Digital Transformation

Global – October 16, 2026 -- Stablecoins, tokenized deposits and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can look identical in a banking interface, but they differ in issuer, holder claim, backing, redemption and behavior under stress, according to an analysis from CGI aimed at bank executives.

Stablecoins carry five stress-related risks for banks

The analysis credits stablecoins with proving demand for 24/7 value transfer, cross-border reach and programmable payment workflows. Under stress, however, a fiat-referenced stablecoin becomes a claim that depends on the issuer, reserve quality and liquidity, the custodian and the network. CGI lists five risks:

Global – October 16, 2026 -- Collections systems built on batch updates can leave account and contact data stale for nearly 24 hours, according to CGI, which is urging lenders to move to real-time platforms as portfolios grow more complex and delinquencies rise.

Overnight batch cycles refresh collections data only once per day

Many collections operations rely on batch processing because their systems support nothing else. Updates post to accounts and contacts overnight and can require system downtime. A change made just after processing, such as a payment, a new phone number or updated consent, goes unseen until the next cycle.

Stale data means wasted outreach, inconsistent treatment and avoidable compliance exposure, CGI says.

Global – October 16, 2026 -- CGI is advocating "continuous organizational sensing," an AI-based approach that replaces periodic surveys, workshops and retrospective reports as the way leaders track employee adoption of transformation programs.

Existing data sources go unused during transformations

The core problem is timing, not volume. Collaboration platforms, help desk tickets, training feedback, meeting transcripts and open-text comments all carry signs of how change is unfolding. Organizations often analyze them only after the fact, or leave them untapped because of privacy and sensitivity constraints.

CGI lists four blind spots in traditional change management: data that is delayed, fragmented across systems, open to individual interpretation, and analyzed manually after the fact.

Global – October 16, 2026 -- Tokenized deposits cannot settle between banks on their own, because Bank A's tokenized deposit is not automatically Bank B's money, according to a new analysis of digital money infrastructure. The receiving institution needs settlement before it can safely credit its customer.

Tokenized deposits digitize one bank's ledger but leave interbank settlement unsolved

Tokenized deposits make commercial bank money programmable while preserving the deposit model. Beyond the issuing bank, however, they need a neutral settlement asset. Across banks, that asset is central bank money, which in a tokenized system could mean tokenized reserves or wholesale CBDCs.

The proposed layered model pairs a tokenized deposit for the customer-money leg with central bank money for the settlement leg. Debit, settlement and credit must complete together.

Miami – October 15, 2026 -- Fewer than half of corporate and transaction banking leaders (47%) say their digitization strategy is delivering expected results, even though 88% report that technology and digital acceleration are having a high impact on their organizations, according to CGI's 2026 Voice of Our Clients research.

CGI argues the gap stems from a lack of trusted, interoperable data rather than a lack of technology. Scanned PDFs remain digital copies of physical documents, so their contents still have to be extracted, re-entered into multiple systems and verified manually.

Repeated verification slows each hand-off in the trade chain

Banks, customs authorities and buyers each re-verify the same trade data when a shipment changes hands or a new party joins a transaction. CGI says this duplication slows processing, raises costs and creates friction across the ecosystem.

Global – October 15, 2026 -- Sixty-eight percent of manufacturing executives say shifts in global trade and economic order are having a high impact on their organizations, according to 2026 Voice of Our Clients research. The finding is driving a move from linear supply chains toward adaptive value networks, where resilience depends on the wider network and not on a single enterprise.

Manufacturers are responding with end-to-end visibility, diversified sourcing and regionalized supply networks. They are also using AI to improve forecasting and speed up decisions. Looking toward 2030, supply networks are likely to become more predictive and increasingly autonomous, using AI, digital twins and real-time collaboration to anticipate disruption.

Global – October 15, 2026 -- Some 64% of organizations surveyed in CGI's 2026 Voice of Our Clients insights intend to use AI in core business processes, versus 17% in administrative functions and 15% in IT-only applications. CGI cites the figures as it argues that insurers should treat rating as a connected pricing life cycle rather than an automation task.

Pricing cycles are shrinking from months to days or hours

CGI says traditional rate changes can take days, weeks or even months because sophisticated models require extensive analysis, validation and implementation. Insurers now need to model, test and implement changes in days or, in some cases, hours. Legacy systems force teams to move data among separate tools to test rates, which lengthens cycles.

Global – October 15, 2026 -- Only 19% of insurance executives believe their operating model is agile enough to support digital transformation, even though 71% say digitalization is already affecting it, according to CGI's 2026 Voice of Our Clients research.

Agentic AI moves insurers from managing interactions to orchestrating outcomes

Conversational AI can explain what a policyholder should do after storm damage. An agentic system could go further: authenticate the customer, check coverage, open the claim, collect information, arrange services, initiate permitted payments and send proactive updates. A human claims professional steps in when judgment or extra support is required.

Europe – October 15, 2026 -- 75% of banks are exploring agentic AI, yet 39% remain in the proof-of-concept phase, according to CGI's latest Voice of Our Clients research. CGI argues that lenders must now prepare for customers who delegate product selection to AI agents.

APIs replace the app as the bank's front door

CGI says AI agents will compare, calculate and negotiate based on structured product information, reliable APIs, transparent pricing and lending criteria that software can interpret, rather than on app design. An agent could assess a bank's offering in milliseconds, reject its API and move on to a competitor. CGI frames API quality as a business capability and a source of competitive advantage, not only an IT metric.

Global – – October 15, 2026 -- Launching a global capability center (GCC) no longer differentiates a bank, according to CGI, which identifies five attributes that separate high-performing banking GCCs from those that fall short of their potential.

Top GCCs are judged on business outcomes, not headcount or utilization

Many centers are still measured on headcount growth, utilization rates, cost savings and project volumes. CGI argues that leading banks instead tie GCC success to the initiatives it accelerates and the value it helps create in modernization, growth, resilience and customer experience.