Banking on Change: The Leader’s Guide to Achieving Exponential Growth in the Age of AI

By James Robert Lay

The Age of Artificial Intelligence spares no one from its transformative power. In fact, the rate at which technological change is accelerating is not just significant; it's exponential in a way that has the power to reshape entire industries, from education to healthcare to banking. This can feel both exciting and confusing, both opportunity-rich and overwhelming.

How do we keep up? How do we move forward? What's the next best step?

The answer here lies in assessing the real obstacle to future growth: human transformation. As a leader, are you excited and energized about an exponential future? Or does the path feel frustrating and chaotic? Do you have the tools, strategies, and mindset to lead others in co-creating an even bigger, better, and brighter future together? Or do you risk getting stuck because you fear the unknown, change, and failure?

In Banking on Change, bestselling author James Robert Lay draws from his decades of leadership in financial services and fintech to guide you on a journey of human transformation, helping ensure you, your team, and your organization achieve exponential growth in the Age of AI.

In this book, you will learn a strategic growth framework that can be applied to any industry—not just banking—while discovering practical strategies for avoiding common pitfalls that can quickly steal your time, energy, and attention.

With proven models and methodologies that integrate ancient wisdom with practical modern-day strategies, Banking on Change is your ultimate guide to navigating the complexities of change so you can achieve exponential growth with courage and confidence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9798990031708

James Robert Lay

James Robert Lay is one of the world's leading digital marketing authors, speakers, and advisors for financial brands. As a digital anthropologist, he wrote the bestselling book Banking on Digital Growth, and his weekly podcast educates financial brand leaders in more than 140 countries. As the founder and CEO of the Digital Growth Institute, James Robert teaches marketing and sales leaders at financial brands how to level up their loan and deposit growth. He has also been named a top global financial services influencer to follow by The Financial Brand, while his insights are frequently featured in outlets such as U.S. News & World Report, Quartz, American Banker, and Credit Union Times.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

CHANGE IS HARD

Change is scary. Change is painful. This is even more true when change is exponential, as it has been, as it is, and as it will continue to be in the Age of AI.

You are reading this book because you’re part of a team leading your bank, credit union, or fintech on a journey of exponential growth. Perhaps you’re a mortgage lender or financial advisor who recognizes that the world around you is undergoing exponential change, so you are looking for clarity and a path forward beyond all the confusion, chaos, and complexity of the present moment. Or maybe you’re reading this right now because you’re a gifted executive leader or entrepreneur, and someone you trust recommended this book to help you guide your team and organization through exponential change.

Although I wrote this book especially for those in banking and financial services, the ideas and insights you’ll find through the following chapters can, in fact, be applied to any industry experiencing exponential change, from education and healthcare to manufacturing and retail services. That’s because none of us can escape the exponential changes we are experiencing in the Age of AI.

The good news: with exponential change comes new opportunities for exponential growth.

WHAT IS EXPONENTIAL GROWTH?

In the Age of AI, it’s important that we pause and take the time to really ponder this question. Let’s start with what we know beyond a shadow of doubt: we are already experiencing exponential change, and it’s bound to continue. Change can feel uncomfortable, to put it mildly. We were all reminded of this in a fundamental way when the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country and the whole world in 2020, throwing many of our previously held assumptions—about work, health, and much more—into question.

But on the flip side, exponential change presents us with opportunities to grow in ways we never thought possible both personally and professionally. The two must be addressed at the same time because when you’re struggling on a personal level, whatever you’re going through is very likely to impact you professionally. And vice versa.

While COVID-19 ushered in what some call The Great Reset, I have observed a great awakening in human potential—rooted in human transformation—as one of the greatest lessons among many to emerge from the COVID era in that our personal and professional lives are no longer independent of each other. Of course, this trend was already evident to many of us, at least in business circles. But now it’s clearer than ever that the days of work–life balance are over. Rather, the name of the game is work–life integration, brought about in large part by the rise of digital tools and technologies that, for better or worse, have created always-on, 24-7 access. But what exactly is work–life integration? As Stephen Kohler, CEO and founder of Audira Labs, notes: Work–life balance is focused on keeping your work life and your personal life separate, but equal, whereas work–life integration is centered on the belief that there is no distinction between the two and that both must coexist in harmony.

Sometimes this blending of personal and professional lives can create friction, frustration, and conflict, and these feelings are amplified when the world around us is going through exponential change. I have struggled with adapting to the confusing, chaotic new landscape, and in the pages ahead I will share my own story of navigating exponential change. As you will see in my journey—as well as those of numerous financial brand leaders whom I spoke to for this book—exponential change does pose new, often extreme challenges. It’s important to remember that exponential change also presents us with exciting opportunities for exponential growth.

