SAB Innovation Champions
DAY 1
Innovation Foundations

Mindset. Method. Market.

Today is about building the foundation for the SAB Innovation Champions journey. You will start by exploring the behaviours of innovative people through the Innovator's DNA. You will then learn the core innovation methods that help teams move from problems to tested ideas. Finally, you will connect this thinking to the real opportunities shaping banking in Saudi Arabia.

Start Day 1 Innovator's DNA
Today's outcomes

By the end of today, you will have

A clear understanding of the five Innovator's DNA discovery skills.
A personal reflection on your own innovation strengths.
A simple understanding of Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Design Sprints, Agile, Scrum and Innovation Horizons.
A practical view of how these methods fit together.
A sharper understanding of the KSA banking ecosystem.
A set of opportunity areas for SAB innovation.
A stronger starting point for the rest of the programme.
Workshop flow

Day 1 flow

1

Discover your Innovator's DNA

Explore the five behaviours that help people spot opportunities and challenge assumptions.

2

Build your innovation toolkit

Understand Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Google Design Sprints, Agile, Scrum and Innovation Horizons.

3

Scan the KSA banking ecosystem

Explore the shifts shaping banking in Saudi Arabia and identify opportunity zones for SAB.

4

Turn insight into opportunity

Connect mindset, method and market signals into opportunity areas for innovation.

5

Prepare for the next stage

Capture your strongest opportunity areas and questions for Day 2.

1
Part 1

The Innovator's DNA

Innovation is not only about having ideas. It is about building the behaviours that help you notice what others miss.

The Innovator's DNA describes five discovery skills that help people become stronger innovators. These skills can be practised. They help Champions ask better questions, observe real behaviour, connect ideas, learn from different people and test before building.

1

Associating

Connect ideas that do not normally belong together.

SAB example: what could banking learn from Netflix personalisation, airline loyalty, or healthcare patient journeys?
2

Questioning

Challenge assumptions and ask better questions.

SAB example: why does this banking process exist in this way? What if one step disappeared completely?
3

Observing

Watch people in real situations to find friction and workarounds.

SAB example: observe how customers apply for a product or how employees move information between systems.
4

Networking

Speak to people who think differently from you.

SAB example: learn from fintechs, regulators, frontline staff, SMEs, wealth customers, technologists and people outside banking.
5

Experimenting

Test ideas through small, practical experiments.

SAB example: run a small prototype, pilot or fake-door test before investing in a full solution.

Activity: My Innovator's DNA reflection

  • Which discovery skill feels most natural to me?
  • Which skill do I need to practise more?
  • What assumption about banking should I question?
  • Who should I speak to that sees the problem differently?
  • What small experiment could I run before building a full solution?
Innovation is not magic. It is a set of behaviours: ask better questions, observe real behaviour, connect unexpected ideas, learn from diverse people and test before you build.
AI Explore my Innovator's DNA
You are my innovation coach for the SAB Innovation Champions Programme.

Help me reflect on my Innovator's DNA discovery skills:
1. Associating
2. Questioning
3. Observing
4. Networking
5. Experimenting

Ask me one question at a time to understand how I currently use these skills at work.

After my answers, help me:
- Identify my strongest innovation behaviour
- Identify the skill I should practise more
- Suggest one practical habit I can use this week
- Suggest how I can apply this to innovation at SAB
- Suggest one opportunity I should explore in banking

Keep the advice practical, clear and suitable for a banking environment.
2
Part 2

Design Thinking & Innovation Approaches

Innovation methods help teams reduce uncertainty. They are not complicated theories. They are practical ways to understand problems, create ideas, test assumptions and build better solutions.

