The Future of Payments, AI, and Leadership in an Era of Constant Change

Few leaders have witnessed the evolution of banking and payments as closely as Mary Ann Francis (or MAF, as she is popularly known in the industry). A globally respected strategist, advisor, mentor, and thought leader, she has spent more than four decades working with financial institutions, technology providers, and industry leaders through some of the sector’s most defining moments. Her expertise spans banking, payments, treasury, AI, digital assets, blockchain, and quantum technologies, helping organizations navigate an increasingly complex financial services landscape.

In this edition of Opus Wire, our Chief Marketing Officer Nischala Murthy sits down with MAF to discuss how AI, quantum technologies, digital assets, cross-border payments, and leadership are changing business models and shaping the future of banking and payments.

The conversation explores the evolution of real-time payments, the growing importance of cybersecurity and risk management, what businesses should look for in technology partners, and why collaboration will become increasingly important as the industry continues to evolve.

MAF draws on her decades of global experience to share her perspective on leadership, mentorship, and the advice she would give to the next generation of professionals preparing to shape the future of financial services.

Nischala: You’ve been part of the payments industry for more than 40 years, a period that has seen remarkable transformation. Looking back, what do you believe are the three biggest shifts redefining the industry today, and why do they matter?

Mary Ann Francis:

1. Shifting Global Dynamics: The payments and banking ecosystem both cooperate and collide. While there are “standards”, there are not enough. Each may not work in a region, or be accepted, and the regulatory bodies develop the “rules” post-event, not pre-event. While we can track a package from its origin, across numerous hand-offs, to its arrival, we cannot do the same with money movement, and its correlating data.

2. Real-time payments and the evolution of new forms of money: It has been almost two decades since one of the earliest modern real-time payment systems, the UK’s Faster Payments Service, set the pace, and each geography has since taken its own path. While wire transfers have always offered a form of real-time settlement, they remain expensive and can still take time for cross-border transactions. Some markets introduced real-time payments through central bank or government mandates, such as the UK’s Faster Payments, Australia’s NPP, Brazil’s PIX, and India’s UPI, while others, such as the United States, allowed the market to drive adoption through networks like The Clearing House’s RTP, and The Federal Reserve’s “Fed Now”.

Some initiatives have focused primarily on peer-to-peer payments or digital assets, while commercial organizations continue to grapple with paper checks, invoices, delayed accounts payable and receivable posting, and intraday cash position challenges. We also have no shortage of buzzwords and acronyms: tokenized deposits, digital assets, Agentic AI, Generative AI, Analytical AI, blockchain, quantum computing, channels, and networks. Yet, in the end, payments still need to reach an account or store of value. At the same time, some underbanked and unbanked markets have demonstrated that digital payments can succeed with limited involvement from traditional financial institutions.

3. Cybersecurity, fraud, and risk management: An IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) study of the top priorities for CEOs globally ranked cybersecurity, fraud, and risk management as the number one concern, with treasury, cash management, and payments in a real-time world also among the highest priorities. Real-time payments are often irrevocable, making real-time fraud detection and the ability to prevent cyberattacks critical to protecting financial assets, customer privacy (GDPR, HIPAA, and others), and institutional reputation.

AI and quantum computing are frequently viewed as both opportunities and threats. They have the potential to strengthen security and accelerate decision-making, but they also introduce new risks, including the ability to challenge existing encryption methods and security controls. This makes cybersecurity and risk management a board- and C-suite-level responsibility requiring action now. The payments ecosystem is heavily dependent on technology, but it has never been just about technology.

Nischala: Every industry is talking about AI, but payments present unique opportunities and challenges. Beyond the hype, where do you believe AI will create the greatest value across the payments ecosystem over the next three to five years?

MAF: I often blend the power of real-time, AI, and Quantum Safe as tools, not THE solution itself. Technology is evolving so rapidly that it grabs more than its share of attention, allowing business leaders to presume that “the tech guys are on it.” There is more than one type of AI. Even though the general public sees non-stop pics and videos, its problem-solving speed and capabilities outweigh that visual cleverness.

EVERY technology has a business impact, period. It’s either to increase revenue, shareholder value, and client experience; reduce costs and improve margins; create new offerings; manage risks, reputation, and market standing; or meet mandatory regulations, whether quantitative, qualitative, or both.

That said, using AI/Quantum and its speed to provide real-time analytics for cash forecasting, cash flow analysis, investment and trading, along with fraud detection and prevention, can bring enormous market benefit to providers and their clients. Many geo’s are now “mandating” that all partners and third parties be “certified” in AI or Quantum… that begs the question: What criteria designates “certified,” and who is doing it?

Nischala: You’ve worked closely with both enterprises and technology service providers. From that vantage point, what are the biggest changes you’re seeing in how businesses evaluate technology partners today? MAF: Following on from my prior comments, every business must make a build/buy/partner decision. Some organizations regularly build in-house. That sounds great until you’re an island in a sea of collaborators. Then, why build if or when it already exists? Can you join a consortium? What vetting do you do of partners and providers? Do you inventory your OWN technology assets regularly?

In the end, I would require that the Board/C-Suite clearly state

• “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
• “What is your CORE competency?” (What are you, or what do you want to be, good at?)
• “How will you measure it?”

