The Disruptive Innovators Podcast Hosts PRA Group Global CIO Jan Husby
PRA Group Chief Information Officer Jan Husby joined The Disruptive Innovators Podcast to discuss the challenges and opportunities information technology innovation offers businesses today, as well as his journey to leading IT for a global financial services company.
He reflects on how the industry has evolved since his career began, and how this informs his approach to the business: “new technology nowadays is so easy to pick up that people do. It’s convenient, it’s transparent, it’s easy—and we need to ensure we are there to communicate and have dialogue with the customer on their terms.”
Innovation is key to this process, and in keeping with PRA Group’s core values, Husby places great emphasis on encouraging team members to share their thoughts and ideas. “Don’t accept things as they are. Don’t be complacent. And don’t take status quo to be what’s best,” Husby said. “Speak your mind, but also listen to others when they speak up because they might see something you missed, so that’s an important balance. I think if you do that, then possibly change comes about.”
He also shares insights for fostering teamwork and collaborative solutions across diverse geographies. “We’re trying to leverage our understanding and our knowledge and how we handle that in the different countries so that we can take learnings from one country and apply it to another, including having teams from various continents work with each other on the same data, for example,” he said.
As governance requirements in general and information security in particular becomes more complex, keeping the technology platform simple, reducing complexity, and minimizing technical debt are critical to maintain efficiency and provide effective service.
Husby’s perspective on AI is that it offers opportunities to enhance the work our people are doing by making us more efficient and giving us immediate access to information and data. In terms of adopting new technologies and approaches, Husby’s advice is to start simple: “there is always opportunity to make things complicated later, and starting simple can be useful learning and may change all the plans you have later.”
Listen on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. You can watch the full episode here:
Husby has been a leader at PRA Group since the company acquired Aktiv Kapital in 2014. He supported operations in nine countries as CIO of Europe before becoming the company’s global CIO.
About PRA Group
As a global leader in acquiring and collecting nonperforming loans, PRA Group, Inc. returns capital to banks and other creditors to help expand financial services for consumers in the Americas, Europe and Australia. With thousands of employees worldwide, PRA Group companies collaborate with customers to help them resolve their debt. For more information, please visit www.pragroup.com.
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