Agenda 2025

A candid look at how U.S. policy and influence shape the strategic and security choices of Europe. What are the hidden vulnerabilities of overreliance, and how can Europe strengthen resilience in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical landscape?

Key takeaways from the five Landscapes - Tuning strategy into disruption

Challenger and digital-first banks are not just using new tools—they are reframing risk itself. This keynote explores how embedded data, agile models, and customer-centric design shift the perception and management of risk compared to traditional incumbents.

Fraud is evolving at the same pace as digital banking, driven by AI, automation, and cross-border networks that enable increasingly sophisticated criminal activity. Emerging patterns reveal that fraud is not only a financial risk but a growing threat to the wider economy.

• Fraud as a Funding Chain for Organised Crime
  How corporate credit fraud is increasingly exploited to finance criminal networks.
• The Rising Threat Landscape
  Economic crime is expanding—from a financial risk to a societal challenge.
• Banks as the First Line of Defence
  Why trust and resilience depend on robust data and proactive controls.
• Collaboration is Key
  How banks, credit providers, and technology partners can join forces to combat fraud effectively.

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As fraud evolves, so do its ripple effects across Nordic societies. This dynamic panel brings together voices from government agencies, banking institutions and academia to explore how fraud is reshaping our future. From policy shifts and regulatory innovation to societal impact, join us for a thought-provoking conversation on the challenges and opportunities ahead. Discover how collaboration across sectors can build a more resilient and fraud-aware Nordic region.

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Fraud is moving faster than the systems built to stop it, powered by AI, synthetic identities and even deepfakes. Regulators across Europe are pushing banks to respond with real-time, explainable solutions that can stand up to scrutiny. The real breakthrough comes when Open Banking data is paired with AI, turning raw transaction flows into intelligence that actually sees the patterns behind the numbers.

For Nordic institutions, this is a chance to move from chasing fraud after the fact to preventing it before it ever reaches the customer. It is more than a compliance exercise. It is about protecting trust, which is quickly becoming the most valuable currency in finance.

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Artificial Intelligence is reshaping conversations across the financial sector, but when it comes to risk management, the debate is far from settled. Should AI drive a radical transformation, or is a more measured, evolutionary approach the smarter path forward? This question matters - not just for technology leaders, but for regulators and banks alike. While the promise of AI sparks excitement, its role in defining best practices remains unclear. The session will explore why an incremental, evolutionary strategy could deliver significant benefits: cost efficiency, reduced disruption, and faster adoption - without plunging organizations into massive transformation projects.

• Setting the Stage: The AI Hype vs. Reality
• Incremental, Practical Adoption: Evolution Over Revolution
• Use Cases Without the Hype

• Trust → Moments → Wallet: consented data, explainability, and HITL unlock timely, relevant help.
• Four value levers: Grow Revenue, Improve CX, Unlock Efficiency, Ship Faster.
• From pilots to platform: thin orchestration across channels/front/mid/back.
• 90-day blueprint: baselines & risk class/DPIA → 3 increments → traffic ramps → weekly P&L scoreboard.
• Metrics that matter: containment, cycle time, € per case, activation, lead time.

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Nordic rails and digital habits make this region ideal for trust-first AI—but value only lands when it’s governed and measurable. In this session, Shyam will show where AI actually moves the P&L: growing revenue with event-driven eligibility and next-best-action; improving CX with authenticated conversational service and clean human handoffs; unlocking efficiency by turning hours into minutes in KYC, disputes, and lending; and shipping faster with an agentic SDLC. Expect a 90-day blueprint you can run tomorrow—risk classification and DPIA from day one, thin orchestration end-to-end, controlled traffic ramps, and a weekly scoreboard your board will trust. Speed with stewardship; outcomes over screen time.

In this keynote, Riikka Laine-Tolonen, CEO of S-Bank, will share how the Finnish bank – owned by S Group, the retail market leader in Finland – is charting its rise through a bold, customer-centric playbook. S-Bank's strategy centers on purposeful expansion, data-driven customer insight and digital-first excellence leveraging the acquisition of Handelsbanken’s Finnish retail operations, combining the strengths of both cultures, to boost expertise and diversify offerings, all while aiming to become Finland’s fourth-largest household bank and serve one million active customers by 2027. By combining seamless mobile-first service with free daily banking, easy access to investing, and real-world coop benefits, Laine-Tolonen demonstrates how clarity in strategic choices fuels both growth and meaningful performance.

