Banking Frontier 2026

International Banking Summit

Banking Frontier 2026

When and where

23–27 November 2026
Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Central European Time (CET)

Take part

Register Full agenda

89 published sessions · 5 days · two rooms · 65 speakers

One session, exactly as published

AI governance & model risk

09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage
Rita Gnutti · Head of Internal Validation and Controls · Intesa Sanpaolo · Italy

Delegates working at tables with laptops and documents at a previous Zenith Group event
Photograph from a previous Zenith Group event. Banking Frontier 2026 takes place 23–27 November 2026.

What is being worked on

Five problems, one per day, in the programme's own words. Nothing here is a prediction written for this page.

  • Getting AI out of the pilot stage

    AI-native banking, governance, model risk, data foundations, and the path from pilots to enterprise value.

  • Proving identity in real time

    Digital identity, fraud prevention, authentication, cyber resilience, and real-time trust across banking journeys.

  • Moving money on new rails

    Instant payments, wallets, tokenization, Open Finance, digital assets, and the future of money movement.

  • Serving customers through a platform

    Omnichannel journeys, AI-assisted service, smart branches, SME banking, and platform-based growth.

  • Being ready for 2030

    Post-quantum readiness, sovereign AI, and the technologies shaping banking to 2030.

Five days of notes

Blue = verified time Pink = verified room label Colour marks what a value is, never a session's status.

AI & Trusted Finance

Day 1 · 23 November 2026 · 14 sessions

AI-native banking, governance, model risk, data foundations, and the path from pilots to enterprise value.

  • 09:00–09:30

    Room A · Main Stage

    AI governance & model risk

    Rita Gnutti · Head of Internal Validation and Controls · Intesa Sanpaolo · Italy

  • 09:30–10:00

    Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Data, AI enablement & intelligent automation for bank operations

    Gladson Baby · VP & Director of Data & AI Enablement · Fifth Third Bank · US

  • 10:00–10:30

    Room A · Main Stage

    Scaling AI responsibly: leadership playbook for AI risk & compliance

    Frans Vanbruggen · Werkgebied Lead · AI Coalitie 4 Nederland (AIC4NL) · Netherlands

Identity & Cyber Resilience

Day 2 · 24 November 2026 · 16 sessions

Digital identity, fraud prevention, authentication, cyber resilience, and real-time trust across banking journeys.

  • 09:00–09:30

    Room A · Main Stage

    Corporate digital identity management

    Stephan Wolf · Chair of the Board · Verifiable.Trade Foundation · Germany

  • 09:30–10:00

    Room A · Main Stage

    Digital trust in AI-led banking · risk, audit and cyber oversight at board level

    Dr. Björn Lenzmann · Member of The Supervisory Board · DenizBank · Turkey

  • 09:30–10:00

    Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    User centricity in cybersecurity · UX research and behavioural science

    Nazima Kadir · Global Head of UX: Cybersecurity · J.P. Morgan · UK

Payments & Digital Assets

Day 3 · 25 November 2026 · 20 sessions

Instant payments, wallets, tokenization, Open Finance, digital assets, and the future of money movement.

  • 09:00–09:30

    Room A · Main Stage

    Instant payments and interoperability

    Domenico Scaffidi · CEO & Founder · DS Payments Ltd · UK

  • 09:00–09:30

    Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    The new payments landscape · instant, interoperable, invisible and built on trust

    Paul Walvik-Joynt · VP Commercialization Real-Time Payments · Mastercard · Norway

  • 09:30–10:00

    Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Digital wallets and biometric payments · customer experience and secure authentication

    Mihai Draghici · Founder & CEO · PayByFace · Romania

Customer Growth & Platform Banking

Day 4 · 26 November 2026 · 23 sessions

Omnichannel journeys, AI-assisted service, smart branches, SME banking, and platform-based growth.

  • 09:00–09:30

    Room A · Main Stage

    Human-AI banking experience

    Rudolf Stefanich · Lead UX Researcher · Bitpanda · Austria

  • 09:00–09:30

    Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    AI-augmented service and product-led banking at scale

    Speaker TBC

  • 09:30–10:00

    Room A · Main Stage

    Present and Future of Digital Transformation in Islamic Banking

    Wan Halim · Head of Shariah Governance (Global) · Crédit Agricole CIB · UAE

Future-Proofing Banking 2027–2030

Day 5 · 27 November 2026 · 16 sessions

Post-quantum readiness, sovereign AI, and the technologies shaping banking to 2030.

  • 09:00–09:30

    Room A · Main Stage

    Systemic Risk in European Banking 2027–2030: Geopolitics, AI and Structural Vulnerabilities

    Ulf Holmberg · Functional Lead and Senior Analyst · Swedbank · Sweden

  • 09:00–09:30

    Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Preparing banks for systemic threats: cyber, geopolitical disruption and operational concentration risk

    Naji Freiha · Risk Appetite, Strategy and Governance · Konsilium · France

  • 09:30–10:00

    Room A · Main Stage

    Systemic threats and stress testing · post-quantum readiness

    Christoffer Kok · Head of Division, Stress Test Experts · European Central Bank · Germany

The complete 89-session agenda

Real sessions, real people

One contributor from each day, with the session they are published against and that session's own stated points — not a summary written here.

