Banking transformation, customer expectations and interoperability were recurring themes at Sibos Miami 2026. Recorded from Kyndryl’s booth, this episode brings together industry leaders to explore how financial institutions are adapting to a more connected and always-on world. Host Graham Barrett speaks with the following industry leaders: Ramgopal Natarajan, SVP, US Banking Leader, Kyndryl Dirk Bullmann, Managing Director, Public Policy, Strategy and Innovation, CLS Jonathan Adams, Executive, Enterprise Payments & Digital Assets, National Australia Bank Carmela Gomez Castelao, Head of Global Open Banking Program, BBVA Stuart Bailey, Head of Payments Industry and Regulation, Lloyds Banking Group Sarah Gosler, Managing Director, Head of Cyber Resiliency & Human Defense, Wells Fargo From modernising banking infrastructure and delivering always-on cross-border payments to embedded treasury, cyber resilience and the future of digital assets, our guests discuss how financial institutions can adapt to changing customer expectations while building the trusted, interoperable foundations needed for the next generation of financial services. RAMGOPAL NATARAJAN, SVP, US BANKING LEADER, KYNDRYL Ramgopal Natarajan, Kyndryl Ramgopal Natarajan discusses the major forces reshaping the banking industry, including geopolitical uncertainty, mergers and acquisitions, increasing competition and the growing adoption of AI. He explains how banks can approach modernisation as a continuous process of incremental improvements rather than large-scale transformations that risk disrupting critical services. As digital banking becomes increasingly essential, he also highlights the importance of building resilience into systems, workflows and infrastructure to meet rising customer expectations and regulatory requirements. The conversation also explores how AI will transform banking operations and customer relationships, enabling better experiences, improved availability and more responsive services. Looking ahead, Ramgopal anticipates the emergence of AI-native banks, where people and AI agents work together under clear governance and controls. He emphasises that cybersecurity, resilience and responsible AI adoption will become increasingly important at board level, with banks expected to demonstrate measurable outcomes from their investments in technology. DIRK BULLMANN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PUBLIC POLICY, STRATEGY AND INNOVATION, CLS Dirk Bullmann, CLS Group Dirk Bullmann discusses changing trends in global currency markets, explaining how the US dollar continues to dominate foreign exchange settlement despite a decline in its share of global reserves. He also highlights the growing role of emerging market currencies, particularly the Chinese renminbi, and the importance of maintaining efficient and resilient settlement infrastructure as the market evolves. Dirk explores how technologies such as blockchain and tokenisation could offer alternative settlement solutions, particularly for emerging market currencies where existing risk mitigation infrastructure remains limited. The conversation also examines the balance between faster settlement, risk management and operational efficiency. Dirk explains that instant settlement is not always the best solution for wholesale markets, where netting can reduce costs and exposure. Looking ahead, he highlights the challenges of an increasingly complex financial ecosystem involving tokenised deposits, central bank digital currencies and new settlement networks. He emphasises the importance of interoperability, trust and resilience to ensure that innovation does not lead to greater fragmentation across global financial markets. JONATHAN ADAMS, EXECUTIVE, ENTERPRISE PAYMENTS & DIGITAL ASSETS, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED Jonathan Adams, NAB Jonathan Adams explains how National Australia Bank is working towards becoming the most customer-centric company in Australia and New Zealand, with a focus on making payments faster, more reliable and more convenient. He highlights the bank’s collaboration with BBVA and Lloyds Bank to demonstrate the potential of always-on cross-border payments, successfully transferring a payment across more than 10,000 miles in just 23 seconds. However, he emphasises that scaling these capabilities requires more than technology alone, relying on strong banking partnerships, shared standards and effective liquidity management. The conversation also explores NAB’s investment in modern payments infrastructure, including its move to AWS to support real-time payments and e-commerce services such as pay-by-bank. Looking ahead, Jonathan anticipates greater integration between traditional payment networks and digital assets, including stablecoins and tokenised assets. He highlights the importance of interoperability in making these technologies work seamlessly together, ultimately creating a more predictable, secure and stress-free experience for customers making international payments. CARMELA