MFSG
She is direct about the complexity. Core financial systems – the platforms that manage lending decisions, payments, customer accounts and regulatory reporting – are rarely simple. They carry years of bespoke, jurisdictionspecific logic, often with compliance rules built directly into the code. Replacing or modernising them is a slow, careful process.“ No tech modernisation is easy in financial services,” Karina says.“ These are processes built up with bespoke logic that have regulatory logic, compliance mechanisms built in. Modernising is key to transformation, but not a simple journey. MFSG’ s approach is to work with seasoned, reputable technology brands – and to modernise incrementally rather than all at once. The strategy is to improve one part of the technology stack, prove it works and then move to the next. This modular approach is designed to limit risk and business impact of any given project reducing the window of exposure during any transition period.
Greg adds that MFSG’ s enterprise transformation office – a dedicated team that oversees process and change programmes across the business – plays a critical role in ensuring that technology modernisation and risk management are treated as connected challenges rather than separate workstreams.“ The transformation team brings everyone together,” Greg says,“ so that we can understand the problem holistically and align the business goals with our end state solution.
Data as the foundation of everything Underpinning all of this – the AI strategy, the compliance work, the modernisation programme – is data. Both Karina and Greg are unambiguous about its importance and equally unambiguous about the risks of getting it wrong.
Karina argues that organisations often treat data as a conceptual asset without clearly defining its purpose. Instead, she advises starting with the problem: identifying the specific question the data needs to answer. From there, organisations can“ classify data where you need to and protect the right type of data”. Not all data requires the same level of protection, nor is it equally valuable. Being precise about classification – determining which data requires the highest levels of security and which does not – is, she argues, both a governance imperative and a cost-management discipline. Karina explains:“ The key thing is know what you’ re solving for – have a prescribed approach that manages cost, security and protection.”
“ AI will allow us to do things we wouldn’ t have otherwise been able to afford to”
Greg Root Chief Operating Officer MFSG
66 July 2026