Episode 95 of Banking Reinvented explores a challenge every bank faces: how do you modernize legacy architecture while keeping pace with global innovation? And what does AI transformation really require beyond new technology?

Host Tim Rutten sits down with Valbona Dhjaku, Advisor to CEO on IT and Digitalization at CREDINS Bank. Valbona holds a PhD in computer science, teaches at the University of Tirana, and spent two decades leading IT strategy and digital transformation at CREDINS Bank, Albania's second largest bank and the first private bank with Albanian capital. With deep expertise across banking technology and payments transformation, she's transitioning into the electronic money and payment space.

Using Albania's entry into SEPA as the first Western Balkan nation as a case study, they unpack the architectural challenges banks face when legacy monolithic cores collide with modern payment infrastructure. The conversation goes deeper into why AI transformation demands revolutionary change to operating models, not just incremental technology upgrades, and what's actually blocking banks from unlocking AI's full potential.

Tune in to hear what transformation looks like when you're building foundations and embracing the future at the same time - lessons that apply whether you're in an emerging market or a mature banking system.

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