Fiserv Co-President Dhivya Suryadevara Says AI Could Be Banks’ Shortcut to Modernization

Why It Matters

AI‑enabled modernization reduces cost and time‑to‑market, helping banks stay competitive while preserving customer continuity and regulatory compliance.

Key Takeaways

• Fiserv pledges >$150 M for service upgrades through 2026.
• AI rewrites COBOL code, slashing legacy migration timelines.
• Agent OS enables governed AI agents for compliance and fraud.
• Banks can modernize specific functions while keeping existing cores.
• Open APIs let fintechs integrate without losing core control.

Pulse Analysis

Banks have long wrestled with the inertia of legacy core systems, where replacing mainframes can take several years and billions of dollars. Artificial intelligence is emerging as a catalyst that can rewrite the playbook, automating code translation from COBOL and streamlining implementation steps that once required extensive manual effort. Fiserv, with its extensive banking and payments footprint, is positioning AI at the heart of its "stabilize, attach and grow" strategy, promising faster, lower‑cost upgrades while keeping existing cores intact.

The company's recent $150 million commitment to service improvements and technology resiliency underscores the seriousness of this shift. Fiserv's Agent OS platform introduces a governed layer where banks can deploy AI agents—whether built by Fiserv, the bank itself, or third‑party vendors—while maintaining audit trails and regulatory oversight. This marketplace model not only accelerates compliance, fraud detection and reporting workflows but also opens a revenue stream as banks purchase specialized AI tools. Open API ecosystems further enable seamless fintech integration, allowing institutions to augment capabilities without sacrificing control of their core infrastructure.

Industry analysts view this AI‑first approach as a potential inflection point. By cutting modernization timelines from years to months, banks can react more swiftly to emerging payment models, real‑time data demands, and heightened customer expectations. Moreover, the ability to modernize piecemeal reduces disruption risk and preserves legacy relationships, a critical factor for institutions wary of wholesale platform swaps. As regulators increasingly focus on governance of AI, Fiserv's emphasis on controlled, auditable agents positions it as a trusted partner in the evolving digital banking landscape.