Backbase B.V.

And then the gap is widening.

Today, Backbase, for example, and Disclosure, I'm a strategic advisor to them, but they launched a conversational banking capability to help incumbent banks or other banks to offer to their

clients.

To be built in in core banking and infrastructure basis.

Today, I'm pleased to welcome our special guest, Mayank Somaiya.

Mayank is Global Vice President and Head of Ecosystem Partnerships at Backbase and an expert in how financial institutions are thinking about digital engagement, customer experience, and this next wave of innovation.

So, Mayank, we're really thrilled to have you.

Welcome to the podcast.

If you were talking to someone today who's looking to create some of these kinds of innovations while protecting customers and continuing to build the trust that they've built in their customer base.

What's the most important shift in mindset that they need to take? Mayank, let's start with you.

Before joining Backbase, I spent close to a decade at Visa.

And people came to trust paying online or with their card was because they're protected when something goes wrong.

We're very lucky.

We work with an incredible business called Backbase who are really pushing the boundaries in agentic banking.

So we've helped them scale their go-to-market org.

And I think they're a really good example of a business that are...

This is your host, Ram Puranam, back with yet another fascinating episode of Fika Friday at the Office.

My guest this time is Surabhi Sharma, an accomplished site strategy and people leader, currently leading India site for Backbase, a Dutch financial tech company with headquarters in Amsterdam.

With nearly two decades of experience across global companies, Google, Deloitte, Ericsson, BMW, and Tata Motors, Surabhi specializes in transforming India offices from cost centers to strategic value engines.

She literally architects the operational backbones that enable global companies to scale in India.

Let's hear from Surabhi on how she's scaling Backbase's operations in India while leading the HR function for Asia Pacific region simultaneously.

Happy to be here, excited for the conversation, and w-welcome to Fika Friday at the Office podcast, Surabhi.

So Surabhi, tell us about your, about mornings.

Do you have a routine? Or take us through your day, your daily rituals, and you also undertake commute to go to the office.

I think that the technical-minded CMO is having, I mean, they have the spotlight and they will have the spotlight for the next couple of years, for sure.

And those of us who aren't, I'm demand and brand all day long, right? I have to evolve to either set myself up personally to lean into that or have the people around me that can help bring that to fruition, right? Like, because I look at the Tim Rutten at Backbase or Tom Wentworth at Incident.io, engineers, they were originally engineers.

They are the cream of the crop when it comes to AI forward development.

marketing leaders, cream of the crop, like rebuilding, AI native.

It's not our typical day, definitely not the typical time we host, but unfortunately this week, that was the only possible day when we could invite our good friend, Louis de Bat-Monro, who is RMC, and more, Adyen, to basically discuss the B2B marketing formula, how to grow globally.

That would be a very interesting episode for everyone because we have been with Adyen for quite a long time before working for Backbase, and probably you guys have heard about Backbase from us.

A lot of time.

We had a couple of people from the team joining our live podcast.

So before we get tactical in the setup like yours, what would you say is the most challenging to run marketing and grow business and why?

I would say it's complexity.

Uh, and, and it's, there's a, there's a quote that I actually learned, uh, back in my days at Backbase is that growth creates complexity.

And if you don't manage it well, complexity will ultimately kill growth.