Financial services leaders are under increasing pressure to modernise core operations while balancing cost, risk, and regulatory demands. Legacy systems, fragmented data environments, and rising cost-to-serve continue to constrain transformation, just as expectations for AI-driven productivity and efficiency accelerate. Delivering innovation without disrupting critical systems has become one of the defining challenges for executives heading into 2026.

In this episode of The Common Factor Series, senior leaders from across financial services, Avanade, and Microsoft come together to explore how institutions are building the operational foundation required for AI-enabled growth, resilience, and trust.
Featuring Jeyan Jeevaratnam, SVP Small Medium Enterprises & Channel APAC at Avanade; Duncan Taylor, General Manager Financial Services at Microsoft; Sanja Petrovic, CISO at HUB24; Denis Orrock, Chief Strategy Officer at Praemium; and Craig Ward, CFO at Helia, the panel unpacks the real-world constraints shaping transformation in a regulated industry.

The discussion centres on how organisations are moving beyond isolated AI experiments toward connected, enterprise-wide transformation. Focusing on three priority areas—Intelligent Contact Centre, Cloud Move, and Intelligent Security Operations—the panel explores how financial institutions can deliver immediate, measurable outcomes while laying the groundwork for sustainable innovation.

Through practical examples, the conversation highlights how leaders are modernising customer service operations, sequencing cloud, data, and AI investments, and embedding security and compliance into transformation from the outset. The panel also examines how organisations can reduce operational friction, strengthen governance, and unlock greater value from technology investments—without compromising the control and trust required in financial services.

Sponsored by Avanade in partnership with Microsoft, this episode is designed for C-suite and senior leaders across financial services, including CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, Chief Data & Analytics Officers, CFOs, and Heads of Technology and Risk. It provides clear, executive-level insight into how organisations can turn AI, cloud, and security transformation into tangible business value while building a resilient, future-ready core.

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