Clients rely on Datos Insights for our proprietary data, and for the guidance that turns that data into clear action for their organizations. In this State of the Union, we will reveal the most surprising findings from our 2026 surveys, examine what they mean for FIs competing for business customers, and lay out a framework for how your organization should respond. While setting the stage for the day, you will leave with a clearer view of what is coming and how to get ahead of the shifts before you feel their impact.

Last year’s keynote asked whether the momentum around AI was a genuine turning point or a bubble waiting to deflate. A year on, we return to that question with more evidence and experience. This session examines where the industry has landed, what clients are doing, where the returns have been real and where the hype has outpaced results. We will lay out a clear-eyed view of the AI landscape heading into the year ahead, separating the capabilities worth investing in now from overhyped tools still searching for a business case. From agentic commerce to record breaking IPOs, AI remains a bewildering space, and Datos will help you place your bets with confidence.

A year into enterprise experimentation, commercial banking’s biggest question remains unresolved: where is the ROI actually showing up? Is AI delivering defensible margin expansion through back-office cost takeout and automated exception handling, or does the real value sit in top-line drivers like predictive liquidity, deposit retention, and cash forecasting? This session evaluates hard production economics rather than theoretical potential. We unpack which use cases are generating measurable financial returns, which high-cost initiatives are struggling to break even, and where infrastructure friction skews the bottom line. Ultimately, we will outline a clear-eyed framework for what a credible AI business case looks like today.

Business banking and corporate clients today expect seamless access to their financial data across all their banking relationships. But disconnected systems and manual workarounds create friction, drain satisfaction and dilute profitability. This panel brings together industry leaders and practitioners who are solving the swivel chair finance issue and creating long-term clients who have real-time visibility into their cash position, connected apps, and financial ecosystem.

Small and mid-market businesses represent significant market share and valuable recurring revenue for banks of all sizes. This panel brings together industry leaders to discuss the strategies required to win and retain this critical but underserved segment. You don't need every bell and whistle; you need the fundamentals done right: reliable payments, efficient onboarding, and genuine business acumen. Hear what bankers are actually deploying to compete in this space and where payments fits as a differentiator. Learn which operational investments matter and where to focus when resources are tight.

AI is quickly going from the future of ,well, everything, to the mundane day-to-day in everyones lives. From curing cancer to wiping out humanity in the next decade its hard to parse what's real and what isnt amdist all the noise. This roundtable will give participants the chance to step away from the hype, and look at some of the risks that AI poses, from skill degradation, to public backlash, to the higher than expected costs of implementing and running these capabilities, and drill down on lessons learned so far, and where things go from here.

This roundtable explores how banks can maximize value from fintech partnerships—whether SaaS platforms or custom build partners—while maintaining strategic control and client relationships. Bankers and technology providers will discuss how to structure vendor relationships that accelerate innovation in response to disintermediation and churn pressures, what governance and integration approaches protect banks from becoming overly dependent while enabling vendors to succeed alongside them, and how the most productive partnerships create mutual value where both banks and fintechs win by delivering better client experiences rather than competing for the same relationship.

As corporate treasury operations become increasingly complex and data-driven, traditional cash management portals are evolving into sophisticated financial command centers. This roundtable explores the next generation of digital cash management platforms and how they're being reimagined to meet the demands of modern treasury teams operating in a real-time, multi-banked, global environment.

• Ecsfin
• Liquid Trust
• Notch
• Nuvono
• onsetto
• Prolific Banking
• Trexis

Modern banking has lost the personal touch of yesterday's branch manager who knew your business intimately. Yet that crucial understanding must evolve into data-driven insight. This session explores how to bridge the gap between a company's physical supply chain (e.g., procurement, production, warehousing, distribution) and the correspondent financial supply chain (e.g., payments, credit lines, invoice discounting, inventory financing). Banks today see money moving in and out, but they're watching the movie after it's ended. They miss the operational triggers (e.g., when production starts, deliveries occur, or suppliers need payment) that create immediate financial impacts.

By sharing real-time operational data with financial partners, companies can transform relationships from reactive to anticipatory. When banks understand what's happening as it unfolds, they can provide proactive support before challenges become crises.

The roundtable will discover how transparency and timely data sharing rebuild trust and unlock financial agility in modern supply chains.

Year 1 of the Datos TM Benchmark reveals three critical drivers of treasury client attrition: shallow client relationships, weak ties between treasury sales and lending teams, and shrinking payment volumes. This roundtable will discuss what is driving these trends and what banks are doing to reverse them.

The payment hub market is experiencing unprecedented growth, with more vendors entering the space than ever before. As next-generation solutions emerge with evolved capabilities, the very definition of a payment hub may be transforming. This roundtable brings together industry experts to explore what the future holds for payment hub technology. We'll examine how first-generation hubs are adapting, what new capabilities are reshaping the landscape, and how institutions can navigate an increasingly diverse vendor ecosystem to find the right solution for their needs.

More than 75% of financial institutions report increased IT budgets for treasury management this year, bringing greater expectations to shorten implementation timelines, accelerate ROI, and strengthen competitive positioning. Yet speed without disciplined execution can introduce delays, operational risk, and unrealized value.

In this session, Huntington Bank and Go-Live Faster will share how they navigated the market pressures and execution challenges surrounding treasury transformation. Attendees will learn how financial institutions can strengthen readiness, align business and technology teams, and leverage specialized partners to reduce execution risk, accelerate value delivery, and move complex initiatives from strategy to successful go-live.

Virtual ledgers enable bank to operate cross-rail money movement that bridges traditional payment networks and blockchain-based settlement layers. The panelists will explain how a single integration can route payments across ACH, wire, SEPA, Faster Payments, RTP, FedNow, and multiple blockchain networks.

Participants will learn how virtual ledger-based platforms construct the core architectural structure for which fiat and stablecoins flow through one system rather than being managed by separate vendors.

Rail diversity has become the core receivables problem. ACH, wire, instant payments, card, and check payments each arrive with different data, timing, and exception-handling requirements, forcing banks to reconcile fragmentation instead of collecting payments. Integrated receivables platforms address that fragmentation. Sponsored by CheckAlt, this panel brings together a Datos Insights advisor, a CheckAlt executive, and a bank practitioner to confront the question many FIs are currently debating: is adoption still a strategic choice, or does sitting out cost share of wallet to banks and fintech firms that already have gained a market advantage automating and unifying receivables? Panelists consider which institutions risk losing commercial deposit relationships without it, what the real cost of inaction looks like, and how banks should sequence modernization priorities and apply automation and AI to improve efficiency as adoption timelines compress.

Payment modernization is more than a technology initiative. It is reshaping how financial institutions process transactions, serve customers, and compete in an increasingly real-time, API-driven marketplace. This dynamic conversation will explore how institutions are balancing innovation with operational realities, where investment is accelerating, and what capabilities will define the next generation of payment services. Attendees will gain insight into the strategic priorities, operational challenges, and technology innovations driving the next phase of modernization, and learn how banks can position themselves to deliver greater efficiency, flexibility, and value in the years ahead.