Banks are increasingly looking beyond customer-facing AI applications and focusing on how artificial intelligence can transform the technology foundations that power financial services. Fiserv’s deployment of Cognition’s autonomous AI engineer Devin highlights a growing industry trend where AI is being used to accelerate core platform modernisation, reduce software development bottlenecks, and help financial institutions bring new capabilities to market faster.
Fiserv has entered a strategic partnership with artificial intelligence company Cognition to deploy its autonomous AI software engineer, Devin, across a range of technology modernisation initiatives aimed at accelerating innovation for financial institutions.
The collaboration will see Devin integrated into Fiserv’s engineering operations to help modernise core banking platforms, streamline software development workflows, and reduce the time required to deliver new capabilities to banking clients. The initiative forms part of Fiserv’s broader strategy to embed AI across its technology, engineering, and operational functions.
Core banking modernisation remains one of the most complex and resource-intensive challenges facing financial institutions and technology providers. Many platforms continue to rely on decades-old infrastructure, making upgrades, integrations, and new product development increasingly difficult. By introducing AI-driven software engineering capabilities, Fiserv aims to accelerate development cycles while maintaining the security, stability, and resilience expected by regulated financial institutions.
Devin is designed to perform end-to-end engineering tasks autonomously, including analysing existing codebases, writing software, executing tests, identifying issues, and iterating improvements. Fiserv plans to utilise the technology across large-scale platform transformation projects as well as other strategic engineering programmes, enabling multiple development initiatives to run simultaneously.
The deployment is also accompanied by enhanced governance and security frameworks for AI-assisted software development. These controls are intended to ensure the integrity of the software lifecycle while supporting the safe adoption of autonomous coding technologies within highly regulated banking environments.
According to Fiserv, the use of AI software engineers will allow development teams to focus more heavily on product innovation, platform resilience, quality assurance, and customer-facing enhancements rather than routine coding and maintenance tasks.
The partnership reflects a growing trend across the financial services sector as banks and technology providers increasingly turn to AI-powered development tools to accelerate digital transformation programmes. Institutions are exploring how autonomous software engineering can help modernise legacy infrastructure, expand automated testing capabilities, improve software quality, and shorten product release cycles.
As competitive pressure intensifies across banking technology, firms are seeking new ways to deliver innovation faster while balancing regulatory requirements, operational risk, and customer expectations. AI-assisted software development is emerging as one of the key technologies expected to influence the next phase of core banking transformation.
What this means for the industry
- AI is moving deeper into banking technology operations, beyond chatbots and customer service applications.
- Core banking modernisation projects could be completed faster as autonomous software engineering tools mature.
- Financial institutions are placing greater emphasis on AI governance and security controls for software development.
- Faster development cycles may enable banks to respond more quickly to market opportunities and regulatory changes.
- AI-assisted engineering is emerging as a new competitive advantage for banking technology providers.