As a digital anthropologist studying the intersection of marketing, sales, technology, and human behavior through the lens of financial services and banking, the ongoing exponential changes in the Age of AI have been my primary focus and area of study for the past two decades now. Over this time, what I’ve observed and concluded, beyond any shadow of doubt, is when it comes to the inherent chaos and complexity of exponential change, the greatest challenges for financial brands are rooted not in technology but in human behavior.

Consider for a moment that historically 60 to 85 percent of all digital transformation initiatives at a global level have either failed completely or at least failed to meet expectations. These dismal numbers don’t reflect problems with the technology. Instead, they stem from human beings, the people in charge of analyzing, acquiring, and applying all the fancy new tools. Inherent to the introduction of such technologies in any workplace or human arena is how they bring about, or even force, some change in human behavior. Or as Maurice Lisi, head of Direct Channels at BPER Banca in Italy, puts it: Digital transformation is not about introducing new technology; it’s about people and culture transformation.

I’ve had a front-row seat to these issues around human behavior, having watched transformation after transformation fail. In fact, I used to be part of the problem, at least back when my firm, the Digital Growth Institute, still used the traditional consulting model. In those early days, we would take financial brands through our standard discovery and diagnostic process, provide them with findings and recommendations, and then try to guide them forward to a better place. What’s wrong with that, you ask? Well, at a certain point, I started noticing a very troubling pattern: only one or two out of every ten brands would actually apply our findings and recommendations for maximizing their future growth potential. The other eight would do little or nothing at all, and so inevitably, their future became their predictable past. Their potential for exponential growth was neutered, and that’s because of a fundamental disconnect: the future they were building was based on present-day actions, habits, and beliefs.

When I began to observe this unfortunate pattern, a light bulb turned on in my head. I realized that just because an individual, team, or organization had gained perspective into their current situation and where they could go next, that didn’t mean they would necessarily act on that insight to progress to a better place. Clearly, something was still holding these financial brands back from committing to an exponential growth journey and moving forward with courage and confidence.

Gradually, I identified a common culprit in these scenarios, which was the lack of clarity. But behind this problem was a deeper one: fear of the unknown. Almost all these brands—that took our findings and recommendations but then did nothing with them—struggled with the same obstacle: internally and institutionally they lacked the foundational knowledge and awareness to apply the recommendations they had been given. So after hundreds of hours of research, testing, and refining our own methodology, we landed on a solution, a path out of the chaos and confusion toward genuine exponential success for individuals, teams, and organizations. Our new approach was rooted in a transformational model of education and coaching, and that made all the difference. The financial brands we worked with were now really starting to see things differently, not just paying lip service to our ideas and advice. Eventually, not only was their thinking transformed but entire belief systems and structures were as well, resulting in their commitment to take action to create an even bigger, better, and brighter future.

Our new attention on coaching also created a culture of accountability to prevent leaders and their teams from falling back on old habits and behaviors. Now, finally, they were actually putting to use the knowledge they had gained and seeing some traction on their exponential growth journey. The way they perceived the world had changed and, thrillingly for them, their perception was becoming reality.

It’s important to note here that perception and reality are not the same, but our perceptions can help shape our reality. Perception can also function as a filter through which we see and feel our present reality. When we are on a journey to achieve exponential growth, our perception helps us gain perspective into the present while also analyzing the past and coming to clear conclusions about the future. Through this process, we learn how to apply our knowledge to confidently navigate the complexities of exponential change—and ultimately achieve exponential growth.

A large percentage—60 to 85 percent—of all digital transformation initiatives at a global level have either failed completely or failed to meet expectations. As the world moves ever further into the exponential changes brought on by the Age of AI, perhaps the biggest exponential leap we’ve seen in human history so far, how can you not only defy those historical odds but transform challenges into opportunities, lemons into lemonade, and create a growth that is exponential and enduring?

THE EXPONENTIAL PACE OF EXPONENTIAL CHANGE

If we look back over the course of our history, we find four pivotal moments when exponential change transformed culture and humanity:

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, we learned to harness the power of fire. This led to exponential advances in human evolution. Now, fire could provide not only light, warmth, and protection, but also more advanced tools and weapons.

The invention of the printing press in 1436 empowered people to share ideas at scale. The widespread transfer of knowledge that ensued had the effect of exponentially transforming cultures around the world.

