Why you can’t afford to miss FinJS @ home

A quickfire Q&A session with OpenFin CEO’s Mazy Dar and Adam Toms

Mazy Dar, OpenFin CEO and Adam Toms, OpenFin CEO Europe, came together for a Q&A session to discuss some of the hot technology topics and trends which will be covered at FinJS @ home on November 17, and highlight the talks and panels you can’t afford to miss!

What is the key purpose of FinJS and why should FI’s attend?

Adam: FinJS aims to bring together a community within finance to discuss their experiences of using the latest web technologies, and to learn from speakers from both within, and importantly, from outside of finance, offering their different perspectives from working in different industries. Attendees will come away with a better understanding of what their peers are doing, as well as best practices from other industries. It’s a great way for people in finance to keep up to date with the latest technologies, whatever their job role.

Mazy: FinJS is all about the finance and developer community and provides an informal space for organizations, which often don’t publicly share their experiences (such as banks), to demonstrate how they are working with innovative new technologies and share their learnings.

What are the key themes and hot topics which will be discussed this year?

Adam: The big themes this year are around personalization and customization. This is all about delivering the same type of experience we have come to expect from B2C in our working lives. We have a couple of sessions around this topic including a talk from the Global Head of Developer Experience at Goldman Sachs. The other big theme is around accelerating modernization, so how organisations can modernize alongside their existing legacy systems. The panel ‘Get your modernization effort unstuck’ will look at some of the common challenges organizations face and offer ways to break them down and move forward.

Mazy: The Low code/no code revolution also fits into the second theme Adam just mentioned. The low code movement has become a big deal as it enables anyone (not just trained engineers) to build an application, which accelerates time to market and reduces cost. We have a panel discussion dedicated to this topic with the CEO’s from Unqork and Genesis Global, and the Editor-in-Chief of WatersTechnology.

Which session are you most looking forward to and why?

Mazy: Aside from my own armchair discussion with Ainslie Simmonds, Global Head of Digital at PIMCO, I’m also looking forward to the design system panel with Figma, J.P. Morgan, Lab 49 and Northwestern Mutual. Figma is the go-to product which designers nowadays use and love, so I’m really interested to hear what they have to say.

Adam: I would have gone for the same session as Mazy! Design and user experience are so important these days, it’s a topic that should appeal to all attendees whether they’re a product manager, a designer, an application builder or an engineer. I’d also say the Google keynote ‘Why the latest version of the browser is so important’ which will examine why browser updates are so important and is definitely one not to miss.

It’s the first time the event will be held virtually, how do you think that will impact the day?

Adam: Our in-person events have always had a big impact and a strong focus on networking, so we have built-in the ability for participants to talk to each other, and visit virtual exhibitor booths to have further discussions and get more information. We’re really trying to recreate the physical event as much as possible, although I’m afraid we haven’t figured out a way to offer a virtual open bar!

Mazy: One great benefit of the event being virtual is that we are able to bring together the UK and US finance communities for the first time. We’re also expecting the highest number of attendees ever as a result of people being able to join from wherever they are in the world.

Finally, what are some of the broader market trends you’re seeing impact clients currently?

Mazy: One of the big macro trends we’re seeing continue is the move to web and cloud, in particular the journey to migrate from legacy to web-based technologies. The atomization of content, or sometimes referred to as microservices architecture, is another big trend focused on breaking up monolithic applications into smaller bitesize chunks.

Adam: There’s a big focus at the moment on employee experience, given the impact of Covid-19 and the growth of remote working. Previously organisations had been mainly concerned with productivity but now the focus is on giving employees the right tools, in the right way, to be successful and productive in a home working environment.

Want to join us at FinJS on Tuesday, November 17? Visit www.finjs.com for more information and register to save your virtual seat.