Banking Transformation Day 2025: Highlights, Insights, Innovations

Modernization, AI agents and responsibility:
How banks and organizations can successfully shape transformation

A review of the most important learnings from the Banking Transformation Day at the F.A.Z. Tower

Regulatory pressure, an increasing flood of data, changing customer expectations - banks and financial organizations are under more pressure than ever. The time for small steps is over. If you want to remain competitive today, you have to consistently develop business models, processes and IT landscapes.

But how can the balancing act between transformation and day-to-day business be achieved?

What role do AI agents play - and what does responsibility mean when interacting with service providers?

These and many other questions were the focus of our Banking Transformation Day. The most important findings? Transformation is not a technology issue. It starts with clarity. And it can only succeed together.

Business strategy first - technology follows

A common thread that ran through many of the contributions:

Transformation without strategic embedding comes to nothing.

It is not enough to introduce new tools or processes. It is crucial that every project contributes to the overarching business strategy.

Why are we doing this?
Who needs to be on board?
What goals should actually be achieved?

Especially with long-term projects such as IT modernization or AI integration, it is tempting to start with supposedly simple topics. But this approach harbors risks. One participant put it aptly:

“If you only deal with the easy things, you run the risk of the project taking years - without ever realizing the great added value.”

Instead, you need the courage to tackle complex issues at an early stage - such as distributed responsibilities, unstructured data or processes with regulatory relevance. After all, real transformation occurs where it becomes uncomfortable.

Rethinking responsibility - being strong together

Another central point of the discussion: responsibility.

How can it be sensibly distributed between organizations and service providers? The answer: not by passing it on, but through partnership at eye level. Successful projects are based on trust, transparency and continuous exchange - not just on service level agreements.

“When responsibility for results is clearly defined, day-to-day work becomes easier for everyone involved.”

The key lies in a shared understanding: service providers must be allowed to know the individual starting position of their customers. And organizations must be prepared to share responsibility even when things get complex.

AI agents: Between efficiency and responsibility

The use of AI agents - applications that take on clearly defined tasks automatically, such as research, preliminary analyses or data preparation - was a particularly hot topic of discussion.

Their advantage:

High focus on sub-processes
Better traceability
Massive efficiency gains

However, as the technology grows, so do the questions:

What does a regulatory permissible use look like?
When is an agent allowed to prepare - or even make - decisions?
How can it be ensured that results are documented in an audit-proof manner?

This clearly shows that many organizations are still at the beginning. Pilot projects, clear governance and an open dialog with supervisory authorities are needed - in short: the will to shape the future.

Transformation with focus: prioritization instead of watering cans

One of the most important lessons of the day was:
Not everything at the same time. And not a little bit everywhere.

Transformation is not an end in itself. Instead of launching many parallel initiatives, the focus should be on use cases that create visible benefits, are quickly scalable and generate a real tailwind.

This requires

a realistic roadmap
clearly defined responsibilities
decisiveness - even when choosing what not to do

Or as one participant summarized it:

"Quite a lot is possible if you know exactly what you want to achieve - and if you don't work with a watering can.

Our conclusion: transformation requires courage - and trust

Whether in money laundering prevention, process automation or the further development of the customer experience - technology is and remains a key lever. But it will only be effective if organizations are willing to share responsibility, set clear priorities and learn together.

“We need more courage.”
This quote from a participant probably sums up the spirit of the day best.

Because courage means leaving the beaten track. Making decisions. Not shying away from the complex. And allowing trust - in new technologies, in new forms of collaboration and, last but not least, in your own willingness to change.

If you want to talk to us about your transformation - or are simply looking for inspiration on how modern technologies can help your business - we're here to help.

We love to run compliant financial technology - so you can focus on your business.