GOMEZ CASTELAO, HEAD OF GLOBAL OPEN BANKING PROGRAM, BBVA Carmela Gomez Castelao, BBVA Carmela Gomez Castelao explores how embedded finance is evolving beyond payments to encompass wider treasury operations, including cash management, liquidity and accounts receivable. She highlights the opportunity to integrate banking services directly into business workflows, helping companies streamline processes and create greater value. The conversation also examines the growing role of AI agents in transaction banking, with Carmela identifying key challenges around identity, permissions, accountability and the ability to understand and reconstruct decisions made by autonomous systems. Carmela also considers the barriers to wider AI adoption, arguing that businesses should rethink processes from the ground up rather than simply automate existing workflows. She emphasises the importance of understanding customer needs, connecting relevant data and providing agents with the context they need to make effective decisions. Looking ahead, she anticipates a future shaped by greater collaboration between humans and AI agents, while highlighting how differences in privacy, identity and cultural values across regions will influence how these technologies are adopted. STUART BAILEY, HEAD OF PAYMENTS INDUSTRY AND REGULATION, LLOYDS BANKING GROUP Stuart Bailey, Lloyds Stuart Bailey explains how Lloyds Banking Group is improving the cross-border payments experience as the first UK bank to send and receive payments through the new Swift scheme. He highlights how customer expectations extend beyond competitive pricing to include transparency, reliability and confidence that payments will arrive on time and in full. The scheme establishes shared standards between participating banks, helping provide more predictable outcomes, greater payment tracking and clearer information about transaction times and costs. The conversation also examines how banks can introduce new capabilities while maintaining customer trust, with Stuart emphasising the importance of rigorous testing, effective transformation processes and putting things right when problems arise. He anticipates that AI will become increasingly embedded across banking operations, from customer engagement to technical processes and transaction reconciliation. Looking ahead, he stresses that the success of the Swift scheme will depend on wider adoption across the global banking network, enabling more consistent and reliable international payments. SARAH GOSLER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, HEAD OF CYBER RESILIENCY & HUMAN DEFENSE, WELLS FARGO Sarah Gosler, Wells Fargo Sarah Gosler examines how AI is transforming the cybersecurity landscape, enabling attackers to launch increasingly sophisticated and personalised attacks at unprecedented speed and scale. She explains why organisations must move beyond traditional cybersecurity towards a stronger focus on cyber resilience, ensuring they can recover quickly and maintain operations when incidents occur. Sarah also highlights the importance of using AI defensively while recognising that protecting employees from targeted attacks is just as critical as securing technology and infrastructure. The conversation also explores the growing risks associated with third-party suppliers and wider vendor networks. Sarah stresses that organisations must assess not only their suppliers’ cybersecurity measures but also their ability to recover from disruption, particularly when businesses depend on single providers for critical services. With AI-driven attacks expected to become increasingly frequent, she emphasises the need for proactive planning, alternative procedures and greater executive-level accountability for cyber resilience. CLOSING SUMMARY Across the episode, a common theme emerges around the transformation of global banking and payments, with AI, digital assets and modern infrastructure creating new opportunities alongside significant challenges. From making cross-border payments faster and more predictable to modernising treasury operations and strengthening cyber resilience, industry leaders highlight the importance of innovation that delivers tangible benefits while maintaining security, trust and operational stability. The discussions also underline the need for collaboration, interoperability and responsible technology adoption as financial services continue to evolve. Whether integrating AI agents into business workflows, exploring new settlement networks or expanding global payment schemes, banks must balance efficiency and innovation with resilience, accountability and customer confidence. Ultimately, the future of financial services will depend not only on technological progress but also on the ability to make these advances work seamlessly for businesses and their customers. In partnership with PRCA members receive 10 CPD points for listening to this podcast if they log it on the CPD programme. View episode
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