FF News Tattoo Studio: Finastra’s Mission to Make Every Customer Truly Digital

Carlos Teixeira of Finastra joined FF News’ Tattoo Studio in Sibos 2025 to talk candidly about long-term transformation in banking and where agentic AI fits in. Teixeira, who has spent two decades with the company, describes his relationship with Finastra as “a love affair,” tracing his journey from moving from Lisbon to Dubai in 2005 to join the Misys side of the business, which when merged with D+H created Finastra.

On digital transformation, the message is pragmatic: start simple and focus on people. He notes that even at home he sees how quickly new technology becomes second nature, his nine-year-old builds dragons with tools like ChatGPT, so banks should use AI first to make complex systems easier to learn and use. In his view, early wins look like embedded guidance, faster onboarding, and nudges that help teams get more value from the software they already have, rather than massive, risky rebuilds. From there, he says, banks can expand into more ambitious agentic AI use cases, but the priority should be tangible efficiency improvements and clear governance.

Teixeira also shared the backstory behind the Finastra name and logo: “Astra” for stars and “Fin” for FinTech, positioning clients as the “star” of the firm’s software, and adds that it’s a reminder that technology should elevate the customer, not become an end in itself.

Looking to the future, Teixeira’s mission is straightforward: he wants every Finastra customer to be truly digital, present across channels, automated where it matters, and confident that they are compliant. This include practical goals like improving operational efficiency and customer experience, alongside broader commitments.

For Teixeira, Finastra agentic AI is the next chapter in digital banking—focused not on showy demos, but on real gains in productivity, adoption, and resilience.