Everyone’s talking about agents. Artificial intelligence that doesn’t just answer questions but actually does things. Moving money, checking accounts, building products. In fintech, the conversation has shifted from “What can AI do?” to “How do we rethink our entire system to let it do it all?”
For most banks, that’s a nightmare. Their core systems were built like fortresses. Locked down, proprietary, designed to funnel everything through channels the bank controlled. Build something new? You’re waiting for the technology team. Build it fast? Forget it.
But there’s a different way. And if you’re building financial infrastructure in 2026, you need to understand it. Tearing down those fortress walls allows institutions to harness infrastructure where security and agility co-exist, spotting threats and responding to opportunities at speed.
Paul Payne, CTO at SaaScada, has been thinking about this longer than most. His approach to core banking was built on a single principle: put the financial institution in control of its own data. Make the system open. Make it composable, so institutions can build on top without begging for permission or waiting for a vendor to understand what they’re trying to do.
This decision, made years ago, is now looking almost prophetic.
“We approached core banking differently. It’s all about keeping the system very open and putting our client in control of their data,” Payne explains. Closed systems were profitable for vendors. Open architecture created genuine flexibility.
“The need to have access to your data in real-time systems is increasingly important. In a world of AI, how are you going to build the next generation of infrastructure?” Payne asks. “That’s the actual problem. Not “how do we use AI?” but rather “how do we build ecosystems that let AI do useful things in a safe way?”
Last chance: Get your tickets for Baltic Fintech Days May 13
Most banks bolted APIs onto ancient systems. Technically connected but not very flexible. Agents break that model. You can’t have latency. You can’t have inconsistent data structures. You need real-time access to consistent information, and you need it predictably.
Banks built on composable, open architectures aren’t panicking about AI. They’re building. They’re delivering features because they move fast. They’re not trapped by technical debt or waiting for quarterly releases.
The institutions built on closed systems spend engineering cycles explaining why they can’t release something. The architecture requires committee approval and six months of planning. That’s the difference between being a market leader and being a market follower.
This is where the real competitive advantage sits. Not in being first to use AI, but in having infrastructure that lets you use it without tearing everything down.”A very flexible and adaptable platform with clear data structures, that gives you an edge to adapt to what comes next.” Payne explains..
‘It lets you move. Experiment. Deliver features at pace instead of just talking about delivery. It lets your organisation iterate on the product instead of spending cycles negotiating changes with vendors.
The uncomfortable truth for most vendors is that the moat they built with proprietary systems, complicated data structures, and lock-in through complexity has now become an anchor. Providers that bet on openness, data transparency, and systems that accommodate constant change? Those are winning.
The AI agents that will really matter are the ones that are helping banks build products. Helping smaller institutions compete by enabling them to implement change without waiting for their vendor. They’re building themselves and that’s only possible if your foundation is right. Data accessible. Architecture that assumes change.
Last chance: Get your tickets for Baltic Fintech Days May 13
Tomorrow’s constraint will be whatever you didn’t anticipate. Choose technology that provides the autonomy to control your destiny, and you’ll adapt. If every change becomes a negotiation, agility dies, and you’ll be stuck explaining why you can’t execute.
The architects who understood this years ago are watching everyone else figure it out now. And they’re already building what comes next.
