Strategy meets data science when it comes to SME lending, with Frank Gerhard (McKinsey & Company)

<p>“This is not a small change, and it doesn't affect isolated groups. This is not just an IT problem. This is not just a modelling problem. This is not something the business can solve on its own. This really requires board attention to actually bring together those teams and ensure that there is really cohesion across the organisation.” - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankgerhard/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Frank Gerhard</a>, Solution Associate Partner and CTO at <a href="https://www.riskdynamicsgroup.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Risk Dynamics</a>, part of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">McKinsey &amp; Co</a>.</p><br><p>Gone are the days when senior business leaders could leave the data crunching to propellor-hat-wearing quants in a back room, now there’s a seat at the Boardroom Table for data and analytics, or at least there should be. In this episode, Frank and I speak about the strategic elevation of analytics and how innovations from just a year or two ago are already mere table stakes, but in particular, we talk about all of this in the context of SME lending where lenders are feeling them acutely.</p><br><p>I first found Frank via his co-authorship of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/how-banks-can-reimagine-lending-to-small-and-medium-size-enterprises" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this article on “<em>How banks can reimagine lending to small and medium-size enterprises</em></a>” but we also reference <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/designing-next-generation-credit-decisioning-models" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this article on “<em>Designing next-generation credit-decisioning models</em></a>” which is worth a read, and has more insights we had time to fully explore.</p><br><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankgerhard/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Frank is on LinkedIn</a> and av