How I Define Intentional Innovation

With the ever-increasing speed of innovation, it’s no wonder that many of us are fascinated by the next big thing. I believe those most successful at leading must be great innovators, and organizations must define for themselves what innovation looks like.

At Truist, our path forward is always through our purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. And intentional innovation, to us, is deliberate and purposeful work. The hallmark of innovation at Truist isn’t shiny and brand-new but rather meeting the needs of the clients and communities we serve. It’s about finding new ways to help people achieve financial happiness, like Truist Ventures, creating spaces to build the future of finance like the Truist Innovation and Technology Center, and delivering products like Truist One Checking.

But innovation also means empathy and equally important in today’s world, empowerment. Our Digital Insights feature in our Truist mobile app, driven by AI, uses algorithms to keep clients up to date on their spending and identifies trends in their cash flow to highlight things like unusually high spending and unexpected payments. The feature sends push notifications to clients about critical, infrequent activity on their accounts that may need attention, such as duplicate transfers, subscription auto-renewals, and various types of deposits. As the system gets to know each user over time, it’s able to give more customized advice, like a suggestion to transfer funds or set up a budget.

It’s the kind of innovative financial resource I wish was available for my family much earlier in life.

When I was 13, a life event forever changed how I view?personal finances. My uncle had just passed away, and my family had to pass around a hat at the funeral to collect money to pay for his service, making that incredibly sad time even more difficult. From that day forward, I was determined to?become an expert in finance and teach people what I learned along the way to help them better manage their money. I was determined to be what I’ve defined as a dealer of HOPE (helping other people excel).

I love being part of an organization that wants to be the most client-centric company in the world. Not the most client-centric bank—the most client-centric company. We’ve discovered that client experience scores are higher when people are digitally engaged. And the human-centric, intentional innovation happening at Truist makes that possible.

It’s been a long time since I was 13. And while innovation has certainly changed over the years, the desire to help others has carried me into an adulthood of intentional innovation, of redefining what it means to create the next big thing and being clear on how to get there.

I’d love to hear how you are innovating with intention in your life to overcome obstacles or improve your well-being. Comment below, and let’s continue to learn and innovate together.?