Design Thinking helps you find the right problem. Lean Startup helps you test whether the idea is worth building. Google Design Sprints help you move from problem to prototype quickly. Agile helps you build and improve in small steps. Scrum gives teams a structure for working in Agile. Innovation Horizons help organisations balance today's business with future growth.
1

Design Thinking

Purpose: understand people and problems.
Best for: finding the right problem.
Key question: what do people really need?
Flow: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test.
SAB example: understand why customers struggle with onboarding before designing a new digital journey.
2

Lean Startup

Purpose: test ideas quickly and cheaply.
Best for: reducing risk before investing.
Key question: how do we know this idea will work?
Flow: Build, Measure, Learn.
SAB example: test interest in an AI financial coach with a landing page or manual service before building the full product.
3

Google Design Sprint

Purpose: move from challenge to prototype quickly.
Best for: making fast progress on a big opportunity.
Key question: can we test this idea quickly?
Flow: Understand, Sketch, Decide, Prototype, Test.
SAB example: prototype and test a new SME banking journey in one focused sprint.
4

Agile

Purpose: build and improve in small steps.
Best for: complex projects where feedback matters.
Key question: what should we improve next?
SAB example: release one useful feature, test it, improve it, then add the next feature.
5

Scrum

Purpose: organise Agile teamwork.
Best for: teams that need clear roles, routines and regular progress.
Key question: what can we deliver this sprint?
SAB example: a team works in weekly sprints to improve an internal AI productivity tool.
6

Innovation Horizons

Purpose: balance improvement, growth and future innovation.
Best for: portfolio thinking and strategic innovation.
Key question: is this improving today, creating new growth or exploring the future?
Horizon 1: improve the core
Horizon 2: build new growth
Horizon 3: create the future

Which method should I use?

If...Use
The problem is unclearDesign Thinking
You need evidence before buildingLean Startup
The team needs fast progressGoogle Design Sprint
You are building over timeAgile
The team needs delivery structureScrum
You need to judge ambition and riskInnovation Horizons

Activity: Match the method to the challenge

Read each SAB challenge, decide which method fits, then reveal the suggested answer.

Challenge 1. Customers are dropping out of a digital onboarding journey, but the team does not know why.
Design Thinking — the problem is unclear, so understand the people first.
Challenge 2. A team has an idea for an AI assistant but needs to know if employees will use it.
Lean Startup — test demand and value cheaply before building.
Challenge 3. A senior sponsor wants a tested prototype of a new wealth journey within one week.
Google Design Sprint — fast progress from challenge to tested prototype.
Challenge 4. A digital team is building a service that will evolve through feedback.
Agile — build and improve in small steps as feedback arrives.
Challenge 5. SAB needs to decide whether an idea improves the core, creates growth or explores the future.
Innovation Horizons — judge ambition, risk and where the idea sits.
AI Choose my innovation approach
You are an innovation coach helping me choose the right approach for a SAB banking challenge.

My challenge is: [INSERT CHALLENGE]
What I know so far: [INSERT CONTEXT]

Help me decide whether I should use:
- Design Thinking
- Lean Startup
- Google Design Sprint
- Agile
- Scrum
- Innovation Horizons

For each relevant method, explain:
1. Why it fits or does not fit
2. What question it helps answer
3. What the first practical activity should be
4. What evidence we should collect
5. How this could apply in SAB

Keep the answer simple, practical and suitable for a banking environment.
3
Part 3

KSA Banking Industry Scan

Innovation becomes more useful when it is connected to the world around us. The Saudi banking ecosystem is changing quickly. Digital payments, open banking, fintech participation, Vision 2030, AI, data infrastructure and new customer expectations are creating new opportunity spaces for banks.

For SAB, the opportunity is not just to digitise banking. It is to design the next operating system for trusted corporate, wealth and new economy banking in Saudi Arabia.

Core thesis

The next wave of banking advantage in KSA will not come from better app features alone. It will come from becoming a trusted financial operating system for corporate clients, wealth customers, SMEs, expats and new economy participants.

Key ecosystem layers

A

Regulators & national strategy

SAMA, CMA, Saudi Payments, Vision 2030, the Financial Sector Development Program, SDAIA, NCA and CST are shaping the environment for responsible financial innovation.

Implication: innovation must be regulation-aware by design. Regulatory confidence can become a competitive advantage.
B

Banks & digital banks

Large incumbent banks, digital banks and telecom-led banking models are changing expectations around speed, onboarding and mobile-first banking.

Implication: SAB can compete where trust, complexity, international connectivity and advice matter.
C

Payment & data infrastructure

mada, sarie, SADAD and mature digital payment behaviour create strong foundations for embedded finance, smart collections, real-time liquidity tools, digital wallets and API-enabled banking.

Implication: the infrastructure is ready for more connected, data-enabled and ecosystem-based banking services.

