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Data is a powerful source of information. This statement is frequently mentioned, but what does it really imply, and how can information be empowering and significant in what we refer to as the "New Financial Sector"?

The financial sector, while being highly regulated, is often accused of lagging in the adoption of innovative measures and disruptive technologies. However, in the last few years, the trend has been changing, with a strong commitment to digitisation on the part of financial institutions.

"The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits." The statement made in 1970 by one of the most respected economists of the 20th century, Milton Friedman, is now surely outdated and outmoded.

The world has changed with Covid-19: it is even more competitive, more digital and competition is increasingly global. It is facing this new situation that the question arises again: what are the critical success factors for businesses of the future?

Let me start by asking you: what did you learn in 2020? It was a different year, full of challenges that we won't soon forget. Everything we believed we had and were went down the drain almost overnight. Our world shook. And our body and soul either fought back or melted like a chocolate ice cream in the sun.

The effect of Covid in the digitalisation of society and the financial sector. We have all heard children saying the phrase 'when I grow up, I want to be...', and where Astronaut or Firefighter used to be, we now find Instagrammer, Blogger, Youtuber and similar answers.

Challenges in times of change, where waiting for the “normal” is wasting time that we don't have. The changes we have been through in the past few months have strongly conditioned any strategy or plan being implemented. The digitalization of banking accelerated, not due to a strategic vision, or due to a natural evolution of the business model, but due to an external “disruptive” factor that imposed the need for this new “normal”.

At the time this article was written, the world had not yet been plagued by the pandemic we are all witnessing. It is, however, all the more appropriate, given the moment we are experiencing, that we can talk about trust and cooperation.

Digital innovation applied to credit portfolio management is the motto of this opinion piece, which highlights the importance of financial institutions being equipped with the latest techniques and tools. The focus is on Artificial Intelligence and the use of Machine Learning models.