Banking and insurance: 2026 is the year of compliance, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence

Times of change and evolution for Italian banks and insurance companies, in fact, in the midst of a historical phase marked by geopolitical instability, more complex cyber threats and a regulatory pressure that does not seem intent on waning, the country's main financial institutions are placing compliance, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence at the centre of their strategies: this is revealed by the Cetif Digital Trends 2026, the annual study presented by Cetif, the research centre of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, which was born out of a constant comparison with 160 CxOs. The research, which uses an index on a 0-1 scale to measure perceived impact, readiness and investments in ten key technological directions, photographs a sector that moves along two macro areas: that of endogenous factors oriented towards the construction of distinctive competitive advantages including the AI Digital Workforce or Agentic Automation, and that of exogenous factors influenced by the market and linked to the regulatory context such as Cyber Resilience or the Journey to Cloud. Among the exogenous factors, for example, there is Regulatory Evolution, which with a score of 0.98 confirms itself as the perceived top priority: regulatory compliance is no longer just an obligation but a structural condition to operate. Next comes Cyber Resilience, with an average score of 0.92 out of 1, a clear sign of how the protection of critical assets and data is a strategic lever for customer and stakeholder trust and not just a technical issue limited to IT departments. On the endogenous factors front, on the other hand, artificial intelligence is the real driver of transformation: it is now an integral part of companies and is widely used to transform decision-making and organisational models. AI-powered Strategic Insights, for example, propose predictive models capable of interpreting complexity and anticipating emerging needs, while the AI Digital Workforce redefines internal organisation by making structures more agile and data-driven; these are then joined by Agentic Automation (with a score of 0.91), which introduces autonomous systems capable of collaborating in complex operational flows, increasing speed and scalability. "Financial Institutions today are called upon to make decisive strategic choices to govern emerging digital trends, orienting investments, operating models and skills. The ability to integrate advanced technologies, strengthen resilience and anticipate customer needs is today an essential lever to maintain competitiveness and ensure continuity and growth in the long term," commented Federico Rajola, Director Cetif and Professor at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

Yet a paradox emerges from all this, namely that despite the fact that the hyper-personalisation of offerings is considered fundamental to competitiveness, only 14% of respondents consider their bank to be 'extremely effective' in providing contextual and relevant experiences, so much so that 68% plan to increase investment in this area during 2026. Also worth noting is the divergence between banks and insurance companies: the former are ready to use AI for strategic insights and digital workforce while the latter are accelerating on agent automation and personalisation with a more consultative orientation. Finally, a structural fact remains: Operations functions show higher levels of readiness and investment than front-end areas, confirming themselves as the driver of technology adoption in a sector that during this year aims to strengthen operational resilience and decision-making agility through increased digital investments.