FAInance 2025 - rethinking banking in the age of GenAI

How can we make the leap from fascination with artificial intelligence to concrete, scalable implementation in everyday banking?

This is exactly what was discussed at the FAInance Day 2025 at Sopra Steria - with experts from research, the financial sector and technology. The message: change is here - and we are shaping it together.

Strategic view: AI between responsibility and implementation

Prof. Dr. Dirk Hecker from Fraunhofer IAIS kicked things off. His keynote highlighted the role of generative AI in a highly regulated environment such as banking. His central point: “Trustworthy AI” needs more than principles - it requires resilient frameworks, data expertise and an open dialog between business, technology and regulators.

From use case to platform: AI in practice

A particular focus was on the concrete implementation of GenAI in everyday operations.

Chelsea Murray and Katharina Knaack (ING Germany) showed how data-driven AI applications are already ensuring efficiency in credit processes, better customer interactions and automation. The integration of Celonis for process analysis made it clear where points of friction exist - and how they can be specifically resolved by intelligent systems.

Use cases with substance: AI applications in the regulated space

The interactive World Café sessions focused on specific use cases - practical, interdisciplinary and trend-setting:

• AI Data Hub (René Zeitlberger)
  Our platform makes it possible to bring self-developed use cases to companies quickly and scalably - within a regulatory-compliant framework right from the start. As specialists in the secure operation of AI, Sopra Financial Technology operates the AI Data Hub of Sopra Steria.
   
• AI Regulatory (Alexander Kreutz-Peil)
  An AI agent that automatically monitors regulatory websites, recognizes relevant content and creates a knowledge graph from it - for the internal optimization of processes and for maximum transparency towards external regulators.
   
• AFC AI Agents (Jonas Taugerbeck)
  Agent solutions for the detection of suspicious financial transactions and AI-supported preparation of KYC processes by using publicly available information - presented on the platform of Agent Inc.

• AI Auditor (Florian Heldner)
  An intelligent system that makes internal auditing more efficient - no more Excel files, but AI-supported audit trails and smart results analyses.

• AI@Testing (Anja Jaufmann)
  From requirement to test case: this solution brings efficiency and traceability to testing processes and ensures clarity in execution - and prevents misunderstandings between bugs and features.

• Campaign management (Johannes Riedl)
  An innovative use case that shows how AI actively supports sales - for example through targeted segmentation and recommendation of campaign content.

Sopra Financial Technology - enabler for scalable AI in the financial sector

The Sopra Financial Technology team was also prominently represented: Christian Pfeiffer, Torsten Seeber, Rainer Köchel-Perret, Carsten Fritz and Birgit Hass contributed perspectives from product, strategy, communication and IT - as initiators and sparring partners.

Our topics:

• How can end-to-end digitalization with GenAI succeed in credit processes?
   
• What opportunities does AI offer in customer service and contact centers?
   
• What requirements does the operationalization of AI place on governance and IT?

Our conclusion

FAInance Day 2025 has shown:

• The technology is available.
   
• The use cases are concrete.
   
• The regulatory framework can be shaped.

What is needed now: clarity, implementation power and strong partnerships - for trustworthy, productive and scalable AI in the financial sector.

Many thanks to Martin Stolberg, Savaş Çetin, Rolf Lehmann and the organizing team from Sopra Steria - as well as to all speakers, hosts and participants for the open and future-oriented exchange.