Unzer

Director - Head Of Business & Corporate Development

Merchant Payments Ecosystem

Advisory Board & Ambassador

Western Union International Bank

Head of Corporate & SME Banking

Sberbank Europe AG

Head of Products, Processes & Special Projects / SME Banking

Eurobank EFG

Country Manager / International Activities

Société Générale Group

Product Manager & Development of New Products 

Project On Line S.A.

E-business software provider and services' consultancy

Project manager, Presales, Consulting

ELTRUN e-business Research Center

ELTRUN is the e-commerce laboratory of the Athens University of Economics and Business. I was involved in projects at a European and national level in project management and business model development & application

Project Manager / Researcher

Intracom

In charge of the analysis and design phase of the E-sharing project (E-marketplace for Auctions and Negotiations in the Constructions Sector - IST-2001-33325 - Resource Sharing Constellations")

Project manager

Corticap S.A

AIESEC Trainee

I’ve built my career at the intersection of business and technology, with a strong track record of leadership on an international scale.
I bring senior-level expertise across financial services, banking, payments, fintech, retail, and e-commerce — shaped by years of driving innovation and strategic growth in complex, fast-moving environments.
My work has consistently focused on innovation, strategy, business development, and building products and businesses from the ground up.
As a recognized voice in the financial services industry, I regularly contribute to publications and podcasts, and I'm frequently invited to speak at leading industry events around the world.

I can be contacted directly at pkriaris@gmail.com

Core banking is mid-sized banks’ greatest handicap. Thousands of smaller banks are stuck on outdated infrastructure. And yet very few players are paying attention to this multi-billion gap.
 
𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴: 
 
• Core banking systems are back-end software that banks use to manage their most critical processes, from transactions to accounts and to all kinds of day-to-day operational needs.
 
• Originally developed in the 1960s and 1970s, they are instrumental for banks: they influence costs, time-to-market, operational efficiency, and product sophistication. In essence the ability to innovate.
 
• Initially seen as the banks’ competitive edge, they have gradually turned into a handicap as their performance and sophistication can no longer match the needs of a digital world and competition from challenger players.
 
Today, core banking transformation is the jargon used by banks to modernize their infrastructure. Three shifts stand out:
 
1)   The move from in-house systems to the cloud
2)   The adoption of open, modular microservices (breaking the core into small, independent building blocks)
3)   AI as a foundational layer
 
𝗠𝗶𝗱-𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀: 
 
For the largest banks, transformation is a multi-billion, multi-year journey. At the other end, fintechs can build greenfield platforms. Small and mid-sized banks sit in between: too complex to rely on lightweight fintech platforms, too small to justify the cost and risk of mega-projects.
 
What smaller banks need instead:
 
• Modular cores they can adopt step-by-step
• OPEX-friendly delivery with fast payback, vs heavy upfront CAPEX with delayed value.
• Real ecosystems: APIs, partners, and embedded finance options out of the box.
 
𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀:  
 
That gap is both smaller banks’ main pain point and the industry’s biggest opportunity.
 
And specialised players are stepping in.
 
Natech is a good example. It has long served regional banks with reliable core systems, but with its recent funding round it aims to become the go-to choice for mid-sized banks and FIs.
 
The playbook is absolutely spot-on and shows what the industry should be doing:
 
• Leverage AI to give smaller banks the same advanced capabilities their largest peers have enjoyed — out of the box and in a way they can roll out incrementally and affordably: mass personalization on the distribution side, smarter credit decisioning, real-time fraud detection, and automated compliance and reporting — all without multi-million IT budgets.
 
• Growth for mid-sized banks has long been confined to their own branches and apps. Natech’s API-first, cloud-native core unlocks embedded finance — allowing banks to distribute payments, lending, and deposits directly through retailers, fintechs, and digital platforms.
 
The next generation of core banking transformation will increasingly be customized and segment specific.
 
Opinions: my own, Graphic source: Natech Banking Solutions

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Panagiotis Kriaris

FinTech | Payments | Banking | Innovation | Leadership

We are moving from the digital to the agentic organization: automation replaced tasks - now agents will run entire workflows. Here’s how that future might look.

But there is one misunderstanding. An agentic organization is not an organization without humans but one where humans shift roles - moving from execution to oversight, judgment, and creativity, while AI agents run the workflows.

Mckinsey has recently analysed the biggest changes. Here are my top take-aways:

• 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗜-𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀. Instead of apps and websites, every customer could have a personal AI concierge - negotiating, learning, and adapting in real time. Companies that own these interfaces, and the proprietary data behind them, will hold the competitive edge.

