From banking to J.Lo concerts: Turlov on how ecosystems retain customers

According to him, the development of big data and AI models is opening new horizons for scientific discoveries. “We are seeing a major trend that became obvious back in 2016–2019: digital ecosystems are much more powerful than standalone companies,” he noted.

Turlov stressed that a successful ecosystem must combine several factors: frequent usage, customer trust and loyalty, the ability to retain clients over the long term, and at the same time generate profits efficiently. “The more reasons a customer has to interact with you, the higher the chance they will stay in the system,” the CEO said.

As an example, he cited the banking sector, where clients’ habit of using transactional services builds a high level of trust. However, it is the ecosystem approach that allows companies to expand interactions — from insurance products to airline tickets and concert passes.

“A digital ecosystem simplifies interfaces, reduces unnecessary steps, and reaches out to the client at the exact moment they need a product. This solves the problem of repeat sales, which traditionally is complicated by customers forgetting passwords and services,” Turlov explained.

He added that ecosystems turn low-margin transactional services into a base for offering more profitable products. “It doesn’t matter — insurance, flight tickets, or a Jennifer Lopez concert: clients start to trust the brand and perceive it as convenient in every area of their lives,” the speaker concluded.

Earlier, it was reported that Kai-Fu Lee at Digital Bridge 2025 warned that the race for AI leadership without proper safety measures could lead to a crisis, and that sustainable development is possible only with mutual trust between governments and businesses.