Author: Simon Dummel

Simon Dummel is engaged in researching innovative banking concepts in the context of digital ecosystems. After completing his studies in business administration and a master's degree in international business and sustainability, he worked in the financial sector for several years—including at Frankfurter Bankgesellschaft and DZ Bank—with a focus on in-house consulting and project management in digital transformation projects. Since 2025, he has been a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Competence Center Future Financial Services, where he is pursuing a doctorate in contextual banking and supporting consulting projects with banks, fintechs, and other partners. His goal is to design banking processes in such a way that they create real added value along the customer journey and noticeably improve the banking experience for customers.

What SMEs really expect from banks today and why context is more important than the next product

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The expectations of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are shifting: from product portfolios to real contextual relevance in day-to-day business.
In his latest blog post, Simon Dummel, Research Associate & PhD Candidate at the Business Engineering Institute St. Gallen, explains:
– Why payment services are essential but underutilised
– How advisory must evolve into contextual, ongoing processes
– Why contextualisation is a key capability for future banking
– The positioning potential for banks as service partners in the SME segment

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(Open) Corporate Foresight: The Potential of Strategic Future Analysis in Start-ups

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Actively shaping the future: corporate foresight as a start-up advantage

Many start-ups rely on agility—but in uncertain, complex markets, that is not enough. If you want to identify opportunities early on and better assess risks, you need a structured view of the future: corporate foresight.

Corporate foresight allows weak signals and new trends to be identified at an early stage. Open foresight expands this approach by involving external partners and communities, creating collective intelligence for better decisions.

Lean startup and foresight are not contradictory: while lean startup enables rapid validation of ideas, foresight provides strategic orientation. Together, they reduce uncertainty and strengthen innovative power.

In our latest blog post, Simon Dummel shows that future competence is not a luxury for startups, but rather the foundation for sustainable success.

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