Why ‘Test and Learn’ Still Has Its Place in Innovation

Crowd sourcing input and breaking down silos can foster collaborative, creative solutions, FIS SVP, GTM, Automated Finance Christina Wagner writes in a new PYMNTS eBook, “The Innovation Mindset: How to Achieve It in 2025.”

FIS is focused on moving toward a “yes and …” mindset by investing in the best talent and empowering them to identify, develop and deploy innovation solutions. We ramped this with our Future Forward initiative, which collected inputs on process improvements from all levels of the organization. This allows even our newest team members to contribute ideas and provides the necessary resources for them to be accountable for delivering these solutions, whether for simplifying our business operations or providing a better product or service experience to our clients. In my team, we’ve adopted the “test and learn” practice. We do our homework and gather as much information as is reasonable … then we put it into practice. Sometimes we fail, but then we try something different. This creates a culture of exploration and a safe space for taking calculated risks in meeting our business and clients’ needs.

In terms of effecting change for our customers, the practice of crowd sourcing input and breaking down silos is a huge part of how we think more collaboratively and creatively for and with our clients. We are engaging our clients along our journey, ensuring that they are part of the solution, not just on the receiving end of it. We do this through our user and advisory groups as well as our early “innovation” adopter programs.

A New Mindset Is Necessary

A shift in mindset unlocks new ideas and ways of using technology to solve problems. Collaboration tools are one way we can leverage technology to bring ideas together, prototype and design solutions. Specifically in payments and banking, artificial intelligence (AI) has already started changing the innovation curve. AI can transform banking operations by analyzing data for better decision-making, personalized experiences and enhanced fraud detection. It can help businesses automate routine tasks, and can provide unprecedented accuracy and speed, allowing CFOs or finance managers to be more strategic in driving revenue growth while reducing risk. As responsible use of AI continues to evolve, it will drive the industry away from transaction processing toward upskilled analysis and decision making.

Asking ‘What If?’

The last time we asked a “what if” about our business was earlier this year, when we had to take a hard look at a particular product we had launched in market through a partnership. The original intent was good, but the product market fit was not strong and we’d lost time and valuable opportunities to solve real customer problems. We had to re-evaluate the question of build, buy or partner for delivery. In the end, we decided to build. In that process of discovery, we saw our customers’ needs through fresh eyes and were able to design a simplified solution that met more of the business needs our clients have. We put our “yes and …” mindset into practice, invested in technology and people by taking a calculated risk and choosing to unwind the previous path.