Sirma and Temenos’s first joint event since their regional referral agreement in June 2026 underscores AI’s growing importance in wealth management and payments.
At DIGI PAY 2026 in Sofia, Oct 8th, Sirma and Temenos explored two priorities for the banking sector: AI-enabled wealth management and agentic payments. Senior leaders from Sirma moderated sessions on wealth management and AI-driven payments, and then demonstrated an end-to-end agentic payment live on stage. The ninth edition of the conference attracted over 300 professionals from the financial services, fintech and cybersecurity sectors to the Inter Expo Center.
A new milestone in the Sirma and Temenos partnership
The conference marked the companies’ first joint industry appearance since Sirma became a Temenos Referral Partner for Bulgaria and Albania in June 2026. The agreement enables the two teams to take solutions to market together, combining Temenos banking technology with Sirma’s local delivery expertise.
The relationship predates the agreement. Sirma joined the Temenos Exchange partner ecosystem in 2024 with its Cloud Architecture and Roadmap (CAR) solution and has experience implementing Temenos Transact for retail and wealth banking. At DIGI PAY, Temenos representatives Noah Krähenmann, Global Managing Director of Wealth Management at Temenos, Konstantinos Kanellopoulos, Senior BD Manager, SEE, and Ahu Tunc, Senior Technology & Partner Sales Europe, joined the Sirma team for meetings with local banks. Participants from Sirma side were Fabrice Gouttebroze, SVP International Sales and VP of the Core Banking System Temenos Practice at Sirma, Merdihan Ismailov, VP Products & Solutions, FinTech, and Nikolay Boyukliev, VP Consulting & Services, FinTech.
Both teams emphasized the value of strong partnerships and combined expertise in core banking, cloud, data, AI, and omnichannel technologies to help banks turn strategy into execution. Wealth management, AI, and open banking emerged as key priorities, creating opportunities to accelerate modernization and deliver measurable business outcomes across the region.
Wealth management: making AI part of the adviser’s workflow
In the session The Future of Wealth Management: Navigating the Era of Artificial Intelligence, Globalization and Changing Client Expectations, Noah Krähenmann explored the forces reshaping the wealth management industry, with moderation by Fabrice Gouttebroze.
The discussion highlighted several converging trends: AI is becoming embedded in advisers’ day-to-day workflows, enabling greater efficiency and personalization; wealth creation is becoming increasingly global, with growing interest in alternative assets and emerging markets; clients are demanding greater transparency around the value of advisory services; and open banking and embedded finance are fostering more connected, data-driven customer experiences.
Particular attention was given to opportunities in Bulgaria, where the wealth and retirement market is entering a new stage of development. Private pension assets total approximately BGN 15.82 billion and cover 5.15 million insured individuals, while the planned 2027 pension reform will introduce conservative, balanced, and dynamic sub-funds. These changes are expected to expand investor choice and increase the need for transparent guidance on risk profiles, investment horizons, and fee structures. Unit-linked insurance was also identified as a complementary investment vehicle with growth potential.
The discussion further highlighted the need to address fragmentation across Bulgaria’s investment ecosystem through investor education, goal-based investing, recurring investment strategies, and more integrated customer journeys. As client expectations evolve toward personalized, real-time, and multi-channel engagement that combines digital convenience with trusted advice, financial institutions are increasingly adopting modular, API-driven platforms and embedded AI capabilities. By integrating existing systems, automating routine processes, and enhancing adviser productivity, banks can deliver scalable wealth management services, strengthen client relationships, and better serve affluent and high-net-worth segments.
Agentic payments: from discussion to live demonstration
Merdihan Ismailov moderated the headline panel on AI-driven payments. The discussion examined how prepared financial institutions are for AI agents to participate in online transactions and what needs to be resolved before wider adoption.
Merdihan then demonstrated an end-to-end agentic payment live on stage. The demonstration made a practical point: institutions need to test complete payment journeys and establish clear responsibilities for authentication, security and oversight before scaling agent-driven transactions.
The potential market is substantial. A J.P. Morgan estimate cited at the conference put global agentic commerce at $2 - 5 trillion by 2030. Yet, as Astrid Cousin of the European Commission stressed, questions remain about authentication, security, and responsibility.
The wider agenda: speed, security and digital identity
Across the conference, speakers connected payment innovation with the infrastructure and trust it requires:
- Instant payments are growing. Astrid Cousin of the European Commission (DG FISMA) reported 2,820 payment service providers participating in SEPA Instant, with instant payments rising from 13% of credit transfers in 2022 to 38% in Q2 2026. She described instant payments and the digital euro as complementary initiatives.
- Bulgaria is accelerating. Conference figures indicated around 38 million instant transfers in 2025, a 69% increase year on year.
- Fraud prevention must operate in real time. Speakers contrasted 10-second regulatory and five-second payment-scheme timelines with the millisecond decisions required for effective risk assessment. They called for closer integration of fraud detection and anti-money laundering (FRAML). Inge den Hollander of ACFE Netherlands demonstrated how deepfakes and AI can accelerate identity theft.
- Digital identity is approaching. Kiril Gaberov of the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation said Bulgaria’s state-owned national digital identity wallet is expected by October 2027. Representatives of Eurotrust, BORICA and DSK Bank emphasized the need for public–private cooperation.
The common thread was clear: faster payments, AI-powered services and digital identity will depend on equally strong safeguards and customer trust.
In conclusion, at DIGI PAY 2026, the discussion moved quickly from possibilities to practical deployment. Sirma’s leadership sent a clear message that regional banks should simplify their transformation efforts. Rather than running multiple initiatives with separate budgets, governance structures, and timelines, banks were encouraged to combine related priorities under a single program with a shared vision and clear objectives. This approach can reduce complexity, improve alignment, and accelerate delivery. Sirma and Temenos will continue to work with banks in Bulgaria, Albania and the wider region to transform AI, wealth management and payment innovations into secure, measurable programs.
You can watch recorded presentations on the event website
