Stepping off the elevator into the Truist Innovation and Technology Center, I was greeted by a futuristic space equipped with virtual-reality simulators, a 3D-printing area, countless workflow- and idea-filled whiteboards and even a self-service, fully digital snack shop.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based ITC, located inside the $548 billion bank’s headquarters, brings together its digital, innovation, developer, product and business intelligence teams and others into one modular workplace.

“We were pretty intentional about wanting to make sure that these teams come together differently,” Ken Meyer, chief information and experience officer at Truist, told Bank Automation News during an exclusive tour of the facility earlier this month. “That’s different than a lot of the ways that a lot of us have worked traditionally.”

After scanning my visitor badge, I was led through a hallway of lights and my attention was immediately directed toward the intentional first stop of my tour: the bank’s call center, the heart of ITC.

Client-driven innovations

The call center is an instant reminder of the bank’s client-driven focus for innovation as employees clock into work each day.

“Five years ago, you likely would not have seen a team of call center teammates with product leaders, platform leaders, shared services, support teammates, readiness teammates … all coming together to say, ‘How can we solve a problem to help our clients?’” Sherry Graziano, head of digital banking and contact centers at Truist, said.

The call center is where the innovators get to work.

Pain points, including difficulties with account opening or funding, are addressed by the team and make their way through the innovation center via client journey rooms, Graziano said.

“Right now, in the accelerator lab, they’re doing some testing of [client] conversations over the phone and observing those in real time,” she said. Real-time client feedback allows the Truist team to address points of friction in the call center to improve client experience.

Truist Assist is one innovation that resulted from the ITC directly related to call center friction. The AI-enhanced virtual assistant opened a point of contact at which clients could interact with the bank when and where they wanted to, Graziano said.

Whether a client is looking to use self-service on Truist’s website at 7 p.m. on a Saturday, use Truist Assist’s chat feature or contact the call center for person-to-person inquiries, the bank continues to meet clients where they are, she said.

Seamless experiences and data

Truist’s 2022 ITC developments include digital investment and automated planning and goal setting tool Truist Invest Pro; self-directed investing solution Truist Trade; and AI-enhanced virtual assistant Truist Assist.

In meeting clients where they are, Truist’s ITC is focused on creating a seamless experience and interface for clients in a branch, at an ATM, in an app and online — proven by the innovations that have come out of the lab, Meyer said.

To accomplish this, Truist ensures clients and employees have the same access to tools and technology, Graziano said, noting that a client shouldn’t have to restart a process already begun online or in the app.

“The last thing you want is a client that shows up in a branch or calls our care center and says, ‘What do you mean you don’t know? I just tried to do this online. Can’t you see that?’” she said.

That’s where data comes in. “We’re at an inflection point: Data is at the core of innovation,” Graziano said. “So, if the data is out there, [clients] expect you to use the data and deliver a very personalized, seamless experience, irrespective of channel.”

Innovators at work

The ITC brings together Truist partners, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Verizon and Unqork, to work together in real time with its team, Graziano said. For example, AWS had office hours with its team in the innovation center at the end of February as the care center team transitioned a lot of its software to AWS.

The same innovation efforts are implemented internally at Truist as mobile developers work next to call center employees and next to C-level executives, Meyer said.

But this is not how collaboration has worked in the past.

Previously, the view was, “Why would we invite somebody else down into the sausage-making of building our new processes?” Now, however, the bank realizes, “It’s connecting all of that together,” Meyer said.

Innovation labs on the rise

The two-story innovation lab at Truist is the size of two football fields, but smaller banks now are creating and leaning on their own innovation labs to meet client needs.

Southern Bancorp, for one, recently launched TeamWALT, its own innovation team, to develop ideas in a 90- to 120-day period based on client friction, Chief Executive Darrin Williams previously told BAN. The $2.5 billion bank has launched three innovations through its mini-innovation center, including gamification platform Envie Envelope Challenge and automated savings app Wealthable.

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union also stood up an innovation lab in 2021 that has resulted in the launch of its internal, AI-driven chatbot Gene, which saves 2,000 employee hours each month.

Washington Federal Bank last month spun off digital innovation provider Archway Software, an independent company, to offer its technology and innovation lab to banks. At the end of February, the tech provider received $15 million in Series A funding led by Madrona and WaFd Bank.