Speaker Spotlight - Anders Kirkeby
Anders drives SimCorp’s initiatives to realize the ecosystem-enabled innovation strategy. Beyond corporate and group strategic initiatives this is mainly focused on building out the SimCorp Open Platform ecosystem to offer optionality in functionality and services, with fast time-to-value, from fintech startups and more established partners.
Prior to SimCorp, he was a developer and architect for several years and had a stint as a start-up CTO. At SimCorp, he has previously held various technology strategy, architecture, and product management roles.
WIA 2024 Summit Breakout session:
Why did you agree to present at the Women in Alliances Annual Summit 2024?
As head of Open Innovation at SimCorp, I see first hand how crucial partnerships have become in delivering innovation to the investment management industry. Our session with Bottomline isn't just about sharing a success story – it's about demonstrating how partnerships can help firms navigate market complexities and meet growing regulatory and market demands. I believe the Women in Alliances Summit provides an excellent platform to share practical insights about building effective partnerships in this new era of ecosystem-enabled innovation.
How did you get into partnerships?
My journey to partnerships was a natural evolution through my product and technology leadership roles. I recognized that the traditional "best-of-breed versus enterprise platform" debate was becoming obsolete. What we needed was an open ecosystem approach that could combine the strengths of both. This realization led me to champion our open innovation initiatives and ultimately to my current role leading our partnership ecosystem strategy..
What do you love the most about it?
What excites me most is the opportunity to curate partnerships that deliver real value to our clients with minimal complexity. I'm passionate about how we can tap into wider innovation in the market and leverage experts focused on solving niche problems. Whether it's AI for efficiency, ESG reporting, or trade execution, it's incredibly rewarding to see how our partner ecosystem enables clients to adopt innovation with minimal effort while unlocking better decision-making potential or more efficient processes.
What attributes make you good at your job within Partnerships?
My background combines technical depth with strategic product and market insight, both of which are essential for evaluating market opportunities and developing curated partnerships. I have a keen eye for identifying where partnerships can enhance our clients' operational landscape without adding unnecessary complexity. Being able to think systematically about integration - from APIs to data standards - while maintaining a strong focus on business outcomes has been crucial in building our open platform ecosystem.
How important do you think partnerships will be in the next five years?
Partnerships will be absolutely fundamental. Our core platform, SimCorp One, is used to manage over $35 trillion in assets globally. We've seen that the future isn't about choosing between best-of-breed and enterprise platforms – it's about creating open ecosystems that can deliver you the best of both worlds. The market demands more agility, faster innovation adoption, and enhanced customer experiences across front-to-back operations. This can only be achieved through strong partnerships. Whether it's AI for efficiency, ESG reporting, trade execution, or regulatory compliance, partnerships will be crucial for delivering the optionality and innovation that investment managers need to stay competitive.
