by Finshape on May 2026
Gartner's 2025 Market Guide recognizes 27 Digital Banking Platform vendors globally — but the real story isn't about platforms anymore. It's about what comes after them.
According to Gartner's 2025 Market Guide for Digital Banking Platforms (DBPs), 68% of commercial banking leaders are increasing their DBP spending by 4% or more through 2026. By 2028, 80% of Tier 1-3 banks will compete on digital customer experience through these platforms.
Finshape Group's inclusion among the 27 representative vendors globally validates our Agentic Digital Banking Operating System (DBOS) architecture. But the recognition reveals something more significant: while the market celebrates platform adoption, the conversation has shifted to what platforms alone cannot deliver—operational artificial intelligence.
The Post-Deployment Problem
The Market Guide documents how vendors evolved from multichannel solutions to comprehensive platforms with developer tools, APIs, and marketplace ecosystems. This progression promised bank autonomy through more capabilities.
The opposite happened.
"Banks are familiar with SDKs, APIs, low-code tools, and AI features. What happens after a typical 1-2 year platform deployment is revealing. Banks believe they finally have everything needed to start their digital innovation journey. The opposite proves true.”
Post-deployment, banks discover they must contact their platform vendor for nearly every customization. The promised agility transforms into vendor lock-in. Developer tools exist, but banks lack either the talent to use them effectively or the architectural sovereignty to deploy changes independently.
Gartner confirms that roughly a third of bank CIOs report digital investment outcomes below CEO expectations. AI capabilities across the DBP market remain fragmented, with most focus on business intelligence rather than transformative use cases. Few vendors offer AI agents that can genuinely reshape productivity for banks with limited developer talent.
The Agentic Difference
The term "agentic" describes AI systems that act autonomously within defined parameters. For banking technology, this means AI that doesn't require constant human intervention to compose capabilities, orchestrate workflows, or adapt customer journeys.
“Rather than adding AI on top of a platform, DBOS is built with intelligence at its core,” says Neil Budd.
In practice, the platform provides modular capabilities, while AI agents orchestrate how and when they are used, with humans setting guardrails.
This architectural approach has practical implications. Traditional DBP deployments require developer resources, integration work, and vendor coordination to create new customer journeys—timeline measured in months. In an agentic architecture, the intelligence layer identifies business intent, composes existing capabilities, and deploys with human oversight for compliance but without human intervention for technical orchestration.
Gartner's vendor selection recommendations acknowledge this challenge: banks should "take inventory of developer talent before investing in a DBP" or risk "significant delays, capability limitations and additional expenses."
The agentic approach offers a third option: banks don't need extensive developer talent if the intelligence layer handles orchestration. They need business analysts who define intent, compliance officers who set guardrails, and product managers who measure outcomes.
This matters particularly for institutions like OTP Group, Raiffeisen Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, or Slovenská sporiteľňa — where regulatory requirements and institutional autonomy demand more than vendor-managed customization.
The Real Differentiation
"The banks that succeed start with specific business problems, not technology initiatives," Budd observes. "They measure outcomes in business metrics—revenue per customer, cost-to-serve, time-to-market. But none of that matters if they can't execute changes without waiting for their vendor."
As vendors continue expanding marketplaces and adding developer tools, platforms themselves are becoming commoditized. If every major vendor offers composable services and integration APIs, differentiation shifts to the intelligence layer—how effectively AI coordinates these capabilities.
"The Gartner recognition validates that Finshape belongs among established market leaders," Budd concludes. "But what defines the next phase isn't platform capabilities — it's operational intelligence. The banks that understand this distinction are the ones defining financial services in 2030."
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