like analysis and building content, getting reduced to hours. Leveraging AI in job roles can possibly bridge the gap between what people with longer and shorter job experiences would accomplish in similar roles.

Our organization is in the process of adopting AI into our services, while our current focus is on technology operations and improving resilience without growing our team.

What would be your piece of advice to your peers and the beginners in the industry?

Efficiently allocating time and resources is crucial in getting ahead of the problems. It puts you in a better position, and makes you more adept at handling the new challenges that constantly come up in today’s volatile market. Understanding your business and your priorities, and being able to focus your resources on that has a vital role in your business’s success.