Most importantly, “technology is only PART of the solution. There’s no plug-‘n-play-and-walk-away.” These are “rolling annual investments, not expenses.”

Nischala: Many technology service providers continue to invest heavily in engineering and delivery capabilities. Yet many still struggle to align with evolving market expectations. Where do you see the biggest gap, and what should providers do differently?

MAF: I find the biggest gaps are in the inability to see the big picture, the entire ecosystem, front-to-back. By that I mean Channel (access point) Client/CFO through to AR and AP, then down to layers of Security, Fraud detection, add-ons, upstream and downstream, then the formats and the gateways, all interacting with numerous legacy systems and third parties. While no offering is “all things to all people”, and it must focus on its core strength, only understanding what your “part” of the workflow limits end-to-end success. Additionally, budgets remain an increasing concern as each technology/offering vies for the same limited budget balance, creating a need for a can-do, must-do, want-to-do, wish-we-do list of juggling the priorities.

Nischala: If you had to place one bet on what will have the biggest impact on payments and financial services in 2027, what would it be? Equally, what is one trend that leaders may be underestimating today?

MAF: Real-time everything becoming even more real-time. Definitions still vary: same day, faster, immediate, instant, real-time. Until it’s 2-3 seconds, 24x7x365, across ALL systems, accounts, ERP’s and geo’s, WITH THE DATA, it’s just a version. As AI and Quantum come along, each becomes a tool to add speed while also increasing the need for security and risk management in that same real-time environment.

The biggest underestimation is the need for collaboration. Doing the same thing as others, but differently, could prove efficient, yet we still have parallel streams across the globe existing side by side, in isolation, while trying to achieve the same outcome. It’s a loss of best-in-breed practices. If everyone is doing the same thing the same way, then figure out a way to consolidate or collaborate (consortium?) around basic commercial practices, table stakes, regulations, standards, reporting, et cetera.

Nischala: Technology is changing rapidly, but leadership remains a deeply human capability. What leadership qualities do you believe will become even more important over the next decade?

MAF: “A title makes you a manager, people make you a leader.” For me, that means surrounding yourself with the best, not being afraid to be challenged or to learn, acknowledging your visionary strengths, and enabling your team to be at its best. While a CTO, CIO, CISO, or other technology leader may have the required depth of knowledge and expertise that you don’t, know enough to probe, challenge, trust, and verify. Again, technology is only part of the solution, whatever the problem is.

Nischala: As a respected woman leader who has built a remarkable career in a traditionally male-dominated industry, what advice would you give to women professionals aspiring to lead in technology and financial services?

MAF: I have several go-to’s in my quiver of arrows:

• “Know your stuff.” People can sense authenticity in a nanosecond, both in content and delivery.
• “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” (Make them need you.)
• “There are no mistakes, only unexpected solos.” Never be afraid to take a chance. Seek out advice, opinions, and perspectives, but then OWN it.
• “A winner may be a loser that tried one more time.”
• “I am not intimidating; you’ve chosen to be intimidated.” This means be assertive, not aggressive. Stand your ground. Own your seat at the table.
• “Don’t ‘learn’ how to play the game, change the rules of the game.”
• “You be you.” I am not a fan of “Imposter Syndrome” or “Fake It ‘Til You Make It” mentalities. Women often believe they have to do twice the work to prove themselves, while men can sometimes “wing it.” It’s 2026, and that still needs to change.

Nischala: Throughout your career, you’ve experienced the value of learning from others while also helping shape the next generation of leaders. Why is mentorship so important, and what role should today’s leaders play in creating opportunities for future talent?

MAF: I now want to be the person my younger self would have sought out for support, advice, help, a shoulder to lean on, or simply to ask, “What should I do?” Despite massive advancements, women and minorities are still faced with challenges based solely on gender, geography, or physical stereotypes.

“Please don’t give anyone a job BECAUSE they tick a box, but do not STOP anyone from getting the job because of that box.”

Nischala: If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self at the start of your career, knowing everything you know today, what would it be?

MAF: My DNA came preset for “Don’t tell me what I can’t do,” at a time when that’s all women were told: “What you can’t be,” or worse yet, “What you should be.”

Every experience teaches you what you’re good at, or not. What you like, or not. Do you want to climb the ladder? Or be a key contributor? Do you want to manage people? (Should you?) Are you good at client-facing roles? Public speaking?

Each experience puts a checkmark in a file to be used later, or not. I am very proud of fighting the good fight and of having young people seek out my guidance, or hearing someone say, “Let’s find out what Mary Ann Francis thinks.” Those are some of my proudest accomplishments (other than two awesome daughters 😊).

Mary Ann Francis 🌟 is a globally recognized payments strategist, advisor, mentor, and thought leader with more than 40 years of experience across banking, treasury, payments, AI, digital assets, and quantum technologies. A former banking executive and global payments leader, she has held senior strategy and product leadership roles at IBM, DXC Technology, Wipro, and Symcor. She advises financial institutions and corporates on payments modernization, treasury transformation, emerging technologies, and long-term business strategy, while serving on industry boards, advisory councils, and global working groups. Recognized as one of the ABA’s Top 20 Most Influential Women in Payments and Banking, Mary Ann continues to help organizations navigate the rapidly evolving financial services landscape while mentoring the next generation of industry leaders.