Strategy & Innovation

The New Financial Stack: AI, Agents and Trust

with Daniele Tonella & Peter Bakenecker & Annabella Bassler & Klaus Fiala

Thursday 9 July 10:10 – 10:40 Tech Leaders Stage

About This Session

Finance is being rebuilt around AI and agents, in a domain with almost no tolerance for getting it wrong. This panel explores how the sector is changing and how much trust it demands before it adopts anything new. Technology and finance leaders on what is moving and what still holds it back.

← Back to Schedule

Speakers

Daniele Tonella

CTO · ING

CTO of ING

Read bio Hide bio

Daniele Tonella is the chief technology officer at ING. A lifelong technologist, he describes himself as “a mechanical engineer by mistake” with an enduring passion for tech. He started coding when he was 10 years old, and at 18, “with the self‑confidence of that age”, he believed he already understood technology well enough to study something different, so he pursued mechanical engineering. Despite that, he never stopped tinkering and coding on the side, eventually moving fully into the technology world. Daniele has over 20 years of experience in senior technology and leadership roles in the financial industry and currently serves in advisory and board positions for several companies. Before joining ING, he worked at UniCredit, including as Group Chief Information Officer and CEO of UniCredit Services. Prior to that he held roles at AXA Group, Evalueserve, and Swiss Life. He began his career as a consultant at Mercer and later McKinsey & Company in Switzerland. He holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering from ETH Zürich and completed executive education programmes at Harvard, IMD, INSEAD, and MIT Sloan.
Peter Bakenecker

President Central Europe · Mastercard

President Central Europe at Mastercard

Read bio Hide bio

Peter leads Mastercard’s Central Europe Division, driving strategy and tech-driven innovations across 12 markets in Europe, including Germany, Poland, and Switzerland. With nearly two decades at Mastercard, he has shaped digital payments, business development, and innovative solutions like wallets and tokenization in Europe, AP, and MEA. He held prior roles in Mastercard Advisors, Roland Berger and Batten & Company. Peter holds an MBA in Banking & Finance, studying in Australia, Germany and the U.K.
Annabella Bassler

CFO · Ringier

Group CFO of Ringier

Read bio Hide bio

Dr. Annabella Bassler is Group CFO of Ringier, board member and Initiator of the EqualVoice initiative. She combines financial leadership with a strong commitment to advancing gender equality, driving initiatives that address gender stereotypes and unconscious bias through the EqualVoice-Assistant. With extensive experience in corporate governance and strategy, she stands for modern, responsible leadership. In her keynote, she shares insights on leading large organizations through cultural change and company-wide transformation.
Klaus Fiala

Editor-in-Chief · Forbes

Editor-in-Chief at Forbes

Read bio Hide bio

Klaus Fiala studied Economics in Vienna and Madrid. He joined Forbes Austria in 2015 and became Editor-in-Chief in 2018. Since 2024, he's been the Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Swiss. He lives in Zurich.