The COO’s perspective: Building blocks for transformation success

The role of Chief Operating Officer is evolving. Operations functions in capital markets are no longer just viewed as a cost centre. They’re being recognised as the engine that drives a firm towards its strategic goals.

This changing perspective brings with it a host of new opportunities and demands for COOs. During our Innovation Day event, three industry experts explored how leaders can successfully deliver the transformation expected of them. The panel was:

• Jodie Kelsall, COO at Britannia Global Markets
• Mia Kershaw, Financial Services Operations Consultant at PwC UK
• Cressida Hamilton, Founder and CEO at Chryse Coaching

They discussed the latest research by PwC in conjunction with the Association of Financial Markets Europe (AFME), as well as their own personal experiences of delivering, or helping to deliver, change in financial firms.

Transformation priorities for COOs in 2025

The panel noted that the COO agenda is packed with things that need to be done immediately, each of them as important as the rest. These include:

• Prioritising cost efficiency
• Creating hybrid operating models
• Enhancing data-driven operations
• Leveraging cloud technology and AI
• Evolving the role of operations leaders
• Workforce transformation

A lot of these trends aren’t new. They’ve been around for a while and there has been much innovation in the industry. But many COOs feel that things aren’t moving as fast as they would like.

The necessary transformation hasn’t taken place yet. But Operations leaders are now in a position to ensure that it does.

Same priorities, different responsibilities: The evolving role of Operations leaders

COO priorities may be roughly the same as they always were, but that doesn’t mean nothing has changed. The role of COO itself is evolving, with leaders increasingly being invited to contribute to business wide strategic decisions. COOs have as much of a stake at the table as everyone else, thanks to Operations being viewed more strategically.

Many COOs therefore feel more empowered, or certainly more accountable. Which puts transformation firmly on their agendas if they are to enable the wider business.

This, the panel discussed, is reflected in the ideal skillset a COO should have. They should be able to:

• Lead the organisation
• Influence stakeholders
• Manage change
• Optimise performance
• Build resilience

These, as with the priorities discussed earlier, remain broadly the same as always. But there is a shift in focus, with more emphasis on influencing stakeholders. Because how else can a COO drive front-to-back transformation across functions they don’t own if they can’t get fellow leaders onside?

Evolving responsibilities and skillsets isn’t just contained to those at C-suite level either. COOs can’t deliver transformation on their own, so they expect more support from their heads of Ops.

They want senior managers to have a better understanding of their subject matter. They should be “deep in the detail” so that they can liaise with regulators directly. They also need to understand the wider goals of transformation and think about how these can be best achieved through technology and process optimisation.

Is the operating model empowering COOs?

Is it possible for COOs to rise to the challenge and deliver front-to-back transformation if their firm’s operating models stay the same? Nearly all organisations are staying with a vertical operating model, according to PwC and AFME’s research. Most, however, had some elements of shared services, such as a centralised function, that underpinned those vertical operating models.

The panel discussed two important findings from the research:

• The COOs who felt they had the most autonomy were the ones with high levels of flexibility in their operating model.
• A fifth of leaders interviewed felt their business wouldn’t be economically viable in five years’ time if things didn’t change.

The discussion over vertical and horizontal operating models has been going on a while. Evolving technology and business needs are blurring the lines between functions. For instance, no-code technology is enabling business users to operate systems that once required dedicated IT support.

And, as explored above, if COOs are expected to deliver front-to-back transformation, their reach is extending beyond their own business lines.  How do you get leaders at functions who’ve always worked independently of each other to come together regularly and factor in each other’s agendas as part of a transformation project?

The technology burden

Technology is a key pillar of any operating model – so what of the tools COOs have at their disposal to achieve their strategic objectives?

One of the key themes that emerged from the panel discussion was that firms are increasingly being held back by their legacy architecture. This was the reason behind the surprising fact that none of the COOs interviewed by PwC and AFME explicitly mentioned AI.

COOs are problem solvers – a fact our panel felt innovators often missed. They’re not interested in technology for technology’s sake – in fact, they’ve been burned before. It’s easy to bring in new technology and then not use it to its fullest. They want the right tool to solve their problems. If that means AI, they’ll happily use it.

But AI is still a vast and largely uncharted landscape. Everyone has ideas for what it can be used for, but on closer inspection these problems can often be solved using existing technology and automation.

Leaders want a solid foundation of technology in Operations. This will enable them to focus on delivering efficiency, namely through process transformation.

Process transformation: The key to operational efficiency in 2025?

73% of leaders polled by PwC and AFME cited process transformation as their top driver for operational efficiency in the coming months.

What that means varies depending upon how mature an organisation is. It could involve using Robotic Process Automation (RPA), or it could be about digitisation to remove paper-based processes. For some firms, it means expediting customer onboarding, enabling them to realise value quicker, while for others the focus is workflow orchestration.

As for why process transformation is so important, the panel noted that firms often miss the opportunity to evolve their processes when migrating to new technology. Instead, they simply recreate the old processes and ways of working on the new system. Given there could be a 20-year gap between these two technologies, it’s not difficult to see how doing this could fail to realise the full potential of a modern system.

A new era for COOs

COOs are moving into a position where they can finally begin to tackle their long-standing challenges. They have a mandate to deliver widespread transformation, which gives them more resources and justification to fix their operational issues.

This, of course, comes with new challenges. COOs need a broader skillset and must be supported by those above and below them. If this all comes together, they have the chance to break free of an outdated technology stack, automate processes to unlock greater efficiency, and play a key role in helping the wider business achieve its goals.