Horizon 2030 for Banking: The Velocity Reality – Navigating Fintech Competition, with Monica Sasso
By Ali Paterson · 7 October 2026
Quick Summary
In this episode of Horizon 2030 for Banking from Red Hat, Monica Sasso, Financial Services (FSI) EMEA Chief Technologist, discusses legacy technology in banking, why she now sees security as the critical reason to modernise, and the common platform approach she recommends.
How Does She Frame the Legacy Challenge?
Monica observes that a 245-year-old bank, or any large company that has been around for decades, is going to have legacy. Everyone knows it is there and everyone is working on it, so she does not dwell on it. Looking at the people-process-technology triangle, she says the bigger challenges have been people and process: old processes were digitised rather than reimagined, and people are naturally reluctant to change, with fears about whether new technology will affect their jobs.
What Has Changed Her View?
She explains that until about a week before recording, that would have been her position. Now she sees the bigger threat as the CVEs and threats arriving thick and fast, referencing recent disclosures that highlighted vulnerabilities in software. Being able to automate and implement fixes at pace, she says, is going to become the critical reason to modernise legacy processes and technology.
What Does She Recommend?
- Standardise at the lowest common denominator on a common platform.
- Abstract away complexity so engineers can focus on security and on delivering software faster, which she describes as how firms attract customers and create new lines of business.
- Use a platform that runs on any hardware and silicon architecture, including legacy virtualised workloads, so business units can modernise at their own pace within the firm's risk tolerance without disrupting client journeys or the ledger.
She summarises the approach as standardise, simplify and automate.
Find Out More
Join Red Hat at Summit Connect, London · Read Red Hat's e-book: Digital banking has only just begun
Watch every episode of Horizon 2030 for Banking from Red Hat on FF News, starting with the series trailer.