At the NEXT Forum in Atlantic City, sponsored by Travillian and Newcleus, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dion Lisle, of Advintro for Banking+’s latest issue of 3 Questions With….
Advintro offers outsourced sales, business development, and trade show representation, specializing in fractional sales teams to help companies increase market share efficiently.
Lisle is no stranger to the banking world, having worked with major institutions like Citibank and Huntington Bank, as well as community banks across the country. Our conversation touched on talent, technology, and the often-overlooked culture challenges that hold community banks back from embracing the future.
“CORE systems have been a big issue for a long time,” Dion noted early in our discussion. “When I was with a large-ish bank, we started hollowing the core—building digital layers around it until the core just became a ledger. It allowed us to manage the relationship much better. It’s frustrating that core vendors haven’t moved toward freeing data more efficiently.”
Question1: Does Culture Matter In Core System Change?
The Cultural Shift Needed for Banking Transformation
Lisle’s biggest takeaway? It’s not always the technology that’s holding banks back; it’s the culture. “Banks lean heavily on Excel, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he said with a grin. “But it’s also a crutch. When you ask a treasury team if they like a new platform, and they say, ‘Can you make it look more like Excel?’ you realize how deep this comfort zone runs.”
For Lisle, the real challenge lies in creating a bridge between the old ways and the future. “You have to ease people into change,” he explained. “I love bankers, but let’s face it—they’re not big on change. It’s what makes them great at what they do, but it also holds them back.”
His experience has taught him that culture can make or break technological transformation. “You need a bridge between Excel and the future,” Lisle said. “And that bridge is more about mindset than technology.”
Question 2: What Is The First Step To Exploring Other Options?
Why Banks Need Both Experienced and Innovative Talent
When it comes to growing a bank’s technological capabilities, Dion believes in a balance between new and old talent. “You need both,” he stressed. “You need the people who know where the bodies are buried, and you need people who have a vision for the future. You can’t drive a bus by looking in the rearview mirror—you have to look over the hood, too.”
Hiring new talent with a fresh perspective is critical, but it’s not enough on its own. “You need an infusion of outside thinking,” Lisle explained. He recalled a time at Huntington Bank when he took a group of bankers to the Money 2020 conference. “Half of them had never heard of it, and I thought, ‘How can you work for a bank and not know about the largest FinTech show in the world?’”
Question 3: How Do You Build A Tech Forward Team?
Dion Lisle’s Optimism for the Future of Banking
As we wrapped up, I asked Lisle what he was looking forward to for the rest of the day. His response, fittingly, showed his commitment to growth. “I’m looking forward to the balance sheet discussion…. I think this kind of forward-thinking approach is exactly what banks need.”
Lisle may not be a banker by trade, but his ability to bridge the gap between tradition and innovation makes him one of the industry’s most valuable outside voices. And, as he reminded me, “You can’t just keep looking in the rearview mirror—you’ve got to look ahead.”
Please enjoy the full interview:
