In this special episode of the Leaders in Finance podcast, recorded live at OWIN26 Customer Conference in Italy, host Kees de Witt, Managing Director at Leaders in Finance, brings together two prominent voices from the financial services ecosystem: Kurt Vanhee, CEO Continental Europe at Objectway, and Maarten Lindner, Lead Investment Products at Rabobank.

The discussion highlights the strong momentum around innovation, with participants reflecting on the value of collaboration and knowledge-sharing during the event. From a client perspective, the importance of enhancing user journeys and delivering seamless experiences emerges as a central theme, particularly in the context of investment services.

A key point raised throughout the conversation is the complexity faced by established financial institutions. Large organizations must continuously balance innovation with regulatory requirements, governance structures, and legacy IT environments. These factors create multiple trade-offs, requiring a careful and structured approach to change.

From a strategic standpoint, Kurt Vanhee emphasizes that successful transformation begins with a clear focus on client needs. He notes that innovation—especially in areas such as artificial intelligence—can only deliver value when supported by strong foundational systems and reliable data. Without this groundwork, even advanced technologies risk falling short of expectations.

Building on this, the role of technology architecture is addressed through the concept of modular transformation. A phased and flexible approach allows institutions to modernize progressively, integrating new solutions while maintaining existing operations. This avoids disruption and supports continuous evolution, rather than one-off transformation efforts.

Maarten Lindner contributes by outlining how Rabobank addresses these challenges through a long-term “North Star” vision. This strategic roadmap aligns stakeholders across the organization and provides clarity on priorities and dependencies, enabling the bank to manage innovation over time while maintaining focus on improving the digital client experience.

The episode concludes by reinforcing a shared perspective: innovation in finance is not a single initiative, but an ongoing journey. It requires alignment between strategy, technology, and organization, as well as a balanced integration of emerging capabilities such as AI within a broader transformation framework.