Harnessing electrical power in the late nineteenth century led to an Industrial Revolution in which economies that had been built around agriculture and handicrafts reinvented themselves as economies of mass production powered by factories that could operate around the clock.

Finally, the invention of the microchip in 1958 gave way to the rise in the 1960s of extraordinary computing power, which in turn ushered in a technological revolution that is still driving exponential change to this day.

These key points from the past provide helpful context for understanding our present moment. With these and other exponential leaps, all too often we don’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late and has become the new cultural norm. It’s human nature to resist change because it can feel scary, confusing, and painful—especially so, perhaps, for financial brand leaders, who by their nature tend to be risk-averse. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are likely more inclined to lean into uncertainty as a way of capturing unseen opportunities. I would even argue that this dynamic, this different temperament, is what lies behind the rapid and exponential, global rise of fintechs.

But to get back to our history lesson, out of those four examples I shared, the first two or three unfolded over the course of hundreds, even thousands, of years. As you’ll soon see, however, exponential change is now occurring at a much faster speed, and it’s getting faster all the time. To contextualize this pace of change, take a moment to return mentally to 1994. Assuming you were alive back then, consider what things were like: how you shopped, how you communicated with other people, how you booked a flight or hotel—and, yes, how you banked.

I didn’t just choose the year 1994 out of a hat. It’s the year that the internet entered our mass consciousness. Now, think of everything that’s happened since that time:

July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos launched Amazon, ultimately changing how we shop.

May 18, 1995: Wells Fargo launched the world’s first online banking platform, ultimately changing how we bank.

August 29, 1997: Netflix was founded, ultimately changing the way we watch shows and movies.

June 1, 1999: Napster was launched, ultimately beginning to change how we listen to music.

October 28, 2003: FaceMash was founded (and would go on to become Facebook), ultimately transforming how we connect with and relate to other people.

February 14, 2005: YouTube launched, ultimately changing how we consume video media.

March 14, 2006: Amazon rolled out Simple Storage Service, or S3, which marked the birth of AWS (Amazon Web Services), ultimately changing how we approach e-commerce. (AWS would go on to power one-third of the internet in 2020. And while it accounted for just 12 percent of Amazon’s total revenue, AWS made up 59 percent of the company’s $22.9 billion profit before interest and taxes.)

January 9, 2007: Steve Jobs launched the iPhone, ultimately changing how we communicate, consume, and connect.

August 11, 2008: Airbnb was founded, ultimately changing how we travel.

January 3, 2009: Bitcoin blockchain officially launched, ultimately changing not only the financial world, but also the very concept of ownership.

March 2009: Uber was founded, ultimately changing how we travel within a city.

June 7, 2010: Apple launched FaceTime, once again changing how we connect and communicate.

May 2011: Royal Bank of Scotland launched the world’s first mobile banking app, again changing how we bank.

February 2012: MrBeast, at age thirteen, uploaded his first YouTube video, ultimately changing how we think about influencers and celebrities.

August 22, 2012: A beta version of Zoom was released, ultimately changing how we connect and communicate—professionally at first and then, almost a decade later, personally.

September 2016: TikTok launched, ultimately changing how we connect, communicate, and consume short-form media.

October 2019: Oral-B introduced their AI-powered toothbrush as the Internet of Things (IoT) expands, changing how we collectively viewed the potential for connected devices.

October 28, 2021: Mark Zuckerberg introduced Meta with a future focus on helping people connect, find communities, and grow businesses within the metaverse.

November 30, 2022: AI reached the mass consciousness of humanity through the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, ultimately changing how we approach research, creativity, and innovation.

March 10, 2023: The world’s first-ever digital bank run collapsed Silicon Valley Bank in thirty-six hours, ultimately showing how the speed, scale, and reach of digital communication impacts the entire banking industry.

February 2, 2024: Apple launched Vision Pro, ultimately ushering in a new era of spatial computing and AR (augmented reality) that further blends the physical and digital worlds together.

This timeline reveals not only the exponential changes we’ve lived through but also the exponential rate at which we’re experiencing them.

This is why Bill Gates once shared, We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.

For example, consider the exponential growth of ChatGPT as it became the fastest-growing consumer application in history reaching over 100 million active users in just two months. For comparison, it took Instagram two and a half years to reach 100 million users while it took nine months for TikTok to do the same after their global launch.¹

Now, consider for a moment what will happen when AI achieves human-level intelligence in this decade, as futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted all the way back in 1999. Every industry—from retail to healthcare to education to, yes, banking—will be transformed in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. How will this make you feel? Are you stuck in the mode of doing whatever it is you do? Is what you do (your job) even safe? And, most importantly, will there be new opportunities for you to create, capture, or capitalize on that you can’t perceive yet? After all, how could you possibly have envisioned back in 1994 doing the work you do now, the way you do it now, with all the tools and technologies at your disposal today?

