Trust and transparency in the spotlight

If there’s one thing our experts agreed on, it’s that establishing trust in reporting has become more important than ever. In the opening words of Julie Iskow, President and COO of Workiva, “The demand for transparency is exploding. Reporting teams are now responsible for providing information that significantly impacts business outcomes.”  

As our keynote speaker, Ben Caldecott pointed out, the importance of this extends beyond the report itself. “It’s hard to recruit and retain people if you don't have a good mission, sense of purpose, set of policies, and sustainability tools. There's a lot of evidence about how employees will work harder for institutions that do this well and with authenticity.”

Our biggest lightbulb moments 

There was certainly no shortage of inspiration from the experts this year. From the importance of governance to the evolving role of risk management, here are some of the most thought-provoking quotes from the day:   

• “Most of the time, new regulations have to come in as a catalyst before big changes are made.” Alejandro Pociña, Senior Manager of Financial Transformation, Deloitte Spain 

• “ESG doesn’t equal making the world a better place. We need strategies and plans to measure risks—but we also need to think more profoundly about how financial institutions in particular make a real difference in the world.”  Ben Caldecott, founding director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group

• “There’s a big gap in the linkage of external geopolitical issues with internal financial risk. It's very hard to achieve perfection, but it's certainly possible to do better.” Derek Leatherdale, Associate Director, The Risk Coalition

…And the best take-home advice 

As always, our speakers took us beyond thought leadership, providing us with actionable advice. Here were some of their recommendations: 

• “Start to include indirect risks in your risk management process. Think about the ‘known unknowns’, look at potential scenarios and analyse how they could impact all parts of your business.”  Marc De Pauw, Director, PwC Belgium

• “Your investors are not going to give you a pass while you transform your value chain. The only way is to ensure that there’s leadership at the top and then governance throughout your organisation.” Erik Saito, General Manager EMEA & APAC, Workiva 

• “Organisations need to bring in experts on climate and geopolitical risk, who are on top of what’s happening in the wider world and understand how it reflects back on the company.” Andromeda Wood, Vice President of Regulatory Strategy 

Our customer highlights

Throughout the day, Workiva customers also had the chance to share what they love most about the Workiva platform—and we were delighted to hear what they had to say: 

• “We love the linking capabilities. There’s nothing more joyous than making a change, hitting that publish button, and seeing 15 links all update at once. It really makes me smile!” Lara Wilson, Financial Controller, Fleetcor 

• “You can move a lot of the work into a single centre of excellence. You’ll still need the local GAAP knowledge, but you don’t need an army of people to review everything, because Workiva will do that for you.” David Grant, Managing Director, Forvis

• “The fact that we have insourced the EDGARisation process has saved us an incredible amount of time in our filing.”  Frederic Lang, Chief Accounting Officer, ArcelorMittal

…With a sneak peek at what’s next for Workiva 

With so much of the day spent looking to the future, we were particularly excited to share what’s next for Workiva. Our Amplify EMEA attendees got an exclusive sneak peek at some exciting upcoming developments for the platform, including:  

• A brand new ESG Program, providing a central access point for all things ESG
• Enhanced design capabilities, making it easier than ever to create a standout report
• A mobile app to access the Workiva platform on the go 

…Be sure to watch this space! 

Five stars for Amplify EMEA 2022

More than anything, Amplify EMEA 2022 was an incredible chance to connect. With over 200 in-person attendees and more than 500 virtual guests, the atmosphere, energy and enthusiasm were electric. We can’t wait to do it again next year!