An Interview with Joanne Smith, Recordsure Founder: ‘We Celebrate Innovative Thinking and Encourage Curiosity as We Continue to Develop New and Unique Solutions’

“We’re helping regulated organizations improve performance and culture to improve customer outcomes.”

It’s safe to say that Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has arrived as a mainstream technology. According to Gartner, Inc., SaaS revenue will grow by 17.3 percent in 2019 and will reach $85.1 billion worldwide this year. It also happens to be (by far) the largest segment of the $206.2 billion global markets for public cloud services.

It’s no surprise that SaaS has become the new development standard; the cloud has dramatically lowered costs to develop and distribute software while increasing user accessibility.

Interestingly, the SaaS revolution is now simplifying and empowering risk management solutions just as it has done with so many other applications.

In light of the above-mentioned scenario, we’re thrilled to present Recordsure.

The pioneering RegTech has developed a risk management SaaS solution that monitors, records, and analyses interactions between advisers and customers to drive performance, culture and operational efficiencies within regulated organizations.

The platform uses advanced AI to gather data from customer interactions, analyzes the information at scale, and leverages unique insights for follow-up action. The solution is used to improve compliance and risk management in regulated industries, enhance customer care and optimize sales.

Recordsure, which is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, was incorporated in 2012 with the product launched in 2016 following four years of R&D.

Joanne Smith, Recordsure Founder, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

Why was the company set up? How did you select the vertical and decide to be a part of the global platform?

We identified a gap in the market whilst doing consultative work for commercial banks through our sister company, TCC. Firms were struggling to put a comprehensive and robust audit trail in place that included face-to-face customer meetings which put them at risk. Furthermore, firms already had more data than they could physically process, forcing them to only monitor a small sample (often around five percent of the total pool). This left a huge blind spot which wasn’t just important from a compliance or risk management perspective: it was also invaluable for customer support, sales optimization and training.

Recordsure was created to address these problems. The solution helps firms build a robust and comprehensive audit trail, but the real strength of the platform is its bespoke AI analytics which enables firms to understand the full landscape: they can now review 100% of their interactions day-to-day replacing the need and limitations of small-scale sampling whilst enabling them to conduct past business reviews and audits ten times more quickly.

What were the grounds on which you have expanded your company and its offerings over the years?

We have been constantly evolving our product following market demand. In the last 12 months alone, we have brought in sentiment analysis and moved from voice only to also analyzing/automating processes with written documents and text-based correspondence. We are also constantly improving the accuracy of our analytics through new tools and machine learning tech which gets smarter the more it is used.

What do you feel are the reasons behind your consistent growth as an organization?

The solutions we provide are unique: they are new solutions to old and stubborn problems faced by regulated organizations. Recordsure tackles these issues at source whilst delivering wider commercial value through improved customer care, risk management and sales optimization.

The effect this is having is transformational – ultimately our continued growth has been driven by the strength of our solution.

Two other factors at play are:

 Firstly, the multiplier effect – strong results naturally tend to turn heads and generate interest. Secondly, the market is becoming increasingly well-informed about RegTech in general compared to just a few years ago. The people we speak with are much more open to new innovation – there is a growing industry-wide awakening to the potential that AI and disruptive technology can provide with business strategies evolving accordingly.

If you have to list five factors that have been/are the biggest asset to your organization, what would they be and why?

Our internal culture is built around five core values – we strive to be:

• Ambitious
• Innovative
• Collaborative
• Responsible
• Quality-driven

Our culture is based around promoting these values at every level with everyone in the organization encouraged to put forward fresh ideas and nobody beyond accountability.

Two-way communication is the key. Employees need to feel they have an outlet for sharing their observations and ideas, is this true with your company?

Absolutely! We’re really focusing at the moment on maximizing the opportunities for 360-degree review and internal feedback as well as breaking down silos between teams so everyone understands the impact their work is having in delivering towards wider goals.

Moreover, we’re increasingly inviting in clients to talk about the transformational impact we have had in their organizations. We are putting heavy emphasis on hearing feedback straight from customers: the good news stories are a powerful motivator internally and the direct contact serves as a great way to steer thinking for potential product improvements and future developments.

We want to retain the same hunger and drive we had when we were a start-up. We celebrate innovative thinking and encourage curiosity as we continue to develop new and unique solutions. This naturally opens up new learning opportunities and helps empower people to develop their skills and take ownership of projects which they have been pivotal in planning.

How do you bring the best out of an employee? Do you give them enough autonomy in work-related decisions?

Yes, everyone is given a high degree of autonomy, dovetailed with a strong understanding of the company strategy and direction of travel.

We also encourage the best through:

• Regular team meetings and company-wide communication sessions,
• Celebrating positive milestones
• Coming together as a team/supporting one another,
• A down-to-earth, flat hierarchy where anyone can share ideas/thoughts/questions/constructive challenges.

How does your company contribute to the global IT platform?

We’re ultimately helping organizations improve customer outcomes more effectively than ever through the adoption of advanced technology. Consumers have been victim to multiple scandals over the last 10 years since the financial crisis. We provide the tools these firms need to help prevent similar troubles reoccurring in order to safeguard consumers and rebuild trust in the market.

Leadership | Recordsure

Joanne Smith, Founder & Group CEO: When Joanne brought the Recordsure concept to life in 2012, it marked the culmination of a 20-year career at the pinnacle of financial services. Her passionate expertise in industry-wide compliance matters is rooted in her time at leading industry names including HBOS and KPMG, as well as the FSA.

Joanne is the founder of TCC, a leading provider of compliance solutions. She holds an MBA from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris. Named Women in Compliance Awards’ first Inspirational Woman of the Year in 2014, Joanne is also a NatWest Everywoman Award nominee. This award recognizes female tech entrepreneurs developing real-world solutions to help build a smarter planet.

“Regulated firms often struggle to monitor more than five percent of their customer interactions. We shine a light on the other 95 percent.”