Best opportunity zones for SAB

1

Corporate & transaction banking platform

Strategic logic: SAB's corporate-focused international positioning gives it a strong right to win.

Potential plays: AI relationship manager briefing tool, real-time corporate cashflow dashboard, open API cash management, smart invoice and reconciliation, supply chain finance for Vision 2030 ecosystems, treasury insights for CFOs.
2

Wealth customer intelligence layer

Strategic logic: wealth customers are a natural fit for AI, next-best-action and digital twin thinking.

Potential plays: AI wealth concierge, family financial planning journeys, goal-based investment nudges, private banking next-best-action engine, expat wealth and cross-border planning, lifestyle banking for affluent customers.
3

SME & new economy banking

Strategic logic: SMEs and new economy businesses need faster access to finance, smarter cash management and simpler digital tools.

Potential plays: SME financial health score, instant merchant working capital, embedded finance for marketplaces, smart collections and payment links, AI business coach, sector-specific banking for tourism, logistics, F&B, gaming and creative businesses.
4

Open banking & ecosystem partnerships

Strategic logic: open banking allows banks to serve customers where they already work, spend and make decisions.

Potential plays: consent-based financial dashboards, multi-bank cashflow views, credit decisioning using open banking data, fintech co-created propositions, corporate API marketplace, personal finance and wealth aggregation.
5

AI-enabled internal productivity

Strategic logic: internal AI is one of the fastest routes to measurable innovation value because it improves banker productivity, decision quality and speed.

Potential plays: AI assistant for relationship managers, AI credit memo drafting, AI compliance review, AI meeting notes and follow-up automation, AI proposal generator, AI knowledge base for products and policy.

Key themes to watch

1

AI-powered relationship banking

Make bankers faster, sharper and more proactive. Use AI to support relationship managers, credit teams, service teams and wealth advisors.

2

Open & embedded banking

Put SAB services into the platforms, workflows and ecosystems customers already use. Build through APIs, partnerships and embedded journeys.

3

Wealth & corporate intelligence

Use data, digital twins and AI to serve complex customers better than generic digital banks can.

4

Rapid experiments with regulatory confidence

Run small, controlled tests that prove desirability, feasibility, viability and risk before scaling.

Activity: Turn ecosystem signals into opportunities

Choose one ecosystem signal from the KSA banking scan, then complete the canvas.

AI Turn KSA banking signals into SAB opportunities
You are an innovation strategist helping me identify opportunities for SAB in the Saudi banking ecosystem.

Use these SAB opportunity themes:
- AI-powered relationship banking
- Open and embedded banking
- Wealth and corporate intelligence
- SME and new economy banking
- AI-enabled internal productivity
- Rapid experiments with regulatory confidence

My chosen ecosystem signal is: [INSERT SIGNAL]
The customer or stakeholder is: [INSERT CUSTOMER OR STAKEHOLDER]

Help me:
1. Explain why this signal matters
2. Identify the customer or business problem
3. Generate 10 opportunity ideas for SAB
4. Sort the ideas into Horizon 1, Horizon 2 and Horizon 3
5. Select the top 3 ideas
6. Explain why they fit SAB's strengths
7. Suggest a first small experiment for each idea
8. Identify any risk, compliance, data or trust considerations

Keep the output practical, banking-relevant and suitable for Saudi Arabia.
Bringing it together

Mindset, method and market

Day 1 connects three things.

Mindset: the Innovator's DNA helps you behave like an innovator.
Method: the innovation approaches help you move from uncertainty to evidence.
Market: the KSA scan helps you focus your energy where SAB has a real opportunity.

The goal is not to leave with a perfect idea. The goal is to leave with sharper questions, stronger opportunity areas and a better way to think about innovation.

Before you leave today

Day 1 action checklist

Tick each item as you complete it. Progress is saved on this device for the session.

0% complete
  • I understand the five Innovator's DNA discovery skills.
  • I know which discovery skill I want to strengthen.
  • I understand the difference between Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Design Sprints, Agile, Scrum and Innovation Horizons.
  • I can explain why innovation methods reduce risk.
  • I understand the key shifts in the KSA banking ecosystem.
  • I have selected at least one opportunity area for SAB.
  • I have written one opportunity statement.
  • I have one question I want to explore on Day 2.
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