Zafin's AI transformation | Nordic Capital

Zafin's AI transformation

As a global banking software leader, Zafin moved beyond AI tools to build an AI operating model, doubling its engineering output in the process.

Background

Zafin is a leading banking software platform trusted by financial institutions worldwide to modernise their product and pricing infrastructure. A pioneer in enterprise AI adoption, Zafin gave 98 percent of its workforce access to AI tools already from 2022, one of the earliest and most comprehensive deployments of its kind in the financial technology sector.

Situation

By 2025, Zafin had reached a point that many AI-enabled companies will recognise. The tools were embedded and the gains were real, but growth still scaled with headcount. The next competitive step would require rebuilding the operating model itself, making AI the primary delivery mechanism rather than an enabler of the existing one.

Approach

Zafin committed to an AI-native operating model across its three highest-impact functions. In engineering, the team adopted fully agentic development workflows, moving from AI-assisted coding to AI-led delivery. In sales, Gong-powered AI coaching transformed every rep’s workflow with real-time deal intelligence. In sustainability, the ZaRA custom AI assistant turned a time-intensive RFP compliance process into a near-instant one.

Result

Engineering output doubled. Sales productivity reached levels that had previously required significantly more headcount to achieve. Zafin’s sustainability team reclaimed hundreds of hours annually for higher-value work. Zafin has demonstrated that the transition from AI tools to an AI operating model is replicable, measurable and directly linked to business performance, a pattern now informing AI strategy across the Nordic Capital portfolio.

+107%

increase in engineering output with agentic development workflows

+74%

increase in new ARR per quota rep over twelve months

~85%

reduction in time spent on ESG reporting and client questionnaires