Sameer Somal Speaking Fee: $10,000 to $20,000

Networking is a key pillar of creating new business and life opportunities. And effective networking requires successfully connecting and fostering trust with our peers and colleagues, building that important bridge from stranger to acquaintance, and doing so authentically. Over the past 20 years, we have seen more and more of our personal and professional lives migrating away from real-life, in-person interactions and toward online ones, mediated through the internet. And the COVID pandemic has significantly accelerated (some would say forced) this digital migration. Many of the traditional elements of networking—catching up with others at conferences, brainstorming ideas over coffee, engaging in water cooler conversations—are simply impossible now. The “in-person” aspects of networking have effectively been taken out of play. So if we cannot meet in person, what options do we have to establish and nurture our network connections? Some good networking tactics include dropping someone a line in Slack, sending an email, making an “old-fashioned” phone call, and—common in our new normal—initiating a Zoom video conference. But truly successful networking requires applying new approaches, including bolstering and monitoring your digital reputation. Curating a positive and representative digital reputation for yourself is an effective way to earn respect and build credibility when we cannot engage with others in real life, face to face. How we represent ourselves online powerfully influences how we are perceived and can have a significant impact on our ability to develop new friendships. Simply put, both you and your business need to look good online. Your online reputation is unique, somewhat like your fingerprint, made up of your myriad engagements with and through the internet, from Google searches to social media posts and comments. Although we can control some of these things, others we can only influence. Our opportunity lies in being able to own and drive the narrative—to craft a digital presence that reflects our true character and accomplishments.

Our individual ability to create new relationships, foster trust, and earn respect all contribute to building a reputation. By its very definition, reputation is an intangible and complex concept because it is comprised of impressions, emotions and perceptions. All organizations achieve results from their reputation. The internet has empowered the consumer and revolutionized how information that was once printed in newspapers or shared on the nightly evening news can be created by anyone and accessed from a device that fits comfortably in the palm of our hand. Individual and firm success are now directly correlated with how and what is communicated online. Every day there are 5.5 billion searches performed for a plethora of reasons, including finding a restaurant in a new city, buying mom a gift, or researching the next firm to engage. The world is literally at our fingertips, but most people only bother to go through detailed information on first page of Google. In fact, 94% of people only look at the first page of Google search results. Consumers value interacting with businesses and service providers with positive online reputation. When promoted effectively online, digital marketing helps businesses accelerate their growth. Conversely, negative information circulating on the internet can harm businesses and ruin personal lives. Firms lose contracts, employees lose jobs, and most importantly – their reputation. A digital presence and online communication strategy are not just part of a company’s reputation, they form a company’s foundation and the most critical component to its survival and growth.

Today, we interact with friends, family, and colleagues, more so than ever before, through text messages, email, and social media, where perception and reality are often confused. If we don’t like change, we will like irrelevance even less. Our digital presence and online first impression are critical. Businesses must focus on online reputation management to successfully align their strategic communication with client, partner and investor preferences. Moreover, proactive reputation management, affords business owners and executives, insight, into their, strengths, and weaknesses. Every internet search, yields, a search engine results page, known as a SERP. Every second, there are 63,000 Google searches, and every day there are 5.5 billion. People perform these searches for countless reasons. They may be casually googling a company from a sponsored Instagram post or, aggressively searching, for a new attorney, accountant, or financial planner to hire immediately. They might even be googling you. It’s a fair bet that, anyone, we hand, our, business card will search us online for more information. Positive online reviews from real clients, and digital assets, will foster trust. Conversely, negative or defamatory links on the internet will quickly damage our offline reputation.The best reputation offense is a strong defense. A proactive presence builds digital resilience, protects a firm’s reputation, and makes it easier to repair repetitional damage. Your reputation is your most valuable asset. Make sure you’re safeguarding it everywhere, especially online.

The Digital Revolution is accelerating our access to knowledge and revolutionized how we communicate. Success in life is a function of both what we know and how we build interpersonal relationships. Networking is a learned skill and does not require the personality of an extrovert. A memorable introductory conversation and exchange of business cards will increase relationship capital after applying a process for patient and purposeful follow-up. Creating a network of trusted friends and colleagues, who will provide information, introductions, mentoring and partnership, will expand your personal and professional opportunity set.

The Digital FinTech Revolution is accelerating our access to knowledge, transforming how we communicate, and creating a wave of digital disruption that will reshape the financial services industry. As regulators and banks refocus on updating their policies and operating models, the next generation of FinTech platforms, including robo advisory, blockchain, digital payment, Bank in a box, security, and P2P lending, are already off to the races. Global investment in financial technology rapidly increased by 3,770% from $930 million in 2008 to $31 billion in 2017. The opportunity to innovate for quantitative finance professionals has never been more compelling than it is today.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a powerful force in our world today. It has been increasingly integrated into both business and our personal lives, typically in very positive and exciting ways—from virtual assistants to helpful chatbots, targeted ad placements, cost-cutting automated manufacturing, and even self-driving cars. So why would someone like Bill Gates liken AI to nuclear energy, calling it “both promising and dangerous”? Despite the innumerable advantages it offers, AI is also a disruptive technology. It involves such a superabundance of data and touches so many facets of our lives that the immense promise it holds must be thoughtfully managed and carefully balanced with its potential dangers. AI’s continued development therefore entails not only practical considerations but also ethical ones. Determining how these systems should be designed and which data should be used to fuel them requires a measured, reasoned, and mindful approach. Those who wish to harness the power of AI must proactively address the moral considerations inherent in doing so. Integrating AI into your business goes beyond just using AI for AI’s sake—it should be employed judiciously and with specific objectives in mind. Used wisely, AI can help you solve operational bottlenecks, optimize digital transformation, redefine the customer experience, and empower people to create more value. True progress will not be measured by how far AI technology can go but rather by how successfully and ethically we can apply it to solve our greatest challenges.