Technology Is as Good as the People Who Use and Support it — First Financial Bank CIO

(US and Canada) Donnie Slavens, Chief Information Officer at First Financial Bank, speaks with Channie Mize, General Manager, Slalom Consulting, in a video interview about measuring ROI from GenAI projects, identifying the best GenAI use cases, governance structure, ways to mitigate proliferation of technology, strategies to solve technological challenges, his experiences at First Financial, and advice to aspiring CIOs.

First Financial Bank is on its journey of discovering GenAI, where it fits into company projects, and how it aligns with business objectives and goals, says Slavens. When it comes to measuring ROI from GenAI projects, he considers two perspectives:

1. Tangible benefit

2. Intangible benefit

The tangible benefits include increased efficiency, cost savings, and revenue growth, and the intangible ones involve enhanced customer satisfaction, elevated business decisions, and more.

Adding on, Slavens says that when the bank decides on which GenAI projects should be done and why, it will consider metrics and KPIs around those two benefits. He notes that to scale with GenAI initially, organizations must figure out the best project that aligns with the business goals and the tangible and intangible benefits it brings to the company.

To identify such use cases, Slavens leans on the technical side as well as the business side. He states that through the technical lens, the bank does proof of concepts to find out what the technology is, the frameworks, the underlying models, and how those work.

On the business side, the bank will collaborate with the vendor to understand the type of AI it uses, how it could help the business, and whether it is aligned with strategic goals.

Further, Slavens shares that First Financial Bank will try to be the best partner with business and IT, and that will drive the proof of concepts and how those meet the business plans.

When asked about the governance structure, he affirms using an existing framework. Slavens maintains that the bank has an advisory team that reviews financial business cases on aspects of business alignment, budget, compliance, and risk issues.

The existing framework also focuses on ethical, regulatory, and transparency aspects of Gen AI projects, and the steering committee looks at PoCs and decides whether they can be taken forward.

Speaking of adopting a certain capability, Slavens says that it boils down to communication and proper product training to ensure the best outcomes for business from the solution and deployed application.

Organizations look to IT for advice, support, and consultancy, he says. If one can excel in that and have good partnerships and communication with businesses and users, they will start seeing the value of the solution in meeting goals.

Moving forward, Slavens discusses ways to mitigate the proliferation of technology. To address the issue, First Financial Bank has a service called Enterprise Business Applications and a dedicated team with the role of aligning business partners with solutions.

The team involves business partners to understand the application, vendor partnership, change management, road mapping, life cycle, and more. He opines that being close to business helps organizations understand the value of applications.

From the technology perspective, the major lookout is assessing the technology’s ability to scale with business and meet the relevant demands. Through communication with the business side, the bank is able to eliminate orphan applications that are not used.

In addition to that, the bank has its own change management metric, which enquires about the updating frequency and how often the vendor does in-application change management, confirms Slavens. In this scenario, the static nature of the software could be a good indicator to eliminate the software from the environment.

Thereafter, Slavens highlights that the bank has tried various concepts to enable people to solve technological challenges. For instance, he mentions sending out an annual IT survey to associates.

Slavens believes that it not only gives them an idea of the technology they use but also gives them the opportunity to provide feedback. In another avenue, he mentions trying the feedback box, which brought in many innovative ideas.

Being a technologist at heart, Slavens shares that he loves driving innovation, and in that process, he and the team at First Financial have built a mission to be business enablers.

Shedding light on his experiences at First Financial, he shares that in his 16 years of service there, he has witnessed the modernization of data centers and technology stacks,  virtualizations, and hypervisors.

Reflecting on another instance, Slavens discusses adopting the government’s PPP program during COVID-19. By leveraging this program, the bank quickly implemented a way of using existing technology, like RPA, to automate data processes and help businesses submit applications efficiently.

Additionally, he feels proud of how First Financial transitioned its staff to remote work, enabling the maintenance of essential financial services during the pandemic phase.

Summing up, he advises aspiring CIOs to have people management skills, leadership skills, and good mentors. He notes that technology is only as good as the people who use it and support it.

Also, Slavens recommends having a strong foundation of technical and business knowledge and staying relevant to industry trends and emerging technologies. Concluding, he stresses the need for solid communication skills.

CDO Magazine appreciates Donnie Slavens for sharing his insights with our global data community.