Financial institutions using digital as a strategic asset and investing in processes supporting it are better positioned to grow.
As financial institutions prepare for the future, digital continues to be one of the most overused and misunderstood terms in the industry. At its core, digital is not just technology, it’s a major asset. It’s the way your institution achieves efficiency, scales securely, and meets the evolving needs of customers and members.
Recognizing digital’s critical role in today’s environment means more than just setting aside dollars for tools. Successful budgeting must also account for the people and processes allowing tools to deliver value. Training, change management, workflow redesign, and governance are as important as the software or platforms themselves.
Why a digital, IT, and cybersecurity plan matters for financial institutions
Every institution should maintain a 24-to-36-month digital, IT, and cybersecurity strategic plan. This type of plan helps investments align with measurable business outcomes, not just technology for technology’s sake. When done well, it reduces surprises, allows for scalable growth, and provides transparency to boards, regulators, and management teams.
Equally important, risk, compliance, and cyber tools must scale at the same pace as the new digital tools being adopted. Too often, institutions invest in platforms such as automation, AI-driven analytics, or advanced collaboration suites without a parallel investment in controls, monitoring, and resilience. This imbalance creates exposure at the very time you are seeking to build efficiency.
And beyond the tools themselves, digital planning must include people and processes. Without training, governance, and updated workflows, many tools may underperform or introduce unnecessary risk.
Recommended practices for considering digital in the budget process
Budgeting for digital requires balancing efficiency, resilience, and the recognition some investments are now part of the cost of doing business. Consider these practices:
Define digital as an asset
Clarify how digital investments connect to strategic goals such as efficiency, compliance, and customer or member satisfaction, rather than focusing only on technology spend.
Plan for efficiencies, but expect foundational costs
Many digital tools should reduce other operating expenses like manual labor, reporting, or duplicate systems. However, cybersecurity, compliance monitoring, and resilience must be recognized as ongoing baseline investments.
Budget for people and process
Technology is only part of the equation. Allocate funds for training, workflow redesign, and change management to help effectively adopt digital tools.
Scale risk and cyber with adoption
Every new tool, whether automation, cloud migration, or AI assistant, requires equal attention to cyber configuration, vendor management, and data governance.
Modern collaboration tools need modern oversight
Institutions are enabling greater efficiency by expanding M365 configurations and opening access to tools such as Copilot. Without proper tenant configuration, those same tools can increase exposure.
A case in point: Several institutions recently provided Copilot to their teams, quickly realizing the efficiency gains of AI-assisted document creation and analysis. However, because the underlying tenant controls were never fully configured, sensitive information such as financial reports and internal communications became far too visible.
The tool itself was not the problem, but the lack of planning for governance and access controls created risk outweighing the intended benefit.
Don't overlook publicly available tools
Many employees use apps and AI solutions outside of official systems. Budget for policies, monitoring, and preventative controls to manage this risk.
Shift to a preventative mindset
Budgeting only for detection and response is no longer enough. Institutions must invest in preventative measures such as configuration management, access controls, and employee awareness to reduce the likelihood of incidents before they occur.
Reinvest efficiency gains
Allocate a portion of savings from automation and process improvements back into advancing your digital and cyber maturity.
How CLA can help financial institutions with digital
Digital is not about the latest app or platform. It’s about securely and efficiently rethinking how you deliver value while recognizing some digital investments are now essential business infrastructure.
Financial institutions using digital as a strategic asset and investing in the people and processes supporting it can be better positioned to grow, protect, and serve their communities in the years ahead.
Regardless where your institution is in its digital journey, CLA can meet you where you are. We help financial institutions connect strategy, people, process, risk, and technology so digital becomes helps to achieve organizational goals. Reach out if you would like to discuss budgeting for your digital roadmap.