Rita Gnutti, Executive Director, Internal Validation and Controls, Group Chief Risk Officer Area

Rita Gnutti

Executive Director, Internal Validation and Controls, Group Chief Risk Officer Area, Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy

AI governance & model risk

Day 1, 23 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

  • Define what trusted AI-driven finance means for banks in 2027–2030.
  • Link customer value, transparency and control to scalable AI adoption.
  • Address model risk, explainability and governance guardrails.
Stephan Wolf, Chair of the Board, Verifiable.Trade Foundation; Leadership Team, LEI Worldwide

Stephan Wolf

Chair of the Board, Verifiable.Trade Foundation; Leadership Team, LEI Worldwide, LEI Worldwide / Verifiable Trade Foundation, Germany

Corporate digital identity management

Day 2, 24 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

  • Position digital identity as core banking infrastructure, not a back-office utility.
  • Explore wallet-based identity, verified credentials and organisational identity.
  • Support cross-border onboarding and trusted customer access.
Domenico Scaffidi, CEO and Founder / Independent Consultant, Global Payments Innovation Practice

Domenico Scaffidi

CEO and Founder / Independent Consultant, Global Payments Innovation Practice, DS Payments Ltd, United Kingdom

Instant payments and interoperability

Day 3, 25 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

  • Frame the payments, wallets and digital-assets agenda.
  • Link market infrastructure, regulation and customer expectations.
  • Set priorities for payment leaders and banking executives.
Rudolf Stefanich, Senior Manager - Product Insights

Rudolf Stefanich

Senior Manager - Product Insights, Bitpanda / New Design University, Austria

Human-AI banking experience

Day 4, 26 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

  • Show how AI changes service, sales, operations and advice journeys.
  • Define where humans remain essential for trust and empathy.
  • Explore AI agents, decision intelligence and workflow redesign.
Ulf Holmberg, Functional Lead and Senior Analyst

Ulf Holmberg

Functional Lead and Senior Analyst, Swedbank, Sweden

Systemic Risk in European Banking 2027–2030: Geopolitics, AI and Structural Vulnerabilities

Day 5, 27 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

  • Assess geopolitical fragmentation and structural vulnerabilities in banking.
  • Link AI, funding costs, credit risk and stress testing.
  • Evaluate operational concentration and systemic resilience risks.

The full roster of 65 speakers

Attendance

  • In person

    Both rooms run at Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers, Amsterdam, for all 5 days, 23–27 November 2026.

  • Online

    Online participation runs alongside the in-person summit. Current passes and terms appear only on the official registration page.

Registration and current conditions

Innovation and partner participation

Sponsorship and exhibiting are arranged directly with the organiser. No package, price, stand, partner name or partner logo appears on this page: the verified source publishes none of it, and this page will not invent one.

Sponsor and exhibitor opportunities

Organiser

Zenith-Energie International s.r.o.
Rezlerova 273/74, Petrovice, 109 00 Praha, Czechia

Company ID 02354357 · VAT CZ02354357

info@group-zenith.com

Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers

Venue
Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers
Address
Hoogoorddreef 66a, 1101 BE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nearest station
Bijlmer ArenA · 4-min walk
From Schiphol
Train Schiphol → Bijlmer ArenA, approx. 15 min
Parking
P1 ArenA · paid, on-site
Accessibility
Step-free access; accessible WCs on every floor
Registration desk
Ground floor lobby, signposted on arrival
Published times
Central European Time (CET)
Scene from a previous Zenith Group event
Photograph from a previous Zenith Group event. Banking Frontier 2026 takes place 23-27 November 2026.
Scene from a previous Zenith Group event
Photograph from a previous Zenith Group event. Banking Frontier 2026 takes place 23-27 November 2026.
Scene from a previous Zenith Group event
Photograph from a previous Zenith Group event. Banking Frontier 2026 takes place 23-27 November 2026.

Travel and access details

Questions

Are these sessions workshops?

Only where the published programme calls them that. This page reproduces each session's own title and description and adds nothing about the format.

What do the colours mean?

Blue marks a verified time, pink marks a verified room label. They say what a piece of text is, not whether a session is full, featured or still open.

Why is one typeface used only for times and rooms?

So that anything set in it is, by construction, a value copied straight from the official timetable.

Can I attend online?

In-person and online participation are both available. Current passes, terms and any group conditions are shown on the official registration page.

Who runs it?

Zenith-Energie International s.r.o., Rezlerova 273/74, Petrovice, 109 00 Praha, Czechia. Company ID 02354357, VAT CZ02354357. Contact info@group-zenith.com.