Page 24 - The Insurance Times November 2024

Risk Management

2.0 in the new

Gen Z Milieu

Rajul Jain
Director Risk - Head of
Supervisory Risk Services at
Visa India and South Asia

I notice that the world has significantly changed over the last five years due to black swan events
(like Covid-19), geopolitical upheavals affecting supply chains (like situation in Middle east and
Eastern Europe) and tech advances (like AI, robotics) have reshaped the risk landscape. Risk
professionals must now adapt faster than ever to navigate these disruptions to ensure business
resilience.

A s I reflect on an article I wrote in 2018 on "Turn- risk of not achieving a business goal. This alignment ensures

ing Risk and Compliance function into a com- that business owners better appreciate risk and control func-
petitive edge", I notice that the world has sig- tions and helps maintain organizational focus.
nificantly changed over the last five years due
to black swan events (like Covid-19), geopolitical upheavals 2. Customer Centricity:
affecting supply chains (like situation in Middle east and While most commercial entities claim to focus on custom-
Eastern Europe) and tech advances (like AI, robotics) have ers, this focus often gets diluted throughout the operational
reshaped the risk landscape. Risk professionals must now value chain. A customer request may bounce between func-
adapt faster than ever to navigate these disruptions to en- tions due to internal processes, delaying outcomes. Moving
sure business resilience. forward, it's crucial for us to perform risk assessment on
processes with focus on customer requirements (beyond
Here, I highlight five aspects that can help us better pre- standardized risk events) and create a unified mitigation
pare for the future: strategy from a customer's perspective. This approach can
help management break down silos and re-evaluate risk
1. Single Lens on Business Objectives: appetites.
Organizations excel when they prioritize business objectives
and obsess over solving real-life problems. As Risk profes- 3. AI and Technology:
sionals, we must view all our deliverables (e.g., risk frame- AI and technology are now intertwined with our operations,
works, methodologies, policies) through the same lens and with most major tech companies incorporating AI plugins
align them with business owner objectives. For example, into their tools. On a broader scale, technology has become
each item in the risk and control self-assessment (RCSA) foundational to the economy, from consumer activities (e.g.,
should link to a business problem and how it mitigates the authentication at airports to e-commerce). This develop-

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