Part of the Banking Transformation Series:

Europe:  London | May 18-19, 2027  |  USA:  Charlotte, NC | November 9-10, 2026  |  Asia:  Singapore | Returning 2027

Intelligent Infrastructure

Banking Trend: Intelligent Infrastructure

Flexible infrastructure remains one of the biggest challenges for banking and credit union leaders, and the rise of AI is adding to it. Scaling agentic AI across multiple banking services means the core infrastructure has to accommodate that growth while staying secure.

The Debate

Rip and Replace, or Modernize?

There's much debate in the financial world about whether it's best to rip and replace legacy infrastructure and rebuild anew or simply modernize the infrastructure to support AI systems.

For banking leaders, the balancing act comes down to speed versus risk: how much infrastructure change can you afford, and how fast can you afford to make it?

Option one

Rip and replace, then rebuild anew

or
Option two

Modernize what's there to support AI

The balancing act

Speed versus risk

Scale

On Infrastructure Scalability

Many banks and credit unions have already settled the rip-and-replace versus modernize debate and have core infrastructure in place to support agentic AI. But that's when the harder question shows up: how far does that infrastructure actually need to stretch?

Scaling isn't just about handling more transaction volume. It means supporting more AI agents, running across more departments, at the same time, without slowing down or creating new points of failure. Security must scale with it too. More agents interacting with core systems opens more ways for something to go wrong.

What scaling really means
More AI agentsNot just more transaction volume
More departmentsRunning at the same time
No new points of failureWithout slowing down
Security that scales tooMore agents on core systems means more ways for something to go wrong
The Questions

Five Questions Every Banking Leader Is Asking About Infrastructure

01

How much of the core system needs to change without opening banks up to more fraud risk?

02

How does AI perform differently on legacy infrastructure versus a modern core?

03

Is it more cost-effective to modernize existing infrastructure or build from scratch?

04

What impact does updating these systems have on the customer-facing experience?

05

How long before new infrastructure starts delivering ROI?

The Data

In the Numbers

From our State of Banking Transformation Report.

31%

of banking and credit union leaders name legacy infrastructure as the single biggest barrier to transformation, more than double those who name culture and change management.

Preferred approach to rebuilding core banking
Share of banking and credit union leaders
  • Hybrid approach40%
  • Build internally26%
  • Buy from an established provider23%
  • Buy a cloud-native platform outright6%
  • Unsure5%
At the Summit

At Banking Transformation Summit USA

As one of the key themes at the banking conference, Intelligent Infrastructure sessions focus on use cases from leaders who have taken infrastructure from a single AI pilot to running at scale across the business.

Sessions

Sessions on Intelligent Infrastructure at the Summit

  • 01

    Credit Union Keynote: Inside a Modernization Story

    For credit unions
  • 02

    The 2027 Core Decision: Modernize, Wrap, or Replace

    Intelligent Infrastructure
  • 03

    Replace, Rebuild, or Hold: The Core Call and Who Owns It

    Intelligent Infrastructure
  • 04

    Risk and Controls When Money Moves in Real Time

    Intelligent Infrastructure
  • 05

    Data, Not Models: Why AI ROI Stalls

    Intelligent Infrastructure
November 9–10, 2026 · Charlotte, NC

From a Single Pilot to Running at Scale

Hear from the banks and credit unions that have already made the core call at Banking Transformation Summit USA.