DBS Bank in Singapore has turned into a top bank by changing how it works. They used to be slow, but now they’re fast and winning awards. The boss, Piyush Gupta, has been instrumental in pushing the big change.

Is your business ready for the future? As a leader, are you anticipating major shifts in your industry and embracing them with a future proof strategy model that creates and sustains value delivery?

In today’s fast-changing banking world, DBS Bank in Singapore is a good case study in leading digital transformation. Under the guidance of CEO Piyush Gupta, DBS has gone from being called ‘Damn Bloody Slow’ to winning awards like “Bank of the Year” and “World’s Best Bank.” A big part of this change has been how the bank’s culture and mindset have shifted to embrace digital skills across the board.

The digital journey

DBS didn’t just want to use new tech here and there. They aimed to become a fully digital bank. This meant making innovation part of everything they did. The bank identified digital champions, Key players like Laurence Smith and Neal Cross saw the need for everyone in the bank to understand digital stuff. So, they came up with a plan during a big talent review in 2014. Their idea was to make sure every employee could talk about new tech in banking.

DBS didn’t just want to use new tech in some parts of the bank. They wanted the whole bank to think and act like a tech start up company. That’s what made the bank transform and set them apart. DBS leaders wanted everyone in the bank to understand digital stuff, not just tech people. They did not want to create what at Summit Consulting Ltd we refer to as “manual digital bank” a situation where some processes of the bank are automated, but people continue to use manual ones!

Several studies about the wonderful transformation of DBS, show that working with experts like Professor Jonathan Briggs and Orri Helgason, DBS started hosting special classes and hackathons way back in 2014. These weren’t just any events - they were like crash courses in digital innovation. Bankers identified and teamed up with startup folks to solve real problems in just a few days. They learned how to come up with new ideas, test them, and turn them into simple products. During the hackathon events,  Bankers worked with startup staff to work on real bank issues, in short period of time. In fact, teams composed of DBS employees and start up staff, would be challenged to identify the DBS problems and come up with an app, a working app, within 72 hours!  Some bank executives and staff who were to afraid about digital, started to see where they come in. Appreciated the power of technology and embraced it. That started a digital culture revolution. Instead of resisting the change, bankers advocated for it and started organizing internal hackathons among staff in their respective departments with the help of tech startups.

Lessons learned from the DBS approach of digital transformation

  • CEO Piyush Gupta led the charge, showing everyone how important digital change was. Ditigal initiatives need the backing of the Big Boss.
  • Getting different parts of the bank to work together, like tech, HR, and marketing, made things happen faster. Teamwork Wins. Digital efforts require involvement of all departments so that no one is left behind.
  • Training leaders to think digitally was key. They needed to know how to lead the change. Giving everyone the chance to learn digital skills was important. It made the whole team stronger and change drivers, thereby removing resistance to the new initiatives.
  • DBS did not try to change everything at once. They started with small groups and let the change spread. Starting small, but be consistent is key to progress in culture transformation.
  • HR played a big role, both by joining in and helping make digital skills part of everyone’s job. Knowing that digital change takes time, DBS planned for the long term and kept pushing forward.
  • DBS learned to try new things and not be afraid of making mistakes. This helped them move fast and try out new ideas. The start -up mindset helped drive the digital agenda.

After seeing success at home, DBS took their digital lessons across Asia. They hosted workshops and events to teach more people about digital skills. At the same time, the Innovation team led lots of new projects in the bank. Over time, almost everyone in the bank got a chance to learn something about going digital.

DBS’s story shows how a big company can change. By teaching everyone digital skills and making it fun, they’ve become a leader in banking innovation. Other companies can learn from them and start their own digital journeys.

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