Taking the time to review, learn, and think through each of these questions is crucial to developing an exponential perspective.

Think of it like this:

If Perspective = Context + Framing, then

Exponential Perspective = (Context + Framing) (Reframing).

Reframing what we know and have experienced in banking, Jason Henrichs, CEO of Alloy Labs, notes, The coming decade will be the most transformative decade in the history of financial services—more transformative than the move from the gold standard or the creation of regulatory bodies. It will change the lives of consumers more than the advent of the HELOC, ATM, and digital banking. It will have a greater global scope than 2008. Challenger banks, blockchain, and AI combined are nothing more than the first drops of rain. ²

Through the following chapters, I will help you continue to gain exponential perspective, and I will do so not just by philosophizing in an abstract way but by sharing dozens of practical tools, models, and methodologies—the very same ones that have helped over three thousand financial brand leaders along their own exponential growth journeys. Think of them as a way of achieving the clarity and confidence you crave while simultaneously serving to calm the mental conflict and chaos that has haunted you and your teams.

You might also think of the book as an objective, third-party solution for elevating your Employee Experience (EX). That’s because a positive EX—one where employees feel comfortable, capable, and confident—leads to a positive Human Experience (HX) that then becomes exponentially multiplied by the overall Digital Experience (DX). The end result is the very thing we are all looking for, and the reason you came to the book in the first place: future exponential growth for yourself, your team, and your organization as a whole.

(EX + HX) DX = Exponential Growth

The formula above is actually an updated one. Earlier in my career, and even with my first book, Banking on Digital Growth, I missed a big part of this equation. I was so focused on the Digital Experience and also the Human Experience that I forgot the Employee Experience.

In the same forthright spirit, I must put forth an important caveat: this is not a book about technology per se, at least not in the traditional sense. In fact, as the artist and musician Laurie Anderson once said: If you think technology will solve your problems, you don’t understand technology—and you don’t understand your problems. I couldn’t agree more. To achieve exponential growth in the Age of AI, the most important technology for you to master is the incredibly sophisticated machine that sits between your ears.

In particular, that means learning how to 10X your thinking.

10X VS. LINEAR THINKING

To achieve exponential growth in the Age of AI, you must first have faith that exponential growth is even possible. How can you begin to solidify this belief in yourself, your team, and your organization? It all has to start at the source, with you. Your beliefs influence your thoughts, which then impact your feelings, which then inform your concrete actions. Those actions, when repeated, are imprinted into habits. Finally, those habits lead to future growth that is predictable and exponential. (Don’t worry, we will revisit this sequence again and again throughout the book. But the point is that it all begins with you, not the technology.)

Digital transformation is not about getting the latest and greatest technology. Nor is cultural transformation simply about launching a new brand. It’s the same across the board. Financial transformation is not simply about making or saving more money. Nor is transforming one’s health simply about trying a new diet or starting a new workout. The fact of the matter is that all transformations, and especially the ones that lead to exponential growth, are the result of something deeper: human transformation.

Human transformation happens when a profound mental shift occurs and the mind’s eye gains a new, exponential perspective, perceiving things in a fundamentally different way than before. Because this individual breakthrough lies at the root of all transformations, it makes no sense whatsoever to focus digital transformation initiatives at the organizational level, as I and many others have historically done. That approach just leads to confusion, chaos, and conflict among teams. Teams are made up of individuals—and when there is a lack of clarity inside their minds, inevitably it creates friction and frustration.

The individual, mental nature of change doesn’t mean exponential growth will be easy. In fact, many readers—especially bankers—will find that their minds are, at least initially, riven with internal conflict. That’s because bankers are typically left-brain types: smart, analytical leaders whose thinking is driven by logic. Nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, generally speaking, it’s a good, appropriate mode for those dealing with and managing people’s money. But it also leads to linear, 2X thinking. The right brain, by contrast, is where creative thinking and empathy come from. It’s what allows us to grasp the bigger picture. As humans, we do this through pattern recognition, and this process is also the key to innovation and future transformation. Indeed, the creative facilities of our right brains are what open our minds up to exponential, 10X thinking.

Let me be clear: one side of the brain isn’t inherently better than the other. We all need a balance, and in order to achieve exponential growth, both sides of the brain have to work together in harmony.

