As the global financial community gathered in Frankfurt for SIBOS 2025, one message resonated across every keynote, corridor, and client meeting — the industry has entered a more mature phase of digital transformation. Experimentation remains vital, but the focus has clearly shifted toward scaling proven innovations and embedding them into everyday operations. Artificial intelligence, digital assets, and real-time technologies are no longer just future ambitions; they are evolving into the operational reality of modern finance.
For Traydstream, this year’s SIBOS was a chance to reconnect with clients, partners, and peers who share our belief that the future of trade is digital, intelligent, and collaborative. The conversations and energy throughout the week reflected a pivotal transformation — not just in how trade finance operates, but in how the ecosystem thinks about technology, risk, and value creation.
“What stood out this year was the industry’s shift from experimentation to implementation,” said Shahnawaz Ali, Sales Business Director at Traydstream. “AI is no longer the side story — it’s the backbone of modern trade workflows. But adoption must come with transparency, explainability, and the right governance.”
Across the conference, that message echoed loudly. The conversations around AI moved well beyond hype, focusing instead on responsible deployment — ensuring that automation enhances human decision-making, rather than replacing it. This evolution has made AI not just a tool for efficiency, but a catalyst for resilience, compliance, and smarter global trade.
One of the most exciting developments discussed was the rise of agentic AI — intelligent systems capable of performing tasks autonomously within defined guardrails. These digital teammates can analyse, verify, and even trigger workflows across compliance and documentation, while remaining fully auditable.
“Agentic AI represents a natural evolution of what we’ve built at Traydstream,” explained Stephan Hufnagl, CTO. “Our focus is on ensuring that every automated decision can be traced, reviewed, and trusted.”
This idea of trust by design has become the new standard. The next generation of automation must be context-aware, auditable, and aligned with the regulatory realities of global finance — precisely the foundation on which Traydstream’s technology has been built.
Beyond AI, another strong current at SIBOS was the mainstreaming of digital assets. Tokenisation, once a niche experiment, is rapidly becoming operational infrastructure across markets and networks.
“Tokenisation is not a distant dream anymore — it’s becoming an operational layer for liquidity and settlement,” said Jaime López Heredia, Sales Director for South Europe. “This evolution opens new ways for trade and treasury teams to access funding faster and more securely.”
For trade finance, this means reduced settlement times, richer data, and improved transparency across counterparties — all of which strengthen trust and efficiency in cross-border commerce.
Linked closely to this is the convergence of payments, liquidity, and trade. With ISO 20022 becoming the global standard and instant payment rails maturing, the boundaries between trade finance and treasury are dissolving. The future will see embedded finance — where a verified trade transaction can automatically trigger financing or FX execution in real time.
“Embedding FX, liquidity, and financing directly into trade processes is where the real transformation lies,” observed David Frye, Managing Director. “It’s about giving clients speed, transparency, and cost efficiency — not as add-ons, but as integral parts of the workflow.”
Amid these shifts, one perspective stood out clearly — technology alone isn’t enough. It’s about creating operational readiness that allows innovation to scale responsibly and sustainably.
“Institutions are realising that digitisation is only powerful when it’s embedded into end-to-end processes,” added Michael Viscepan, Business Sales Director. “The real breakthrough comes when AI and automation are applied not just to simplify workflows, but to empower teams to make faster, better-informed decisions.”
This seamless integration is enabling banks and corporates to move from batch-based, reactive processes to real-time, data-driven trade flows, unlocking new levels of agility.
“We’re seeing a mindset shift — from building isolated solutions to creating an interconnected ecosystem,” said Mandar Taskar, VP – Account Management. “True digital trade transformation happens when technology, standards, and partnerships align to remove friction at every step.”
Underlying all these conversations was a shared understanding that no one can digitise trade alone. The industry’s progress depends on interoperability — the ability for banks, fintechs, and regulators to connect through open APIs, shared data standards, and modular infrastructures.
“The industry is realising that no single solution can digitise trade in isolation,” said Srividya Subramanian, Co-Head of Global Sales. “Partnerships, standards, and open frameworks are the foundation for true transformation — and that’s exactly the approach we are taking at Traydstream.”
As we look back on SIBOS 2025, the takeaway is clear — digitisation in trade finance is no longer optional. It is the path to resilience, efficiency, and growth. And this transformation is only possible through collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to making trade finance smarter for everyone.