• 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱-𝘁𝗼-𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. Small human teams will supervise dozens of agents - two or three people could guide 50–100 agents handling everything from customer onboarding to compliance checks.

• 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀. Hierarchies and even agile teams will feel slow compared to flat, outcome-focused agentic teams. Instead of rigid org charts, we’ll see “work charts” where tasks and outcomes flow dynamically between humans and agents.

• 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. Control agents will enforce guardrails, compliance agents will monitor regulation, and critic agents will challenge outputs. Humans still hold accountability - but they step in only where oversight or judgment is required.

•  𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁. Some people will act as generalists, orchestrating agents across domains. Others will apply deep expertise to reimagine processes and handle exceptions. And many will focus on frontline interactions, spending less time on systems and more time with people. Culture and trust will be the glue that makes this hybrid model work.

•  𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. Instead of heavy, monolithic IT, organizations will use interoperable agents that can plug into each other, into machines, and even into legacy platforms. Because AI evolves so fast data and vendor workflows will need to be kept separate, using open standards where possible, and ensuring agents can be swapped in and out as better tools emerge.

• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱. AI systems move exponentially, whereas most organizations evolve linearly, new structures, new skills, new governance typically take years to unfold. Closing that gap means rethinking how fast organizations can adapt, and how much risk they are willing to take to keep up.

In the digital era, software connected people. In the agentic era, AI will connects agents, while humans operate on a layer above.

Adapted from Mckinsey - The agentic organization: Contours of the next paradigm for the AI era.

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SMEs are one of banks’ biggest opportunities and yet they are still treated as an afterthought. For years banks lacked proper tools to address them. This excuse is long now gone.

SMEs struggle across the whole banking journey: 

• Clunky onboarding and KYC
• Fragmented payments
• Basic cash management tools
• Slow reconciliations
• Opaque FX
• No customization
• Long service cycles
• Expensive pricing
• Hard-to-access working capital

In many cases, banks never developed targeted SME propositions. Instead, they simply repackaged existing retail or corporate solutions — or a patchwork of both.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 that makes up over 90% of businesses worldwide and contributes more than half of global GDP?

The absence of granular segmentation sits at the core of banks’ inability to properly serve SMEs. Without it, the wide variety of SME segments and sub-segments remains invisible. As a result, incumbents often hold thousands of SME relationships without really knowing who these businesses are or what they need. 

Until now, uncovering that detail has simply been too expensive.

But not anymore:

• Digital infrastructure now 1) enables granular market segmentation, 2) lowers the cost of serving micro and small businesses through modular offerings and digital processes, and 3) powers data analytics that transform and simplify underwriting.

• Embedded finance has reshaped SME financial workflows by embedding banking and payments into their core tools, opening the door to the platform economy.

• AI and agents already automate tasks across the SME journey — from onboarding to reconciliations to proactive credit — while delivering personalized insights and support at scale.

The tools are here. The opportunity is massive. What’s missing is a mindset shift. 

𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘄𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀. They are still well positioned — with scale, trust, balance sheets, and established SME relationships that fintechs and platforms are still working to build. But time is running out, and if they don’t act, they will soon find themselves reduced to utilities powering the very platforms that took their place.

Opinions: my own, Graphic source: IFC

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Excited to share that I’ll be speaking at Engage Europe!

Backbase’s flagship European event brings together financial services leaders to explore how AI and data-driven strategies are transforming the industry.

One of the key topics we will be discussing is how banks are navigating their toughest transformation in years — as legacy systems, regulatory pressure, AI-driven disruption, and the demand for data-led innovation challenge the very assumptions behind their business models —  and how core modernisation plays a pivotal role in addressing these challenges, far beyond the technical layer.

Looking forward!

#ENGAGEEurope 

Tim Rutten, Thetis Tsiakou, Jon Van Zytveld, Yashita Arora, Alexandros Papaioannou, Lila Canaj, Eugene Deeny, Ilia Dragan, Fabiano Rocha Loures , George Njuguna MBS, Kontiano Brazhdari, Alina Beleuta, Emelia Sackey, Martin Moeller, Mindaugas Vaiciulis, Kanishka Bhattacharya, Toby Cross MBA FCSI CMgr, Henning Soller, Divakar Padmanathan, Susana Ponce Froment, Linda Olsen, Stewart Allan, Ben Nadel, Christos Eojourian, Jouk Pleiter, Barry de Leeuw, Roland Booijen, Lennart Asshoff, Luca Mastrini, Robert Soetens, Ilco van der Bie, Jarno van Hurne, Lennart Asshoff, Backbase

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