However, intelligence (IQ) alone will no longer lead to exponential growth in the Age of AI. In fact, Mo Gawdat, author of Scary Smart, predicts that By 2049 AI will be a billion times more intelligent than humans. He notes, To put this into perspective, your intelligence, in comparison to that machine, will be comparable to the intelligence of a fly in comparison to Einstein. ³

It is for this reason, we require a new formulaic approach to achieve exponential growth in the Age of AI for individuals, teams, and organizations:

EQ + AQ > IQ

Your AQ (Adaptability Quotient)—the ability to adapt and transform habits, actions, feelings, thoughts, and beliefs, when combined with your EQ (Emotional Quotient), the ability to effectively connect, empathize, and communicate with others—is far greater than your IQ (Intelligence Quotient) alone.

The good news is that you don’t have to walk the path alone to achieve exponential growth. I will walk this journey with you and ensure you’re headed in the right direction. It is my mission to help you, your team, and your organization achieve exponential growth in the Age of AI.

Why take a journey of exponential growth instead of a linear path? I assume most of you are sold on this concept already but if not, take it from Kurzweil who writes: If I take 30 steps linearly, I get to 30. If I take 30 steps exponentially, I get to a billion. For context, one billion steps would be like walking around planet Earth twenty-six times.

So, here’s how we are going to get there, you and I together.

In Part One: The Exponential Growth Journey, I’ll start by guiding you through a strategic framework that’s rooted in thousands of years of narrative archetype and has been proven to stand the test of time. Not only that, but this framework has provided clarity to increase the courage and confidence of over three thousand financial brand leaders who have successfully committed to moving forward and making progress along their own exponential growth journeys.

From there, I guide you through Part Two: Prepare for Exponential Growth, where I show you how to apply this ancient wisdom in the Age of AI. I also help you avoid the common pitfalls and dangers that can trip you up on your journey, especially the digital distractions that will steal your time, energy, and attention.

Finally, in Part Three: How to Achieve Exponential Growth Every 90 Days, I give you the practical tools, models, and methodologies for maximizing your exponential growth potential in the Age of AI.

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1  CHATGPT Sets Record for Fastest-Growing User Base – Analyst Note. Reuters. Accessed April 26, 2023.h​ttps:​//www​.reut​ers.c​om/te​chnol​ogy/c​hatgp​t-set​s-rec​ord-f​astes​t-gro​wing-​user-​base-​analy​st-no​te-20​23-02​-01/.

2  Henrichs, Jason. Welcome to 2020 (Sailing into the Storm). LinkedIn, October 19, 2020. h​ttps:​//www​.link​edin.​com/p​ulse/​welco​me-20​20-sa​iling​-stor​m-jas​on-he​nric​hs/.

3  DL, Dr. Vikas Shah MBE. The Future of Artificial Intelligence, a Conversation with Mo Gawdat, Author of Scary Smart. Thought Economics, October 19, 2023. h​ttps:​//tho​ughte​conom​ics.c​om/mo​-gawd​at/.

PART ONE

THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH JOURNEY

CHAPTER ONE

DO YOU CARE ENOUGH FOR GROWTH?

The date was March 11, 2020, and I was headed to Toronto for a quarterly business trip, staying at the Fairmont Hotel across the street from Union Station. But on my flight in from Houston, I saw that the WHO had just officially declared COVID a pandemic. It made me think about a recent family trip. Not even a month earlier, my wife and I had surprised our four kids with a Disneyland vacation. We had picked them up early from school on Valentine’s Day. At that time, COVID was just starting to surface on the West Coast, and we had briefly pondered delaying the trip. Looking back, I’m so glad we didn’t because we got to spend three wonderful days together as a family (that is, after the kids decided to stop fighting on the first day) and made memories that will last us for a lifetime. But also, now in retrospect, I’m struck by how none of us really knew the extent to which our world—and our whole reality—was about to completely transform.

That night in Toronto, I was eating dinner at the hotel bar waiting for the tip-off of the NBA game between the Oklahoma Thunder and Utah Jazz. But instead, I watched a series of unforgettable events unfold in real-time:

At 8:31 p.m., without warning, the Jazz and Thunder were sent back to their locker rooms during pregame warm-ups.

Then at 8:40 p.m., the game was officially postponed by the NBA.

At 9:14 p.m., news broke on Twitter that Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, had tested positive for COVID.

At 9:27 p.m., it was announced that Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert had tested positive.

Five minutes later, at 9:32 p.m., the NBA indefinitely suspended the 2019–2020 season.

But it wasn’t until 9:53 p.m. that Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, received the news from the league. His team was playing the Denver