Banks have spent years treating core modernization as a long infrastructure project. Divya Suryadevara He believes artificial intelligence may change this timeline.
In a conversation with the CEO of PYMNTS Karen Websterthe fiserv The co-chair described AI as a practical tool to rewrite operational workflows, streamline implementations and modernize legacy banking systems without forcing financial institutions to replace wholesale platforms.
Suryadevara joins Fiserv after holding senior leadership positions at tape, GM and UnitedHealth Group. She said the scale of Fiserv’s banking and payments franchise, combined with access to data and distribution, made the company well-positioned for the age of artificial intelligence.
“What immediately struck me was the sheer scale that Fiserv has on the banking side, as well as the business side,” Suryadevara said.
The discussion centered on what Suryadevara called the company’s strategy of “stability, connectivity and growth,” a framework she said applied primarily to the banking side of the business. Stabilization efforts focus on service, operational resilience and execution after periods of disruption related to customer support and technology incidents.
Fiserv has committed more than $150 million to service improvement and technology resiliency initiatives spanning 2025-26.
Advertisement: Scroll to continue
The broader goal is to modernize without forcing banks to make sudden overhauls to their platforms. Banks increasingly want the ability to modernize individual systems, such as teller functions or digital capabilities, while remaining on existing cores, Suryadevara said.
This philosophy also extends to payments and issuer processing, two businesses she described as among Fiserv’s strongest franchises. The payments module includes debit processing, Zelle and account-to-account payment capabilities, while the issuer business remains anchored in credit card processing.
Artificial intelligence is now at the heart of these modernization efforts.
Suryadevara said technology helps speed up work that previously took years, especially in areas such as converting legacy code, implementations and maintenance. She noted progress in rewriting COBOL-based systems and streamlining implementations that historically required large amounts of manual work.
“It’s about rewriting the entire workflow for the age of AI,” she said.
Rather than gradually applying AI to existing processes, Suryadevara said banks should reconsider whether it is possible to remove entire steps entirely. She described implementations as one example where AI can meaningfully reduce operational friction and shorten transformation timelines.
The conversation also explored agent-based banking systems, including Fiserv’s Agent OS initiative. Suryadevara described the platform as a governed operating layer that allows banks to deploy AI agents while maintaining policy controls, auditability and regulatory oversight.
The system is designed to support three categories of agents: Fiserv-developed agents, bank-developed agents, and third-party agents delivered through a marketplace model.
These agents are aimed at operational workflow related to areas such as compliance, fraud management, reporting and deposit servicing. Banks are increasingly interested in using AI to automate repetitive operational work while maintaining governance controls required in regulated industries, Suryadevara said.
The push comes as banks face increasing pressure to modernize infrastructure while maintaining existing customer relationships and continuity of operations. Previous PYMNTS coverage of Fiserv’s issuers has depicted this shift away from treating processing as invisible back-office work and toward viewing it as a strategic layer tied to data, credentials, and decisions.
Suryadevara suggested that AI may increase risks because banks increasingly need systems capable of supporting real-time data access, automated workflows, and emerging payment models.
“There is an opportunity to deploy AI and streamline workflows at scale, but also in a very responsible and compliant way,” she said.
Extra fast food
- Fiserv notes that banks increasingly want open application programming interface (API) ecosystems that allow them to integrate FinTech partners and third-party services without losing control of the underlying infrastructure.
- Suryadevara said AI is already being used within service operations to resolve customer tickets before they reach human customers.
- The company sees agent markets as a future business opportunity because banks may increasingly purchase workflow AI tools through governed platforms.
Divya Suryadevara is the co-chair of fiservShe supervises the company’s financial solutions work.
CEO of PYMNTS Karen Webster He is one of the world’s leading experts in payments innovation and the digital economy, advises multinational companies and sits on the boards of AI startups, health technology and real-time payments companies, including a non-executive director on the board of Sezzle, a publicly traded BNPL provider. She founded PYMNTS.com in 2009, a leading media platform covering innovation in payments, commerce and the digital economy. Webster is also the author of the NEXT Newsletter and co-founder of Market Platform Dynamics, which specializes in driving and monetizing innovation across industries.
