London late 2015, “bravery”; Amsterdam late 2016, “confirmation”; and now Rome in early 2018, “awareness”. Our third Customer Conference showed that Objectway is aware of its potential and of the challenges along the path to success.

Due to this and also because of the macro trends in the wealth management sector, the company bet on itself and a new strategy, whilst dedicating OWIN18 to digital transformation and disruption.

And, what is more disruptive and transformational than gathering clients, partners and journalists in a sumptuous villa just outside Rome, the Eternal City, to convey a message like Digital humanism to our core?

SEVEN CENTURIES, SAME HUMANISM

There is a strong and direct link between the change brought by the digital transformation and the disruption brought by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, with a powerful painting style challenging conventions and even the opinion of his client, Pope Julius II. There is something in this era that resembles the XIV century, when the Humanism movement was born and with it the motto Homo faber fortunæ suæ.

Time is ripe for giving life to a Digital Humanism, to exploit technology and to augment humanity instead of replacing it. To see the digital transformation as the seed of a Renaissance, more than a disruption.

Nothing more appropriate, then, than spending the night before OWIN18 visiting the Vatican Museums and especially the Sistine Chapel, to face the Universal Judgement painted by Michelangelo and countless masterpieces from centuries of art and civilizations.

GREAT PEOPLE ON STAGE

After that (and a cheerful dinner at the Baccano, close to the Trevi fountain), our CEO Luigi Marciano addressed the OWIN18 audience in front of a 17-meter digital screen inside Villa Miani, to highlight the topics in his keynote introduction and present an extraordinary agenda of speakers, starting with opinion leaders, such as Spiros Margaris and analysts like James Brown from Compeer and Thomas Zink from IDC.

Objectway customers like Amundi, KBC Ireland, and Pershing took the stage to talk about their relationships with us, projects implemented, wht they chose Objectway and their future plans.

MORE GREAT PEOPLE ON STAGE

From our side, after Luigi we offered our best lineup: Peter Schramme, Alberto Cuccu, Lorenzo Pagnin, Georgios Lekkas, Kurt Vanhee, Michele Tanzi; for delving in details about specific products, give overviews of markets and strategies, present our new product strategy, answer every possible question from the audience.

Yuri Bender was an excellent Master of Ceremonies: witty and ironic yet highly professional and well informed. Able to keep the general attention and focus even after a full day of keynotes, presentations, and demos.

We had the demos, also: rooms dedicated to the new products, platforms, and solutions, for people wanting to go hands-on, or simply discuss features and possibilities with our specialists.

OWIN18: CROSS THE PORTAL

The press coverage was unprecedented and our front men had to spend sensible amounts of time in interviews and face-to-face meetings with journalists, starting with the Financial Times.

Luigi invited everyone during his morning keynote speech to cross the portal of digital transformation and feel the energy of change; and a portal we built, to move from the main hall to the demo corner, to go from concepts and architectures, to actual solutions and products.

We’ll spend this year telling about our new unified digital solution; yesterday we showed to the market why we are choosing this strategy and why the digital transformation has to be embraced with energy and passion. To go towards a novel Digital Renaissance; and, also, to keep revenues growing, reduce costs, and attract more customers, while staying compliant with heavier regulations and ensure a complete digital engagement experience, through any possible relationship channel.

POWER WORD: AUGMENT

New technologies and innovations like machine learning, big data, microservices will help to offer more compelling services and support, augmenting advisors and bankers rather than replacing them; also, new companies and initiatives will make the market more crowded and competitive than ever.

This is the challenge of the digital transformation, this is its force, too. The message of OWIN18: Are you ready to take digital to your core and be ready for the transformation?

Time will tell. Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who contributed to make our third Customer Conference memorable, inspiring and a great success.