rewrite this title Beyond the Demos: The Industry Stage Conversations Driving FinovateEurope 2026 – Finovate

As FinovateEurope returns to London on February 10 and 11, the spotlight on the second day of the conference shifts from demos to deep discussion. On February 11, FinovateEurope’s Industry Stages run in parallel with one another, giving attendees the opportunity to dive into strategic conversations shaping financial services in 2026.

This year’s event features five Industry Stages: Artificial Intelligence; Banking, Regulation & Risk; Customer Experience; Lending; and Payments. Each stage is designed to offer banking and fintech leaders more than just theory. The sessions focus on what’s working in practice, what’s breaking under the pressure of new technology and regulations, and what institutions need to rethink about their current operations.

Artificial Intelligence: from pilots to production

The AI stage will feature discussions on one of the biggest challenges facing financial institutions today: moving beyond experimentation. The sessions will explore lessons learned from early AI agent pilots, governance frameworks to combat “shadow AI”, and how banks can scale AI responsibly. Highlights include a keynote from Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank, who will speak about the realities of implementing AI in production. The stage will also host panels tackling ROI, data readiness, and responsible AI as a competitive necessity.

Customer Experience: personalization without losing the human touch

On the Customer Experience stage, the conversation moves past buzzwords to focus on execution. Sessions will examine how open data enables hyper-personalization, why mindset can be the biggest challenge, and how banks can retain empathy while scaling. A standout power panel brings together leaders from J.P. Morgan, Invesco, and PolyAI to explore what banks can learn from other industries as customer expectations are being reset by the evolution of enabling technologies.

Payments: instant, intelligent, and under threat

Payments are quickly evolving across the globe, especially with new regulations such as PSD3 and new capabilities and enabling technologies such as instant payments, stablecoins, and cross-border modernization. Panels will focus on how data-centricity and AI can unlock growth while strengthening security, especially as fraud losses and cyber threats keep rising.

Banking, regulation & risk: resilience in a volatile world

Regulatory pressure and operational resilience will be the center of the conversation on this stage, where discussions will span DORA, dispute management, and the risks embedded in cloud and AI adoption. These sessions are especially relevant for banks navigating complex vendor ecosystems while being asked to do more, faster, and with greater accountability.

Lending: capturing the embedded opportunity

The Lending stage will look at how banks can reclaim growth by meeting unmet needs, especially in small business and embedded lending. Panelists will explore how AI is reshaping credit decisioning, how regulation is evolving, and where incumbents can realistically compete with fintech challengers.

Together, these five Industry Stages on February 11 will offer a concentrated look at the decisions that will define banking’s next chapter. If you register for FinovateEurope before January 30, you can still save £300.

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