In a new edition of Fin Talks, Julián Colombo, CEO of N5 Now, spoke with Joaquín Quintas, founder of Coderío, about one of the financial industry’s greatest challenges: how to modernize banking without assuming that transformation means replacing everything.
The conversation covered the role of core banking systems, artificial intelligence applied to business, layered architectures, the evolution of tech teams, and the importance of leadership in digital transformation processes.
Watch the full interview:
The Core Banking System Doesn’t Always Need to Be Replaced
The conversation started with a central idea: often, the problem isn’t the core banking system—it’s everything else organizations expect it to solve.
Artificial intelligence, digital experience, automation, customer information, and new service models often get tied to central systems that should perform a much more specific function: acting as a stable and reliable accounting register.
Why the Problem Isn’t Where We Think It Is
In many cases, modernizing doesn’t mean replacing the heart of the financial system. What’s needed is to:
- Free the core from functions it shouldn’t handle
- Build solutions that are more flexible and intelligent around it
- Prepare the architecture to evolve without replacing everything
This is especially relevant for banks in Latin America, where legacy systems continue to function but lack flexibility.
Coderío and the Evolution of Digital Banking
Quintas explained this vision from Coderío’s experience working on projects for regional banks.
In its early years, the company identified a need that wasn’t yet being addressed: many Latin American banks lacked robust digital transactional channels for their end users. That opportunity marked the beginning of a path toward developing digital solutions for the financial industry, with a focus on real user needs.
Case Study: Core Banking Modernization in Chile
One standout case was the modernization of a core banking system in Chile, where the chosen architecture made it possible to:
- Reduce the central system to its essential components
- Allow the core to serve its true purpose as a ledger system
- Decouple functions related to experience, intelligence, and automation
This strategic decision enabled other technology layers to handle functions with greater business value, proving that modernization doesn’t equal total replacement.
The Strangler Pattern as an Alternative to Big Bang
Another central concept from the conversation was the strangler pattern, an architectural strategy that allows modernizing legacy systems gradually.
Why It Works Better Than Big Bang
Unlike a “big bang” migration that replaces one system with another all at once, this approach:
- Decouples functionality in an organized manner
- Migrates by specific business domains
- Keeps the old core as long as necessary
- Modernizes parts through APIs and new architectures
This way, change shifts from being a risky leap to a structured process of technological evolution, especially important for banks and financial institutions that need to move forward without compromising operational continuity or system security.
Artificial Intelligence in Banking and Role Transformation
Artificial intelligence was a major thread throughout the conversation, but not as an abstract promise or linear threat. The focus was on its concrete impact on how work gets done.
Real Impact on Technical Teams
For Quintas, AI doesn’t immediately eliminate the need for technical expertise in enterprise environments, especially in critical banking systems. What it is producing is a transformation of roles.
Artificial intelligence is already being used to:
- Improve testing and accelerate deployments
- Optimize operational processes
- Increase efficiency of technical teams
But adopting it requires judgment, technical knowledge, and business understanding.
Hybrid Teams: The Future of Banking Technology
In this context, organizations are building hybrid squads where different profiles coexist:
- Software and product specialists
- Data and cybersecurity experts
- Risk, legal, and business teams
Developers need a better understanding of the value they create for the company, while business areas gain tools to engage with technical language. This is the real transformation.
Coderío as an Innovation Partner
The conversation also looked ahead. Quintas explained that Coderío aims to position itself as an innovation partner for its clients: a company capable of observing where the ecosystem is moving, anticipating solutions, and transferring that knowledge to banks.
The proposal isn’t just about developing technology—it’s about guiding key decisions:
- What to modernize
- What to keep
- What to decouple
- What new capabilities to build
Technology Leadership and Constructive Ambition
The interview extended beyond technology to include leadership.
When asked how he chooses leaders for his company, Quintas highlighted a characteristic he considers essential: “constructive ambition”.
Not ambition understood as destructive competition, but as that internal drive that pushes you to improve, build, go further, and dedicate real energy to making it possible.
This perspective reveals a crucial dimension of all technological transformation: behind every architecture, every migration, and every AI implementation there are teams. And behind teams, there is culture.
Modernizing with Intelligence
Fin Talks opened another space to think about the financial industry from a concrete perspective, away from clichés.
The conversation between Julián Colombo and Joaquín Quintas left one idea clear: the future of banking doesn’t necessarily require breaking with everything that came before.
Sometimes, true innovation means:
- Understanding what should remain
- Identifying what should be decoupled
- Defining what new layers are worth building
So that the existing can engage with what’s coming.
In times of artificial intelligence, competitive pressure, and constant transformation, the challenge isn’t to change for the sake of change. The challenge is to modernize with intelligence.
