IDC & Temenos Virtual Roundtable
Core Banking Modernization in MEA
Hosted By
Why Attend?
- A clearer view of how peers across MEA are prioritizing core modernization and where they are placing their first bets.
- Practical approaches to choosing a modernization path including sidecar, progressive, or selective that fits your risk and regulator profile.
- Frameworks for navigating regulatory and data-residency requirements while accelerating product delivery and AI readiness.
- Real-world modernisation patterns and SaaS-core decisions from regional banks with the business cases that landed at board level.
Discussion Areas
Why legacy core banking is becoming a competitive liability
How regulatory and compliance pressures are forcing the pace of modernization across MEA
Choosing the right modernization path for your organization’s risk appetite and timeline
How modern cores are enabling AI, open banking, and faster product innovation
Agenda
IDC & Temenos Virtual Roundtable
One Day Event
Welcome Note
IDC Keynote: Core Banking Modernization in MEA: Finding the Relevant Path
Dr. Christopher Lee Marshall
Vice President, Data, Analytics, AI, Sustainability, and Industry Research, IDC
Modernizing the Core: Pragmatic, Not “Rip‑and‑Replace”
How do you modernize in a modular, low‑risk way while accelerating product launches, strengthening resilience, and driving real efficiency gains?
Rafik Anevar
Regional Head of Technical BSG for MEA, Temenos
Open Discussion: How MEA Banks Are Redefining Core Transformation
A candid conversation about what’s working, what’s been quietly buried, and where the core banking conversation is heading next.
Dr. Christopher Lee Marshall
Vice President, Data, Analytics, AI, Sustainability, and Industry Research, IDC
Stewart Davies
Global SaaS Commercial Director, Temenos
Summary & Closing Remarks
Rakesh Masarapadi
Business Solutions Manager – Digital & AI, Temenos
Speakers
Dr. Christopher Lee Marshall
Vice President, Data, Analytics, AI, Sustainability, and Industry Research
IDC
Read bio
Dr. Christopher Lee Marshall
Dr. Chris Marshall is Associate Vice President for IDC Asia Pacific, responsible for the Analytics, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence practice. Dr. Marshall’s core research coverage includes the development of Data Analytics and Machine Learning competencies and their implications – the threats and opportunities facing organizations as they seek to augment and automate their knowledge-based work.
Previously, Chris was a senior executive in IBM Watson Financial Services where he led their AI-enabled risk and analytics practice in Asia. Before joining IBM, he held senior business development and management roles in big data and analytics at KPMG, Oracle and UBS.
- MA in Theoretical Physics from Cambridge University.
- MBA from University of Chicago
- Doctor of Business Administration from Harvard Business School
- Professor of Computer Science at National University of Singapore.
- Co-Founder and Director of NUS Program for Research in Intelligent Systems
- Co-Founder and Director of NUS Risk Management Institute
- Author of widely used textbook on Operational Analytics
- Frequent speaker, presenter and moderator at industry conferences
Event Sessions
One Day Event 12:35 pm
Open Discussion: How MEA Banks Are Redefining Core Transformation
A candid conversation about what’s working, what’s been quietly buried, and where the core banking conversation is heading next.
One Day Event 12:05 pm
IDC Keynote: Core Banking Modernization in MEA: Finding the Relevant Path
Stewart Davies
Global SaaS Commercial Director
Temenos
Read bio
Stewart Davies
Event Sessions
One Day Event 12:35 pm
Open Discussion: How MEA Banks Are Redefining Core Transformation
A candid conversation about what’s working, what’s been quietly buried, and where the core banking conversation is heading next.
Rafik Anevar
Regional Head of Technical BSG for MEA
Temenos
Read bio
Rafik Anevar
Rafik Anevar is Regional Head of Technical BSG for MEA at Temenos, bringing over 15 years of expertise in core banking modernization and digital transformation across the Middle East and Africa. Based in Dubai, he advises leading financial institutions on cloud-native and AI-powered banking solutions, leveraging deep cross-industry experience with global enterprise software leaders.
Event Sessions
One Day Event 12:25 pm
Modernizing the Core: Pragmatic, Not “Rip‑and‑Replace”
How do you modernize in a modular, low‑risk way while accelerating product launches, strengthening resilience, and driving real efficiency gains?
Rakesh Masarapadi
Business Solutions Manager – Digital & AI
Temenos
Read bio
Rakesh Masarapadi
Rakesh Masarapadi is the Business Solutions Manager – Digital & AI at Temenos MEA, where he leads presales and solution engineering across the Middle East and Africa. A seasoned expert in digital banking transformation, Rakesh specializes in helping financial institutions scale through SaaS adoption, composable architectures, and AI-driven innovation. With a deep focus on the Temenos Banking Platform, he advises banks on modernizing customer experience through GenAI-powered copilots and open banking ecosystems. Rakesh is a frequent speaker on the intersection of context-driven engagement and operational efficiency in the modern digital era.
Partners
Hosted By
Temenos
Known as a true pioneer in core banking software since 1993, we now serve over 950 core banking and 600 digital banking clients, giving financial institutions the power to make banking more accessible so their customers can live their best financial lives. Financial institutions of all sizes harness our technology – on-premises, in the cloud, or as SaaS – to create new services and AI-powered experiences that transform banking for their customers.
We constantly innovate to combine rich, trusted functionality with cutting-edge technology. We help our clients create new growth opportunities, drive efficiencies at scale and achieve cost-to-income ratios at half the industry average. Our commitment to innovation and our depth of banking expertise means the financial institutions who work with Temenos will control and own their technology futures.