Bjorn Ekstedt: The Chief Information Officer balancing innovation and tradition at BOV

Bjorn Ekstedt is one of those people who you could likely spend an afternoon talking to, about anything under the sun. With a career spanning a few decades, and experience in the Airforce, and the Armed Forces of his home country Sweden, but also in IT, the man brings quite a story to the table, and his leadership shows it.

Since February of this year, Bjorn has been the Chief Information Officer at Bank of Valletta, leading the bank’s efforts in the field. “It took me a while to get used to living on a small island, however I soon noticed the sharp distinction between the touristic Malta, and its more authentic, local counterpart which is fascinating. I immediately took an interest in the island’s rich and colourful history, which I found to be surprisingly stimulating, as it helps me understand the country and its people better,” Bjorn says.

As a Swedish Airforce Flight engineer, Bjorn was responsible for keeping planes and jet engines in shipshape. Soon he moved up the ranks as he became Chief Controller and Head of Strategic Management for the Armed Forces with the Swedish Army, obtaining a wider and more strategic perspective of the military operation. In 2007, he made the shift to the ever-growing world of IT, occupying various roles with some rather large European companies, such as Director of Enterprise Architecture, Director of IT Operations, Business Group CIO and several Group CIO positions.”

Heading the IT efforts at BOV, Bjorn brings with him a fresh leadership style which is characteristic of all his previous roles in his career. “I believe in being completely open, and I also recognise the value of delegation. Delegation, which is very different from abdication,” he quickly remarks.

“By delegation, I mean giving the space to your team to achieve their best possible results. We plan out our targets together, discuss the strategy we want to use, and determine our goals. Then, while providing enough room for our talented professionals to work towards our targets, remain in the loop, making sure that everyone stays on track, without stifling their initiative or creativity. Often, micro-management can kill all sort of initiative which is never a good idea.”

Bjorn’s military background shines through brightly as he vouches support for his team. “Leading also means standing by your team and protecting them no matter what. On the field, you cannot second guess yourself and teamwork is paramount for success,” Bjorn remarks.

With 18 years’ experience in IT, Bjorn has led some significant changes for a number of European companies in terms of information technology, and for him, IT doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.

“IT is no longer an enabler, it is now a proper foundation to the operation of most organisations, no less the bank,” Bjorn clarifies out of the bat. “Without IT, the bank would stop operating, while the development forward of the organisation is also dependent on tech. Having said that, IT doesn’t and shouldn’t exist for its own sake. It must be integrated in, and serve a purpose to the overarching strategy of the organisation.”

Bjorn bases his strategy on three cardinal pillars. Firstly, guarantee a robust foundation for all IT infrastructure to ensure all processes are reliable, predictable, process-based and do not depend on one particular expert. “Everything must work like an engine, with zero per cent room for error. That takes us to our second pillar, which gives us the ability to respond to our customers and business needs in an agile and efficient manner. Finally, as IT professionals, we should reach out to the rest of the bank and meet with the various teams in the different departments to see how we can help them improve their work, and give more value to our end-customers,” he explains.

Conscious that IT is an inevitable element of the organisation, in the same way we may think of electricity, Bjorn is mindful of the responsibility the bank has towards users who may feel less than comfortable with the rapid shift. “We understand, especially given our uniquely privileged position in the local market, that a portion of the population may struggle to adapt to certain changes. That is why we make sure that the shift is introduced in a gradual manner, while ensuring that all interfaces are as user-friendly as possible. This way, we guarantee that our customer base is not alienated by sudden changes. And from experience we find that it works, especially as the bank introduces more services, and more convenient methods of obtaining them.”

Directing the conversation further towards the future of banking, Bjorn is a great believer in emerging disruptive technologies, however he qualifies that their use must be in line with the values and ethical standards of the bank itself.

“AI is a great tool which is increasingly becoming available and ever-present in our daily lives. Through AI we can obtain results which were impossible to dream of previously. In fact, in terms of automation, the tool brings unprecedented advantages to the equation. However, AI should never be used in issues of sensitivity, or to take decisions of an ethical nature. AI may very well provide reasoned arguments which can help facilitate a decision process, however the final decision must be taken by humans, every time,” Bjorn notes.

The same goes with the management of data, which in today’s economy is a treasure trove in itself. “Naturally being a commercial entity, the bank has an obligation towards its shareholders to make the best use and leverage the data it generates in the best way possible, however this needs to be done in full respect of our legal responsibilities and towards our customers. Through data we can improve our services, making them more user-friendly while introducing new ones where we identify gaps in the market. Ultimately it will result in a better service to customers.”

Finally, Bjorn is unwavering about two outcomes that all his and his teams’ work point towards. “All that we do falls squarely in one direction: providing resilience to the bank’s infrastructure to withstand modern day cyber security challenges and guarantee continuity in a way that the bank’s services are constantly up and running each time customers need them. Then the rest is all detail,” Bjorn concludes.