ICT scenario and market trends for the banking sector 2026

The ABI Lab 2026 Report explores how Italian banks are navigating an increasingly complex environment shaped by geopolitical tensions, rapid technological evolution, regulatory transformation and changing customer expectations. In this context, banks are focusing on combining innovation with resilience, accelerating digital transformation while strengthening trust, sustainability and operational robustness across the financial ecosystem.

The Report confirms Artificial Intelligence as the leading driver of innovation and research within the sector, while highlighting the growing strategic relevance of process automation, cloud transformation, operational resilience, cybersecurity and supply chain governance. At the same time, banks continue to invest in data governance, customer engagement, open innovation and sustainability as key enablers of the next generation banking model.

Built around the eight pillars of the ABI Lab "Next Generation Banking" Manifesto — WATCH CLOSE, GET FASTER, FOCUS ON VALUE, EXPLORE, BE OPEN, LEAD THE CHANGE, STAY TRUSTWORTHY and BE SUSTAINABLE — the Report provides an integrated view of the technological, organisational and cultural transformations reshaping the Italian banking industry.

Key Results

• AI becomes mainstream: 60% of banks identify Artificial Intelligence as their primary research priority, confirming its role as the main catalyst for innovation and transformation in banking.
• Automation and modernisation accelerate: all surveyed banks include process automation and core banking modernisation initiatives among their top five priorities.
• Cybersecurity evolves beyond the perimeter: banks increasingly focus on managing complex ecosystems involving cloud providers, fintechs and third parties, while operational resilience and incident response capabilities become strategic differentiators.
• Operational resilience becomes systemic: supply chain governance, third-party risk management and end-to-end dependency mapping emerge among the most significant challenges for digital operational resilience.
• Sustainability moves from reporting to strategy: banks are increasingly integrating decarbonisation, ESG governance and sustainable transition initiatives into their business and technology strategies.

The Report highlights how Italian banks are evolving towards a model that combines technological innovation, resilience and sustainability, transforming disruption into an opportunity for growth and positioning the sector to lead the next phase of digital transformation in financial services.

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