CTO Heiko Burdak talks about the future of IT at Commerzbank — FinanzBusiness

The keynote speech was given by Heiko Burdak on 21 February 2024 at the IT Strategy Days in Hamburg with the theme: “From legacy admin to business enablement”. This was previously reported by the specialized magazine CIO-Magazin. In the past, topics such as operational stability, mainframe and cloud efficiency, and the digital workplace were at the heart of the strategy. According to Burdak, 2024 will increasingly focus on expanding customer experience and “end-to-end digital transformation.”

Is there now an alternative to human intelligence?

Key project for the CTO: introducing an IT factory and building an “enabling platform”. Commerzbank's strategy also included the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. “The availability of data and increasing computing power as well as new methods enable data-driven insights and dramatically accelerate automated decision-making processes – even for tasks that traditionally require human intelligence,” explains Burdak.

A key component of a CTO is trust in technology. To ensure robust, secure and trustworthy use of AI, Commerzbank has established AI and ML governance.

Set of goals: Cuba wants to become a net-zero bank

According to Burdak, sustainability is also one of the main pillars of the “2024 Strategy”. This is linked to a commitment to becoming a “net zero bank”. With the help of an environmental, social and institutional framework, all the essential elements of a sustainability strategy are revealed and the topic becomes a central variable of control, says Burdak. Commerzbank will constantly align its framework with further developments planned for the EU taxonomy.

More than 800 participants are expected to attend Hamburg IT Strategy Days 2024, Germany's largest IT conference, from February 21-23. Top topics for CIOs in the program: AI, security, the new normal of work, women in technology, sustainability vs. greenwashing, cloud vs. on-premises, digital mindset, talent discovery, as well as technical and operational excellence.

And: Once again, the bar starts for guests at Hamburg's Schanzenviertel on the first evening, followed by the big Strategy Days party on Thursday evening.