schools to increase the relevance of their curriculum. the world economic forum, through its recent work on skills and talent mobility, has fostered a concerted, multi - stakeholder, cooperation and dialogue among policy - makers, relevant international institutions, governments and businesses to develop interdisciplinary solutions to address the talent shortage. the promotion of more effective international cooperation on training and skills development to meet the changing demands of the industry, more comprehensive strategies on talent development and greater mobility that is consistent with the realities of the global economy will support such talent development. despite these demands, under investment in learning remains in a significant proportion of financial institutions. this is largely due to the focus on keeping short term costs low. this has however resulted in drawing talent from the existing pool which has in turn resulted in rising costs of talent. surveys suggest that the biggest skills and knowledge gaps faced by financial institutions are in knowledge of regulatory standards, communications, management skills and risk assessment and management. professional and technical skills, particularly in the middle to senior levels, are still very much needed in many parts of asia. these skills shortages will intensify as financial institutions expand their operations. strategies for talent management and development must therefore change if financial institutions want to be competitive and well positioned to adjust and adapt to the changing conditions. the asian institute of finance ( aif ) was initiated by bank negara malaysia and established jointly with the securities commission in [ 2009 ] to respond to the growing needs of the financial industry for high quality and efficient training opportunities that would develop indemand skills. working with its affiliated institutes from the industry, the institute of banks malaysia ( ibbm ), the islamic banking and finance institute malaysia ( ibfim ), the malaysia insurance institute ( mii ) and the securities industry development corporation ( sidc ), aif has an important role in driving and supporting the development of talent in the financial sector. this also includes the development of intellectual capital through research that is being undertaken in the aif risk management centre and the applied finance research centre. bis central bankers ’ speeches aif has the vision to build a world class financial sector workforce. in support of this vision, aif has developed a learning programme assessment and accreditation framework ( lpaaf ) which provides a structured and comprehensive approach that defines quality assurance standards for training programmes for the industry. benchmarked against international standards, the framework is designed to be both current and forward - looking. the education standards promulgated through the framework ensures first class, job

opportunities targeted at highly skilled workers, averaging more than 95 % of total job vacancies and newly created positions. this underscores the financial sector's capacity to adapt to changes in the operating environment, enabling it to remain a net job creator, including of highly rewarding jobs. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches to ensure that we remain ready to meet the evolving demands of the economy, the way we approach talent development must keep pace with the changes around us. today, i would like to offer three perspectives on configuring the future of work and my thoughts on the way forward. first, the digital and sustainability revolution. digital transformation is set to significantly impact more than 20 roles in the financial sector across all job levels. this is not surprising as ai – including generative ai in particular – is widely believed to be a major driver of change in the future of work. with its vast potential to create new opportunities and augment human abilities, generative ai is forecasted to revolutionise 70 % of textand data - heavy tasks by 2025, and this is according to gartner. concurrently, the rising urgency of the sustainability agenda has accelerated demand for new skillsets and job roles to support customers across industries in making the green transition and meeting their environmental goals. for example, to support customers in adapting processes and adopting technologies to reduce carbon and environmental impacts, complying with regulatory requirements, or mitigating the impacts of physical risks. second, the growing importance of power skills defined as psychosocial skills relevant for all job roles in the fsf in today's workforce. as digitalisation and automation become more pervasive, technical skills alone is no longer sufficient as the world will be looking to tap into employees who are able to innovate and find novel solutions. power skills will become increasingly valuable as they involve unique human abilities not easily replicable by machines – cognitive skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and innovative thinking or emotional and social skills such as adaptability and resilience – are skills integral in shaping culture and ethics within the organisations. it also needs no saying that technical skills must also be continually upgraded. an interdisciplinary approach that blends technical and power skills are therefore required to thrive in today's environment. employees that are able to master both would be better prepared to navigate uncertainty, capitalise on opportunities, and drive organisational agility. third, embracing a " skills first " strategy in hiring and developing talent. for