My name is Wilfrid Bocco and I am originally from Benin in West Africa. I was Head of Consumer Banking for the francophone countries in West Africa for a Pan African Bank. I can call myself an autodidact since my career was built mainly through internal training programmes. I chose to study the Executive Diploma in Digital Leadership to ensure that I endorsed my professional experience with a qualification from one of the best business schools in the UK and in the world.

Having managed consumer banking and electronic products at a regional level for more than ten years, I had been involved in the digital transformation journey of the bank from inception when I first joined the team in 2008. After a while I felt it was time to find a programme that would help me develop new skills and explain the new concepts in our world that is being disrupted by fintech and new customer expectations.

My aim was to deepen my understanding of how I can fast track digitalisation in the organisation I work for and derive value from it. I believe that digital transformation is not just limited to having innovative products, but creating an ecosystem both internally and externally, to help the organisation to always be ahead of the competition.

The Executive Diploma in Digital Leadership covered all the topics I wanted to have expert knowledge on. From leading a digital transformation project through to understanding the new models, to explaining the value and importance of Artificial Intelligence. The programme also covered the tools and techniques to manage a platform business.

At the time I was completing my enrolment on the programme, I was also in the process of changing my career to become an independent expert in Digital Transformation for all businesses. As the programme was aimed at executives, with a cohort of delegates from different countries holding senior roles and of multicultural backgrounds, I felt it was the right course to help me acquire the required knowledge and skills that will pave the way for even more successful chapters in my new professional and personal lives.

The cohort was multicultural, almost all the continents were represented. Plus, the delegates came from different industries holding various senior to executive roles. Although it was not possible to meet everyone due to the challenges of the pandemic, I was still able to make friends with my fellow course participants. We created a WhatsApp group to remain in touch and I was able to add almost 25 new people to my network. The delegates in my cohort were also very friendly and very knowledgeable which allowed us to have good discussions on the different subjects. I particularly enjoyed the role plays and the module on leading digital transformation. Although it would have been good to meet other delegates and lecturers in person, I somehow felt it was good that we completed the course online. The platform we used was user friendly, and we were able to follow the different modules without any major technical issues.

The quality of the lecturers in terms of how the professors presented topics and the in-depth knowledge of the subjects they taught us, was also a key highlight of the programme. I liked the way the course director and his team organised the different lectures and included guests who were invited to share their experiences. The programme has helped me to conduct academic research more efficiently. Even before completing the programme, I was able to apply the knowledge and the new skills in to my work. Specifically, in my new role as Board Director, as I was chosen to head the digital committee where I am able to put into practice everything I learned during the programme.

This course will benefit anyone who is in the position of leading digital transformation in their business either as a manager, a leader, or a Board Director, with the comprehensive understanding of the digital technology and the strategy needed taught on the programme.

The programme gives you the required knowledge you must possess and the concepts you must be familiar with to remain relevant in your business regardless of your sector, in order to champion, promote or embrace digital transformation.

Find out more about the Executive Diploma in Digital Leadership here, or book a 1-2-1 chat with our team.