Agenda
Our agenda is designed to inspire, challenge, and connect. From keynote sessions with industry leaders to interactive workshops and networking opportunities, each part of the event is built to spark ideas and provide practical insights. Explore the schedule and start planning your experience.
Financial Summit
One day event
Coffee Break & Registration
Financial Summit Welcome Note
Host
Larisa Mihu
EMEA Account Director & RO Country Manager, IDC
Changing Gears in AI Adoption – The Rise of Agents
The financial services industry is witnessing a profound transformation as AI adoption moves beyond traditional applications toward the deployment of autonomous AI agents. These intelligent agents are redefining the limits of the possible across operations, risk, cyber, but strong concerns with regard to security, reliability, privacy remain. Through industry-specific examples and case studies, we will highlight how AI agents are empowering financial organizations to enhance operational efficiency, improve regulatory compliance, and deliver personalized client experiences at scale.
Tom Zink | IDC Central Europe
Associate Research Director, Financial Insights
Tom Zink
Thomas Zink is Associate Research Director for IDC Financial Insights and covers the digital transformation of the European banking industry with a particular focus on payments, wealth management and retail banking omnichannel strategies. Thomas’ core research coverage includes recent research reports on a variety of topics such as proximity and remote payments, xCommerce, immediate payments, digital channels, blockchain, cybersecurity, business process outsourcing and wealth front- and middle office systems.
Thomas has been Research Manager at IDC Financial Insights for Asia Pacific since 2013, where he covered the payments industry end-to-end from retail to global transaction banking. He has been a keen observer of Asia’s banking industry as researcher and journalist since 2008 and is well connected to leading practitioners from banks, payment providers and the vendor community in the region.
Previously, he served as Associate Editor and Content Manager at Timetric, where he was the editor of the regional trade publication Banking & Payments Asia. In this role, he was also Timetric’s Asia correspondent for the publications Cards International, Electronic Payments International, Retail Banker International, and Private Banker International. During this time, he also managed and executed various custom research projects on the wealth management industry in Europe and Asia.
Before that Thomas worked at The Asian Banker as a Senior Research Analyst, where he was responsible for the firm’s retail banking research and published a series of reports, whitepapers, and custom research projects on payments, transaction banking, and risk management.
Thomas holds a Master of Arts in political sciences from the Ludwig Maximilian’s Universität in Munich. He was a keynoter, speaker and moderator at various industry events including the The Asian Banker Summit, Retail Banking Innovations, Private Banking Asia, and the Cybersecurity Summit of the Philippine Central Bank as well as IDC’s own events including the IDC Insurance Congress, IDC Asian Financial Congress and the IDC CIO Summit series. Moreover, he has led various roundtables, briefings and webinars for and with IDC’s clients.
Team: IDC Financial Insights
Event Sessions
Thursday, November 13 2025 3:30 pm | Location:
Panel Discussion – Beyond Defense: Building Digital Trust and Resilience in Financial Services
As financial services accelerate digital transformation, the stakes for trust and resilience have never been higher. From safeguarding customer data to ensuring uninterrupted digital experiences, both CIOs and CISOs play pivotal roles in shaping secure and resilient organizations. This panel will explore how IT and security leaders can move beyond reactive defense to co-create strategies that balance innovation, compliance, and protection.
Thursday, November 13 2025 10:05 am | Location:
Changing Gears in AI Adoption – The Rise of Agents
The financial services industry is witnessing a profound transformation as AI adoption moves beyond traditional applications toward the deployment of autonomous AI agents. These intelligent agents are redefining the limits of the possible across operations, risk, cyber, but strong concerns with regard to security, reliability, privacy remain. Through industry-specific examples and case studies, we will highlight how AI agents are empowering financial organizations to enhance operational efficiency, improve regulatory compliance, and deliver personalized client experiences at scale.
Drive Great User Experience with HP
HP Workforce Experience Platform redefines enterprise IT through unified device fleet management, employee engagement and secure hybrid work solutions.
Speaker
David Lev
HP Workforce Solutions Eastern Central Europe, HP
Revolutionizing Digital Banking: The Bank’s Journey
Digital banking is no longer an option but a necessity. This session shares the bank’s transformation journey—how it redefined customer experience, streamlined processes, and built a digital-first culture to stay ahead in a fast-changing financial landscape.
Speaker
Kerem Toksoz
CIO & COO, Garanti BBVA Romania
Platinum Partner Presentation
Intelligent Infrastructure: Where AI and Storage Converge
NetApp delivers the data foundation AI demands; fast, secure, and recoverable across the entire lifecycle.
Speaker
Alper Erbasi
Sales Executive, NetApp, Turkiye, Romania and Bulgaria
Panel Discussion – Data as a Strategic Asset: From Garbage to Gold
In banking, AI is only as smart as the data that fuels it. This fireside chat brings together two industry leaders to explore how Romanian banks are shifting from legacy data challenges to building AI-ready data platforms. From governance and compliance to predictive analytics, we’ll uncover how raw information is being transformed into trusted, high-impact insights — turning “garbage in, garbage out” into gold in, intelligence out.
Moderator
Tudor Urseiu
Director, Head of Data Management, First Bank
Speaker
Dana Niculescu
Head of Data Migration, DB Global Technology
Lunch & 1-2-1 Meetings
IDC Connect Roundtables
Platinum Partner II Presentation
AI-First Leadership: Skills for the Next Generation of Teams
As AI reshapes workflows, leaders must evolve too. This panel brings together IT and HR voices to explore the skills leaders need to guide mixed human–AI teams, balance technology with empathy, and keep organizations agile in a rapidly changing environment.
Speaker
Cosmin Paloiu
IT Business Partner, Provident Romania
Moderator
Larisa Mihu
EMEA Account Director & RO Country Manager, IDC
Silver I Partner Tech Pitch
Silver II Partner Tech Pitch
Implementing DORA in Financial Services: Practical Lessons
DORA is reshaping how financial institutions approach operational resilience, risk, and compliance. This session shares a structured and pragmatic view on implementation, with concrete lessons learned from real-life projects. Participants will gain insights into what works, where the challenges lie, and how to turn regulatory requirements into sustainable practice.
Speaker
Mihail Andrieș
CISO, BRD – Groupe Société Générale
Coffee Break & 1-2-1 Meetings
Panel Discussion – Beyond Defense: Building Digital Trust and Resilience in Financial Services
As financial services accelerate digital transformation, the stakes for trust and resilience have never been higher. From safeguarding customer data to ensuring uninterrupted digital experiences, both CIOs and CISOs play pivotal roles in shaping secure and resilient organizations. This panel will explore how IT and security leaders can move beyond reactive defense to co-create strategies that balance innovation, compliance, and protection.
AI in the Financial Sector: An Asset or a Potential Threat?
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping finance powering personalization, automation, and real-time decisions. Yet the same tools enable deepfakes, synthetic identities, and smarter scams. This session explores “the AI dilemma”: how banks can innovate with AI while staying ahead of its dark side.
Speaker
Daniel Amarandei
Product Manager,Financial Services, EMEA & North America, Stefanini Group
Bronze Partner II Tech Pitch
Beyond the Hype: AI’s Adoption Barriers Through a Cross-Industry Lens
Special Guest Session
Summit Closing Note
Host
Larisa Mihu
EMEA Account Director & RO Country Manager, IDC
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