APS Bank Chief Strategy Officer notes current era is ‘more turbulent’ than previous years

APS Bank Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Liana DeBattista has stressed that the current era of the business environment is significantly more turbulent than it used to be.

She was speaking as APS Bank’s Board of Directors and senior management recently met at Radisson Blu Golden Sands to discuss the chartered business plan for 2024-2026. This day-long event was the culmination of the bank’s annual business planning cycle which started in July.

The event included a number of workshops and presentations, followed by in-depth discussions on APS Bank’s key priorities going forward.

“We have selected resilience and future preparedness as the central themes for this cycle, recognising the current era as notably more turbulent than what we have experienced in quite some time,” Ms DeBattista, who has served as CSO for the past two years, remarked.

She acknowledged that due to a number of macroeconomic challenges, including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, both the external and internal contexts have become “less benign”.

“Our challenge is to navigate the escalating complexities that come with these changes,” she stated.

Ms DeBattista said that APS Bank titled its business plan “Ready for the Future” in order to reflect on the notion that “the future cannot be predicted”.

Therefore, she remarked that the best way to prepare for the future is to “embrace the challenges that lie ahead, course correct whenever this is necessary, and turn difficulties into opportunities”.

Ms DeBattista has worked at APS Bank for more than 20 years, and is particularly skilled in business planning, corporate strategy formulation, product development, research, and performance management.