Discover how banks can accelerate their digital transformation with a fourth-generation core banking system, built for the future of finance.
During the largest innovation conference in Latin America, held in Miami, N5 — in partnership with Fintech Americas — hosted an exclusive podcast to explore ideas, trends, and people shaping the future of global finance.
In this episode, Julián Colombo spoke with Alex Pacheco, Head of Latin America at Thought Machine, about the challenges of traditional banking, the evolution of core systems, and the crucial role of real-time data in artificial intelligence.
With over two decades of experience in the industry — including leadership roles at Citibank — Alex is currently leading the expansion of one of the market’s most innovative platforms: a cloud-native, event-driven, and hyperconfigurable core banking system.
Watch the full interview now:
Episode topics and insights
1. The major challenge of traditional banking
Many banks still operate on first-generation monolithic systems based on mainframes. According to Alex, this severely limits innovation. Changing only the digital channel without changing the core is like putting a diesel engine in a Ferrari.
2. Radical personalization as a competitive advantage
With Thought Machine, banks can build tailored products without relying on third parties. Its hyperconfigurable structure enables custom offers, breaking away from the standardized product model.
3. Fast and gradual migration
There’s no need to replace the entire core system at once. Migration can happen product by product, accelerating time-to-market. For instance, Banco Industrial in Guatemala launched a new product in just 3 months using this modular approach.
4. Real-time data: the fuel of AI
To fully leverage AI’s potential, banks must work with real-time data. However, many traditional systems still rely on delayed, batch processing, which limits their usefulness for predictive models. In contrast, Thought Machine’s event-driven architecture updates data instantly, enabling smarter, faster decisions.
5. Frictionless regulatory compliance
Thought Machine adapts easily to local regulations without losing efficiency. It does not store personal data directly in its core system but protects it using encryption and hashing techniques. This makes it easier to operate even in countries with strict privacy laws.
6. Banks thinking like tech companies
Big banks no longer want to be technologically dependent on third parties. Thought Machine offers an architecture that gives them full autonomy to innovate, scale, and evolve at their own pace.
