Lessons from financial services transformation

Delivering transformation at scale in financial services requires far more than ambitious technology roadmaps. As Virginie O’Shea, Founder of Firebrand Research, observes, recent Chief Operating Officer (COO) survey findings point to the realities executives are navigating: scaling operations amid rising complexity, confronting data integration challenges rooted in decades of legacy system decisions, and deliver change within increasingly tight cost constraints.

The industry's decades-long pursuit of Straight Through Processing (STP), automating workflows to free up human experts for high-value tasks, is a prime example. These realities underscore a central truth—technology is not the limiting factor.

Cloud transformation, automation and AI can accelerate workflows, but they cannot compensate for weak processes, or fragmented governance. People and culture remain the ultimate enablers of progress.

Bringing these dynamics to life, leaders from banks, market infrastructure providers, and regulators share hard‑won lessons from the frontlines of digital transformation in banking. They explore why culture change is harder than technology, and why data governance frameworks are critical for safe and scalable AI deployment.

Inside the discussion: Key takeaways

Transformation is multi-dimensional. It’s not just about upgrading technology. Success requires alignment across people, processes, governance, and infrastructure to deliver sustainable change.
Culture change is the primary barrier. Resistance, legacy mindsets, and fear of redundancy can derail progress. Blending long‑standing institutional knowledge with new skills, builds early wins and ensures transformation is practical and inclusive.
STP is a foundational goal for efficiency. The pursuit of STP is to automate workflows, freeing human experts to focus on high-risk, high-value exceptions. This is achieved through gradual, step-by-step automation, not a single technology fix.
Governance keeps programs on course. Robust frameworks, ongoing sponsorship, and consistent communication anchor AI and data initiatives and prevent them from drifting off‑strategy.

Measure outcomes, not outputs. Roadmaps should be expressed in terms of business impact: efficiency gains, decision quality, and stakeholder confidence. Every deliverable needs clear KPIs tied to strategic goals.
Technology is an enabler, not a silver bullet. Cloud, modular systems, and AI accelerate change, but broken processes cannot be fixed by tech alone.
Communication and transparency sustain progress. Visible sponsorship, clear messaging, and an open ‘fail fast, learn faster’ culture build trust and maintain organizational confidence throughout the transformation journey.

Lessons from the frontlines of transformation: A case study on transforming operations to drive automation and efficiency

"Technology is not a silver bullet. It won’t fix a broken process. Straight-Through Processing has been achieved through automation, but only as a step-by-step incremental process. You need to understand the process you’re changing before you throw technology at it."

Virginie O'Shea, CEO & Founder, Firebrand Research

"Implementing a unified approach to data governance felt like rewiring the entire organization while it was still running. We assessed transformation across five dimensions—people, processes, tools, organizational arrangements, and infrastructure—and the hardest part was changing how people work and think. Success depends on creating a shared vision and bringing people along on the journey."

Ramūnas Baravykas, Director of the Data and Statistics Department, Bank of Lithuania

"Scale comes together with complexity and mastering that complexity is what drives transformation. We’re at a turning point in the innovation journey—many systems are at the end of their life cycle, and new business models are emerging. That means operational challenges and the need for resilience."

Volker Riebesell, CIO & COO, Clearstream Banking

"Build versus buy is an important part of any transformation decision. You shouldn’t build something that someone else is already an expert in. Focus on your core competency and build around that—especially in today’s world of modular technology."

Linda Middleditch, Chief Product Officer, Regnology