Quality Engineering for Regulated Industries: Ensuring Compliance and Security in Financial Services and Healthcare

In highly regulated sectors such as financial services and healthcare, the stakes for quality, compliance, and security are uniquely high. Organizations in these industries must not only deliver innovative digital experiences at speed, but also rigorously adhere to complex regulatory frameworks, protect sensitive data, and ensure operational resilience. Publicis Sapient’s Quality Engineering (QE) frameworks and AI-led automation are purpose-built to help regulated enterprises meet these challenges—enabling faster digital delivery while maintaining the highest standards of compliance, security, and data privacy.

The Regulatory Imperative: Why Quality Engineering Matters More

Financial services and healthcare organizations operate under intense scrutiny. Regulatory mandates such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and a host of local and international standards require robust controls over data privacy, security, and system integrity. Non-compliance can result in severe penalties, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust. At the same time, these industries face mounting pressure to modernize legacy systems, launch new digital products, and respond to rapidly evolving customer expectations.

Traditional, end-of-line testing approaches are no longer sufficient. Instead, quality must be embedded throughout the software development lifecycle, with continuous validation and proactive risk management. This is where Publicis Sapient’s QE approach excels.

Publicis Sapient’s Approach: AI-Led, Compliance-First Quality Engineering

Our QE frameworks are designed to address the unique needs of regulated industries:

AI-Led Automation: Leveraging generative AI and advanced automation frameworks, we accelerate every aspect of the testing lifecycle. AI-driven regression suites, smart test data management, and automated documentation reduce manual effort and enable rapid, reliable validation of new features—critical for meeting tight release schedules without sacrificing compliance.
Continuous Validation: Testing is embedded within CI/CD pipelines, enforcing quality gates and regulatory thresholds at every stage. This ensures that every release meets rigorous standards for functionality, performance, security, and accessibility.
Reusable Accelerators: Our production-ready QE accelerators provide generic, reusable automation frameworks for both functional and non-functional testing, across multiple tech stacks. These accelerators reduce setup time and speed up testing cycles, enabling teams to focus on innovation rather than repetitive tasks.
Specialized Validation Services: We offer comprehensive validation services tailored to regulated industries, including:
- Security testing (SAST/DAST) to identify vulnerabilities early
- Accessibility testing to meet legal and ethical standards
- Data migration and integrity testing for seamless, compliant transitions
- Performance engineering to ensure system resilience under load
- Cloud resilience and localization testing for global, always-on operations
Value Stream Mapping: Our lean management methods analyze every activity in the testing and quality assurance process, surfacing opportunities for automation, standardization, and reuse. This continuous feedback loop empowers teams to adapt, improve, and deliver exceptional results, sprint after sprint.

Industry Impact: Real-World Success in Financial Services and Healthcare

Financial Services: Accelerating Secure, Compliant Digital Transformation

A leading global asset management company faced the challenge of managing over 90 websites built on disparate technologies, with manual testing and a lack of standards slowing releases and increasing risk. Publicis Sapient introduced modern digital engineering practices, automated sanity testing, and built a library of reusable components and a complete CI/CD pipeline. The results were transformative:

89% reduction in time to build new sites
100% sanity tests automated
30% reduction in AWS license costs
29+ sites delivered in 9 months

This approach not only accelerated digital delivery but also ensured that every release met stringent security and compliance requirements, reducing operational risk and supporting global regulatory obligations.

Another example is our work with a major banking group, where we helped reduce commercial account opening from 30 days to 48 hours and cut payment fraud by 95% through secure, AI-enabled systems—demonstrating how QE can drive both compliance and business value.

Healthcare: Protecting Patient Data and Enabling Innovation

In healthcare, data privacy and system reliability are paramount. For a leading hospital, Publicis Sapient delivered a secure, cloud-based patient portal that enabled patients to manage medical histories, appointments, and prescriptions online. The platform was designed for GDPR compliance, with robust security controls and seamless integration with provider workflows. The impact:

9 months to launch
Full compliance with GDPR
Time savings for healthcare providers
Improved patient communications and experience

By embedding security and compliance into every layer of the solution, we enabled the hospital to innovate confidently while protecting sensitive health data and meeting regulatory obligations.

The Business Benefits: Speed, Security, and Sustained Compliance

Organizations in regulated industries that embrace AI-led QE realize tangible business outcomes:

Faster time to market: Accelerated release cycles and automated validation mean new features and products reach customers sooner, without compromising compliance.
Defect and risk reduction: Early and continuous testing, powered by AI, catches issues before they impact users or trigger regulatory breaches.
Improved efficiency: Automation and reusable assets free up teams to focus on innovation, not repetitive manual tasks.
Enhanced customer trust: High-quality, secure, and compliant software builds trust and drives engagement across every digital touchpoint.

What Sets Publicis Sapient Apart

AI-powered tools and accelerators that jumpstart automation and validation across the SDLC
A business outcome-driven strategy that aligns quality with your most critical KPIs and regulatory requirements
A culture of cross-functional collaboration—quality is everyone’s job, not just the tester’s
Continuous innovation through generative AI, prompt engineering, and a robust ecosystem of reusable assets
Comprehensive validation services covering functional, non-functional, accessibility, security, and cloud resilience testing

Ready to Transform Quality in Your Regulated Enterprise?

Quality engineering is no longer a checkpoint—it’s a catalyst for secure, compliant, and innovative digital transformation. With Publicis Sapient’s Quality Engineering & Assurance services, financial services and healthcare organizations can unlock faster releases, higher efficiency, and superior customer experiences—all while meeting the most stringent regulatory and security requirements.

Connect with our experts to learn how Publicis Sapient can help you build a culture of quality that drives measurable business outcomes and sustained compliance in the digital age.