Resident host Teppo Havo from Danske Bank, together with the conference organisers, will open the Nordic Banking Forum by welcoming participants, framing the day’s themes, and setting the tone for an engaging exploration of the key landscapes this year. This session connects the audience to the purpose of the Forum—providing strategic clarity and practical insight for the high-level choices that will shape tomorrow’s Nordic banks.

• Welcome to Nordic Banking Forum
• Introduction to the Nordic Banking Leadership Landscapes
• From Risk to Resilient Growth: What’s at Stake for Nordic Banks

As Head of Strategic Initiatives at OP Pohjola, Heikki Rautila is steering the organization through one of its most pivotal shifts: moving to an “AI-first” strategy and mindset. In this new paradigm, artificial intelligence isn’t just another tool in the stack — it’s the lens through which every decision, process, and customer journey is reimagined. Today Heikki will trace the strategic, managerial, and workforce changes this shift demands, and offer a bold vision of where finance will stand in 2030 thanks to the ripple effects of this game-changing technology.

• Identifying the must-win battles
• Defining offering in the hyper-personalized world of AI
• Changing processes and organizational structures
• Managing new type of workforce

Expectations placed upon banks' decision-makers have increased significantly. Continuously developing regulatory landscape requires balancing between pursuing strategic objectives and maintaining full compliance. At the same time, the role of data in banks is rapidly increasing, as are the responsibilities of various organizational units. In this evolving environment, effective synchronization of these elements is not just desirable — it is essential for banks seeking to remain competitive and resilient in a dynamic financial landscape.

• What is the optimal balance between business, IT, risk management and finance?
• Do the different parties understand each other's needs: How can data help?

For over ten years, we’ve talked about the “future of SME banking” and the smart, seamlesssystems that would transform it. Well, that future supposedly arrived — yet very little haschanged. SMEs still see banks as a necessary evil, and most ERPs haven’t delivered on their ambition tobe the true financial hub of a business (yet). Meanwhile, players like Revolut are quietly building the infrastructure — and the capital base —to own the global SME relationship in the next 10–20 years. If banks and ERPs don’t collaborate now, someone else will do it for them — at scale.

• SMEs struggle with fragmented financial management
• The last decade – lots of promise, little progress
• Collaboration the only way forward
• The real competitive threat

This keynote examines how platform models, open finance, and embedded services are reshaping competition. It highlights how banks can shift from siloed products to ecosystem-driven value creation while navigating the trade-off between control and collaboration.

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A dynamic discussion bringing together banking leaders, fintech executives, and strategists to debate the forces that will shape value chains such as AI-powered services, embedded finance, partnerships, and customer ownership. The panel will explore what these trends mean for both digital banking and service focused strategies, and how incumbents can adapt their business models to sustain growth and performance.

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The closing keynote ties together the day’s insights by addressing the central challenge for incumbent banks: how to turn legacy into leverage. By combining the trust built over decades with strategic focus and operational excellence, banks can transform established strengths into customer-centric value propositions that stand the test of time. This session offers a roadmap for resilience and relevance in an era of disruption.

Enjoy an afternoon drink as the spirit and mingle intensifies

Regular and VIP lunches served

Networking & Breakfast

This panel explores how incumbent banks can turn their legacy foundations into strategic assets for both resilience and growth. From navigating US–EU technology dependencies, to deploying AI in mainframe environments, to learning from neo-banks without compromising stability, we ask what it really takes to modernise safely, compete effectively, and future-proof the core of European banking.

• Cloud Dependence: Who Should Control Europe’s Critical Workloads?
• From PoC to Production: Deploying AI at Scale on Mainframe-Centric Architectures
• Incumbents vs. Neo-Banks: Strengths, Blind Spots, and What Each Side Must Learn
• The AI Advantage: Will Scale or Speed Win the Next Phase of Banking Competition?