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Agenda
From Legacy to Leading Edge: Reinventing Banking Technology.
The European Digital Finance Conference (EDFC) returns in March 2026 with a bold new theme: From Legacy to Leading Edge: Reinventing Banking Technology. This edition focuses on one of the most pressing challenges in financial services today; modernizing decades-old core systems to enable real innovation, agility, and AI adoption.
Across three in-depth sessions, industry leaders, transformation experts, and senior architects from Europe’s leading banks will explore how to evolve the mainframe backbone, decouple monolithic cores, and unlock the hidden value in legacy data and integration layers. Expect real-world case studies, candid discussions, and practical insights into the technology strategies shaping the next decade of banking.
Banks that have registered speakers and/or delegates so far include ABN AMRO Bank, ING, Rabobank, Crédit Agricole, mBank, Deutsche Bank, Handelsbanken and others.
Session 1. Modernizing the Mainframe (the Core Backbone)
Focus: COBOL, z/OS, batch processes, and how to integrate or migrate them.
Most European banks still run mission-critical workloads on IBM Z or Unisys mainframes — from core banking to payments.
Themes:
- How AI-assisted COBOL development, DevOps on Z, and automated code-refactoring accelerate innovation without replacing core systems
- Transformation of mainframe estates into API-accessible platforms that support real-time services, cloud integration, and digital product delivery.
- API-enabling COBOL and PL/I systems
- Hybrid strategies (partial migration to cloud vs replatforming)
- Real-life modernization case studies
Session 2. From Monolith to Microservices: Core Banking Transformation (the Application Layer)
Focus: Old core banking platforms (T24, Midas, Profile, Equation, Flexcube) and their modernization paths.
Many institutions have upgraded their digital front ends but still run on 20–30-year-old monolithic cores. This session bridges strategy, architecture, and culture.
Themes:
- Innovation through composable banking — microservices, product factories, and cloud-native modules layered over legacy cores
- Transformation from monolith to distributed architecture using strangler patterns, domain-driven extraction, and transitional coexistence frameworks
- Decoupling legacy cores without full replacement
- The rise of composable banking and core-as-a-service
- Case studies: Core-banking migration and transformation adoption stories
- Cloud migration pitfalls and hybrid-core models
- Modernizing compliance architecture as part of core migration
- Decoupling compliance and AML workflows from legacy cores
Session 3. Data, Middleware & Integration: Unlocking Enterprise Value from Legacy Systems
Focus: Middleware, ETL pipelines, ESBs, data platforms, governance, and AI-readiness.
Legacy integration layers and fragmented data architectures are often the true blockers to transformation. But modernizing them unlocks not only technical capabilities — it enables AI, personalization, real-time decisioning, and regulatory resilience.
Themes:
- Innovation enabled by unified data platforms — real-time streaming, AI-ready pipelines, and event-driven interoperability
- Transformation of legacy data estates through decommissioning of old ETL, migration to modern integration layers, and enterprise-wide data governance uplift
- Moving from nightly ETL to real-time streaming
- Event-driven architectures and data mesh approaches
- Data modernization as the foundation for AI-readiness
- Success stories: banks building unified data layers
- Enterprise Data Governance & Quality as transformation accelerators
- How CDAOs unlock business value from legacy data (product, risk, fraud, CX)
- Operationalizing AI/ML on top of legacy data architectures
- Regulatory-ready data (BCBS239, DORA, AI Act) in complex legacy environments
17:30 – 21:00 Money Party
Networking with The Banking 50 and EDFC
Join us at the Money Party, the official networking reception of the European Digital Finance Conference. Powered by The Banking 50, this is where meaningful connections are made, ideas are exchanged, and business opportunities come to life. An unmissable chance to expand and strengthen your professional network in banking and financial services.
