Beyond Incremental Gains: Achieving ROI in Under Six Months

A Shift in How We Think About Transformation

In recent years, banks across Europe have invested considerable resources into digital transformation. These efforts are well-intentioned and, in principle, aligned with the need to remain competitive in a highly regulated, low-margin environment.

However, many of these programs are not achieving the expected results. Cost-to-income ratios are still close to 60 percent, and more than two-thirds of IT budgets are used simply to maintain existing infrastructure . There is very little room left for innovation or for genuine process improvement.

This is not a problem of ambition. It is a problem of execution.

Most traditional programs are large, consultant-led, and rigid in structure. They are designed to replace or overhaul entire systems. The risk is high, the cost is significant, and the return is delayed , if it comes at all.

In this context, we must ask a basic question: is there a more effective way to modernize banking operations?

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Why Previous Approaches Did Not Deliver

The challenges we see today are not new. They are well documented and quite persistent.

• Transformation programs are overengineered. These initiatives often try to solve everything at once. As a result, they lose focus and exhaust budgets before meaningful results are visible.
• Legacy systems continue to dominate. Many core platforms are 20 or even 30 years old. They are expensive to maintain and very difficult to adapt to new requirements.
• Compliance consumes the agenda. Regulatory obligations are increasing, and they take priority. However, the way most banks handle compliance is inefficient and still heavily manual.
• Employees are disengaged. When there is no visible improvement after many months, motivation drops. People lose interest in yet another “transformation program.”

This combination leads to stalled delivery, weak ROI, and an internal culture that becomes resistant to change.

The New Approach: Smaller Steps, Faster Outcomes

Some banks are now adopting a more pragmatic model. Instead of launching large-scale, multi-year initiatives, they begin with smaller, focused projects that solve specific pain points (thoughtworks.com).

This is not a theoretical model. It is already in practice, and it is working.

The benefits are clear:

• Lower risk. Each module is delivered independently, which means that if something goes wrong, it does not impact the entire operation.
• Faster ROI. Banks are seeing measurable results in three to six months, not in three to five years.
• Greater flexibility. The structure allows for adjustments based on new priorities or regulatory updates. This is difficult to do with fixed long-term roadmaps.
• Cultural impact. When teams experience improvement directly in their daily work, the attitude toward transformation changes. Engagement increases.

This modular approach is more than an efficiency tactic. It is a different way of structuring how change happens. And it leads to better alignment between operations, compliance, and technology.

Why It Works

From a business point of view, the logic is simple.

Traditional transformation creates long periods of investment with no return. Often, the final result is no longer aligned with the original goals, because the environment has changed in the meantime.

In contrast, a modular strategy gives the organization immediate feedback. Each cycle is an opportunity to learn, to adjust, and to reinvest the gains into the next improvement.

A few specific results we have seen:

• Onboarding time reduced by 80 - 90 percent
• Operating expenses lowered by 20 to 30 percent
• Change cycles accelerated by a factor of 10
• Manual compliance effort reduced significantly
• Integration achieved without replacing the core system

And because deterministic AI is used, which means the system’s decisions can be fully explained and audited, regulatory alignment is not compromised. In fact, it becomes a source of efficiency rather than delay.

Final Considerations

It is no longer necessary to choose between modernization and stability. We now have tools and methods that allow us to improve operations without creating unnecessary risk.

Banks that remain attached to the traditional “big bang” strategy will continue to face cost overruns, slow timelines, and limited impact. Those that shift to modular, explainable automation are gaining a measurable competitive advantage.

This is not about taking shortcuts. It is about using a smarter structure, one that fits today’s reality: compliance-heavy, margin-sensitive, and rapidly evolving.

Transformation does not need to be delayed. It can begin now, in a way that is responsible, controlled, and oriented to results.

It is not only about improving individual processes. It is about creating a new delivery model for the entire institution, one that builds capability, not just technology.

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