Innovation as the ability to adapt

May 19, 2026

In a banking and financial environment that is constantly evolving, the ISFB must both provide services that are useful to its members today and devote part of its energy to understanding what may be needed tomorrow in terms of skills development. Innovation is not a constant disruption; it is an organized capacity for adaptation, serving the mission of the Institute and its ecosystem.

Produce today, think about tomorrow

The ISFB’s mission is to support skills development, career paths, and the vitality of the banking and financial ecosystem in French-speaking Switzerland. This mission begins with a very concrete requirement: to provide services that are useful, reliable, up-to-date, and directly tailored to the needs of institutions, professions, and participants.

To understand these needs, the ISFB relies in particular on the Observatory of Banking and Financial Skills. Through qualitative and quantitative surveys conducted among its Program Directorate, participants, graduates, and institutional stakeholders within its ecosystem, the Observatory helps shed light on the evolution of the professions and skills needed for the future.

However, a forward-looking approach should not focus solely on an organization’s external environment. It also calls on the ISFB to reflect on its own ability to adapt. Understanding the possible futures of various professions also means asking how the Institute itself will need to evolve in order to continue fulfilling its mission effectively.

Balancing execution and foresight

Every organization faces a constant tension. It must deliver what is needed today, improve its processes, ensure the quality of its offerings, and meet the immediate expectations of its various stakeholders. But it must also devote some of its attention to what may become necessary tomorrow.

Innovation inevitably involves a degree of risk. The risk of investing time in avenues that will not bear fruit. The risk of testing solutions that will not prove useful. And the risk, at times, of appearing to be an organization that explores new territory before best practices have fully taken hold.

But this risk is also a responsibility. Without exploration, no organization can truly anticipate changes in its environment. Testing, observing, comparing, sometimes abandoning, or “incubating” new ideas can help identify what might prove useful in the future.

This approach can also have an impact beyond the organization itself. By conducting structured experiments, the ISFB helps inspire other stakeholders, opens up new avenues for reflection, exerts a positive influence, and contributes to the collective evolution of practices within its ecosystem.

The ISFB Innovation Lab was created with this in mind. It provides a space to test new tools and explore new applications.

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The analyses and content published by the ISFB may be quoted or reproduced in part, provided that the source is clearly mentioned. Any full or substantial reproduction of this article in another medium or format is subject to the prior written authorization of the ISFB. In order to facilitate reading and without any intention of discrimination, the masculine gender is generally used, in accordance with the grammatical rule that allows it to be used as a neutral value to refer to a group of people comprising both men and women. This publication is intended for ISFB members and their employees in Switzerland, as well as anyone interested in finance in Switzerland. It is not intended to be read or distributed in any jurisdiction where its distribution would be prohibited.

ISFB Innovation Lab

The ISFB Innovation Program

Every organization faces a constant tension. It must deliver what is needed today, improve its processes, ensure the quality of its offerings, and meet the immediate expectations of its various stakeholders. But it must also devote some of its attention to what may become necessary tomorrow.

Mathias Baitan, General Manager