60 Seconds With... Author and Digital Futurist Tom Chatfield
We all know what they are experts on, but we want to know what makes our speakers tick. In this series, we sit down with some of our key speakers for 60 seconds to find out a bit more about them before they take to the stage at FundForum International in Berlin, 6-8 June 2016.
60 Seconds with...
Tom Chatfield, Writer, Commentator and TEDGlobal Speaker
1. What is your personal philosophy?
I love the author Nassim Nicholas Taleb's advice: that you need to put yourself in a position where you can thrive on randomness, unpredictability and change. So you play some things very safe - while having enough time and flexibility to be able to act on sudden opportunities. In my case, this tends to mean saying "yes" to unusual projects simply because they seem interesting, important, or the kind of thing I have never done before. I don't ever want to say "no" to a shot at being part of something really significant or exciting, however unlikely.
2. If you could do another job for just one day, what would it be?
This is one of those questions where the honest answer is rather different from the answer that makes me look good! I ought to suggest something noble or worthy, but actually I'm fascinated by what it would be like to be the president of the United States for a day. I'm not remotely qualified, and I don't think the job would be anything like I imagined - but to learn what the actual experience of wielding that power and responsibility is like would be a remarkable opportunity.
3. Disruption is always on the tip of everyone’s tongue. In your opinion, what is going to be the ultimate game-changer for the finance industry?
The obvious answer is technology: automation, artificial intelligence. For me, though, I believe the most important game-changer when it comes to understanding where this disruption will fit into people's lives is already here: the smartphone. It's the basis of everything that is changing people's relationship with finance on a day-to-day basis around the world. It's a device that means you don't even need a conventional bank account to conduct most of your business, and that brings with it wholly new possibilities of customisation, user experience and integration. People live so much of their lives through mobile devices - trying to understand the lives of tomorrow means looking very closely indeed at what they are doing today, and why.
4. What's your favourite thing about Berlin?
The fact that I have never been there before! I feel slightly ashamed to admit this, but there you are. I have been to Germany a couple of times, but I have never made it to Berlin - so I'm sincerely hoping I will get to soak up at least a little culture, atmosphere, cuisine and beer. I'm dangerously fond of German food and drink, and if I was staying more than a couple of days would undoubtedly return home at least a kilo heavier.
5. What are you most looking forward to at Fund Forum 2016?
The opportunity to listen and to learn. Speaking is all very well, but getting to absorb such a considered and concentrated account of where the industry is heading is fascinating. Then, after the listening, comes the talking and the discussion - and this is what lasts. Some of the conversations I began during my last FundForum, in Hong Kong, are still continuing today.
Tom Chatfield will be speaking on 'Gamification, Financial Inclusion And Getting People Saving' at FundForum International, taking place in Berlin, 6-8 June 2016.