With culture, pace and processes changing across all walks of life, the pressure is on for financial institutions as consumers are now demanding seamless, personalised, real time financial experiences, often delivered outside the traditional banking silo.
additiv, a Swiss FinTech founded two decades ago, believes it has the antidote, through its modular, full stack AI and automation platform enabling financial institutions to innovate, scale and modernise without the upheaval of core replacements.
In an exclusive interview as part of the prestigious AIFinTech100, Vlad Magereanu, additiv’s Chief Technology Officer, lifts the lid on the company’s mission, its real world impact and its ambitious roadmap.
A crossroads moment
As it grapples with the aforementioned escalating costs, stricter regulations and much more, the financial services industry is clearly looking for its next great innovators to appease the new generation’s needs/wants.
Customer expectations have shifted radically, especially among younger generations like Generation Z. “Today’s clients… expect seamless, personalised, and real time financial experiences,” insists Magereanu. But for many banks, delivering this is easier said than done. “Legacy systems, manual processes, and product silos make it difficult to respond.”
The challenge is much more than launching digital apps and updating the technology at your disposal. It’s about doing so “at speed, at scale, and with the intelligence to personalise every interaction,” says Magereanu
In other words, it’s not enough to build a digital channel; financial institutions need to respond instantly and intelligently to individual customer needs, backed by data and agility.
A modular path to innovation
In an attempt to answer this call to action, additiv has developed a platform that can coexist with the core legacy systems that financial institutions currently have in place
– not making them obsolete – but empowering them for greater efficiency.
“We offer a single platform that empowers financial institutions to drive innovation without replacing core systems,” Magereanu explains. It supports new distribution channels, including embedded finance and B2B2C initiatives, while improving operational efficiency.
Magereanu likens it to upgrading the wiring without tearing down the walls, “It’s not just about digitising financial services. It’s about enabling institutions to stay competitive in a fundamentally changed market.”
Unlike the usual FinTech playbook, API first, customer interface heavy, additiv embeds AI and automation deeply across its platform, “not as isolated features, but as orchestrated, end to end capabilities,” he explains.
From automated onboarding and KYC to AI assisted investment planning and advanced credit decisioning, these services plug in seamlessly.
“These capabilities are already helping our clients reduce manual effort, accelerate delivery, and improve client outcomes,” remarks Magereanu.
But additiv isn’t resting on predictable use cases. Magereanu teases “Smart FNOL” (First Notice of Loss) in insurance, which combines computer vision and LLMs, while advisor augmentation tools draw contextual insights in real time.
“We’re building capabilities that help institutions evolve intelligently, not just digitise what they already do,” he explains.
What difference does it make?
According to the Bank of England, 75 per cent of firms in UK financial services are already using AI, with another 10 per cent planning to do so over the next three years, up from 58 per cent in 2022 . KPMG adds that 71 per cent of organisations are using AI in finance operations, and many report that ROI has exceeded expectations.
Given those figures, additiv’s proposition is remarkably well timed. Its customers span Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and include names like Deka, AXA, HAYAH, Zurich, and ATRAM.
“What unites all these use cases,” he says, “is that our clients aren’t just digitising, they’re transforming their business models […] bridging the advice gap, reaching underserved or previously excluded segments.”
Integration challenges
It’s one thing to build, another to scale, according to Magereanu. “Integration is always harder than it looks. It’s not just about connecting APIs, it’s about orchestrating data, logic, and workflows across fragmented systems, legacy cores, and third party providers.”
To meet the challenge, additiv’s modular, API first architecture was deliberately designed to fit.
“We’ve built our platform to simplify integration,” he says. And initial success isn’t enough—transformation means reimagining journeys, not recreating them digitally.
“Digitising existing processes is rarely enough […] the real opportunity lies in reimagining the entire journey.”
Cloud-native and delivered as a service, the platform adds agility; launch faster, scale regionally, handle complex workflows — all while avoiding hefty IT overhauls.
“Ultimately, scaling intelligent financial services is as much about mindset as it is about technology. You need to design for agility, not just automation.”
Future-proofing financial services
Looking ahead, the evolution of financial services demands a fundamental shift towards intelligence, modularity, and customer-centricity.
Magereanu envisions a future where financial institutions evolve the way they deliver and personalise offerings across every channel.
“Financial services will become increasingly intelligent, modular, and customer driven,” he says.
This means that banks, insurers, and pension providers will need to go beyond simply digitising legacy processes. Instead, they must rethink how advice is delivered, how credit is underwritten, and how protection products are integrated into new digital ecosystems.
At the heart of this transformation is the ability to innovate rapidly and scale without disruption.
Magereanu highlights the importance of enabling institutions to “launch with speed, automate with intelligence, and scale without compromise.” The goal is to build layers of smart technology on top of existing infrastructure, creating a seamless blend of legacy and innovation.
This approach also recognises the competitive necessity of embedded finance. As financial services increasingly become woven into everyday digital experiences, whether through e-commerce, social platforms, or workplace benefits, institutions must be ready to meet customers wherever they are.The challenge lies in adapting quickly and efficiently, without incurring the costs and risks associated with wholesale system replacements.
Magereanu sums up the company’s mission with a simple but powerful statement, “Add innovation. Remove costs.”
It’s an ethos that aligns with the broader industry imperative to do more with less, delivering personalised, real-time financial experiences that satisfy evolving customer expectations while maintaining regulatory compliance and operational resilience.
Ultimately, the success of intelligent financial services will hinge on technology but also on mindset.
Institutions must embrace agility, treating transformation as an ongoing journey rather than a one-time project. This means empowering teams to iterate quickly, integrate deeply, and remain open to continuous change.
With change acting as the only constant in this turbulent landscape, those who master this balance look set to embed themselves as the forbearers of this new world.
Delivering smarter, faster, and more inclusive experiences for customers around the globe, additiv looks set to prove that in the financial services jungle, it’s set to be
the companies that best follow the Darwinism concept of evolution that will survive, with evolution and adaptability at the heart of this.
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