The future of banking is being shaped in the cloud. As digital transformation accelerates across the financial services sector, cloud modernization has emerged as a foundational lever for banks seeking to unlock agility, drive innovation, and deliver the seamless experiences today’s customers demand. Yet, despite widespread recognition of its potential, many banks are struggling to translate cloud ambition into meaningful execution. The result is a persistent gap between vision and reality—a gap that only the most forward-thinking institutions are managing to close.
Recent industry surveys reveal a landscape of both promise and challenge. While over two-thirds of banks globally aspire to have at least 30% of their applications and data in the cloud within the next three years, only 28%—the so-called “cloud leaders”—have currently achieved this milestone. The majority remain in the “follower” or “conservative” categories, with less than a third of their workloads migrated. This ambition-execution gap is particularly pronounced in North America, where only 29% of banks plan to have their customer-facing apps in the cloud within three years, compared to much higher ambitions in EMEA and APAC.
The obstacles are significant and multifaceted:
Despite these hurdles, the business case for cloud is compelling. Banks that have embraced cloud-native transformation—not just “lift-and-shift” migrations—are realizing tangible benefits: enhanced automation, faster product development, improved customer experiences, and significant cost efficiencies.
True cloud modernization goes far beyond simply moving existing systems to a new environment. The leaders in this space are reimagining their technology stacks, operating models, and customer journeys from the ground up. By adopting modular, API-driven, and microservices-based architectures, these banks are able to:
For example, in Asia Pacific, banks like Siam Commercial Bank have partnered with transformation specialists to build cloud-native platforms that enable rapid innovation. In just 12 weeks, SCB was able to launch a new digital platform supporting both banking and non-banking services, demonstrating the speed and flexibility that cloud-native approaches can deliver.
APAC banks are at the forefront of digital adoption, driven by intense competition, high customer expectations, and the imperative of financial inclusion. However, regulatory complexity and heightened security risks require robust compliance and risk management frameworks. The most successful banks in the region are leveraging cloud to deliver accessible, customer-centric digital offerings at scale.
EMEA banks benefit from regulatory initiatives like PSD2 and open banking, which have spurred investment in cloud-native architectures and real-time data capabilities. The challenge here is often integrating new solutions with legacy systems and managing cross-border compliance.
North America is seeing a surge in transformational leaders, but overall cloud ambition lags behind other regions. Operational agility and a lack of unified strategy are key barriers, but the competitive threat from fintechs and digital-native banks is driving renewed focus on modernization.
At Publicis Sapient, we understand that closing the ambition-execution gap requires more than technology. It demands a holistic approach that fuses strategy, engineering, experience, and data. Our proven methodology helps banks:
Our track record includes helping global investment firms migrate mission-critical workloads to the cloud, enabling rapid product launches for leading banks in Southeast Asia, and supporting core modernization initiatives that deliver measurable business impact.
The journey to cloud modernization is not without its challenges, but the rewards are clear. Banks that move beyond incremental “lift-and-shift” migrations to embrace true cloud-native transformation are better positioned to compete, innovate, and grow in a rapidly evolving market. The time to act is now—before digital-native challengers and fintech disruptors seize the advantage.
Publicis Sapient stands ready to partner with banks at every stage of their cloud journey, helping them close the gap between ambition and execution and realize the full potential of digital transformation. The future of banking is in the cloud. Let’s build it together.