Resilience and Digitalization in the Face of Conflict, AI Summit London

How the war in Ukraine is changing opportunities for good and for bad was a key topic for speakers on the diversity stage at this year’s AI Summit London.

Kate Shcheglova-Goldfinch, senior PM on the fintech market for the National Bank of Ukraine spoke about how companies can continue to innovate even in the face of ongoing conflict. 

“War and displacement have had a significant impact on everyday life,” said Shcheglova-Goldfinch. “Ukraine was a highly digitalized country before the conflict. Now, the whole region is being demolished and companies are looking at having no infrastructure, and needing to provide services to customers in these newly challenging situations.

“There are no digital opportunities when cities are demolished, and we have to accommodate these nations.”

The problem is being seen on regulatory as well as market levels and raises new definitions of diversity and inclusion to incorporate those working and living in extraneous circumstances.

“We’ve had to change from long to short-term planning strategies,” said Shcheglova-Goldfinch. “Banks have moved their data to international cloud systems, moved to generator-powered systems.”

Shcheglova-Goldfinch also touched on the disparity in stressors between a company dealing with life-threatening circumstances, and those who work with more everyday issues. 

“There’s a different reality in Ukraine,” she said. “Diversity has become a different thing. All males are serving on the front line and are limited in how much they can travel, so the ‘traditional’ role of women is changing. Only female members of companies can cross the border, so women have a new opportunity to take on these roles and develop themselves, though it’s in a circumstance they wouldn’t wish for.”

“The challenge we’re facing in Ukraine is how to spread ideas and services globally when businesses are, in essence, trapped,” said Shcheglova-Goldfinch. “Moving forward, we need to develop global infrastructure that provides people with tools to access different markets with different digitization levels.”