It’s symbolic, in a way, that Inventx has moved into «The Circle» at Zurich Airport: the world of data never sleeps. And: «Money never sleeps.»

As the only Swiss system integrator, Inventx offers 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring through teams based in both Switzerland and Canada.

Calm, Urban Atmosphere

The company’s elegant, open office space near the airport is filled with light, Scandinavian-style furniture, welcoming workspaces, and discreet technology. The atmosphere is urban and tranquil—echoing the new «Mehrwerk» building in Chur, which recently became Inventx’s headquarters (as reported by finews.com).

Emanuele Diquattro, CEO since January 1, welcomes us in a modest meeting room with a wide view of The Circle’s promenades.

A Pivotal Moment

Inventx is at a crucial juncture. Founded 15 years ago by Gregor Stücheli and Hans Nagel, the company started with clients such as Graubündner Kantonalbank, St. Galler Kantonalbank, Thurgauer Kantonalbank, BZ Bank, and Migros Bank. Through perseverance and business savvy, Inventx has become a formidable player in IT for banks and insurers—steadily gaining market share from dominant competitor Swisscom.

Today, Inventx is a leading system integrator for small and mid-sized banks that use Finnova as their core banking system, and also serves a number of insurers.

Bridging Business and IT

An earlier attempt by founders Stücheli and Nagel to hand over operational leadership failed last year, prompting them to temporarily take back the reins (as finews.com reported).

Now, a new chapter begins with Emanuele Diquattro: a striking figure with a shaved head, thick beard, and direct communication style. «I’ve spent my entire career at the intersection of business and IT,» says the new CEO. «In that sense, joining Inventx felt like coming home to a place I’d never actually lived.»

Connected Through KPT

There is, however, a real connection. While serving as CEO of Adcubum (the insurance counterpart to Finnova and Avaloq), Diquattro worked on a project with KPT, which at the same time engaged Inventx as a system integrator. This led to a working relationship with co-founder Hans Nagel.

They served together on a steering committee for two years and got to know each other— «even in situations where things didn’t go perfectly,» Diquattro adds with a wink. «We learned how to work together. That helped a lot and was a proof point for me.»

Solid Corporate Governance

Another «proof point» for Diquattro was Inventx’s strong corporate governance. The board of directors includes independent experts alongside the founders. «I removed the founders from all operational email distribution lists on day one—and they were fine with it,» he notes.

A key responsibility of his, he says, is consistent, transparent, and reliable reporting to the founders. «Especially when there are problems, you have to proactively manage the confidence level.»

«Digesting Growth»

Inventx has grown rapidly in recent years, now employing over 500 people. «Now we need to digest that growth, perhaps with some fresh outside perspective. I experienced similar scaling at Adcubum, where we went from 150 to 450 people.»

Diquattro describes Inventx’s market position as follows: Switzerland’s core banking systems are largely split between Finnova (for retail banks) and Avaloq (for private banks). Inventx is strong in application management for Finnova-based banks.

Operating Close to the Core

In infrastructure areas such as workplace and cyber resilience, Inventx also works with other banks. «Some clients deliberately separate application management and infrastructure between different providers.» From a business perspective, being close to the core banking system is strategically valuable.

Diquattro sees potential to expand into application management for Avaloq-based banks as well: «It becomes exciting when you can scale across multiple banks.»

Community Private Cloud

Currently, Inventx’s top priority is to provide clients with an environment where they can benefit from innovations in cloud and AI. For sensitive data, Inventx offers a regulated community private cloud that can be integrated with major public cloud services.

«We follow a multi-hybrid cloud strategy, helping our clients transition into a managed hybrid cloud world,» explains Diquattro. This involves defining which applications and data sets are suitable for which cloud types. «We ensure a clean connection to data located elsewhere.»

In this way, Inventx increasingly positions itself as a platform provider. «We offer solutions that are compliant with Swiss regulations, yet technologically open and hybrid,» Diquattro says.

23 Clients

The company’s proprietary platform, ix.Cloud, was deliberately designed to be modular and privacy-compliant to meet the high standards of banks and insurers. «We currently have 23 clients on our cloud platform. In 2024 alone, we won four new mandates.»

AI is an especially dynamic area right now, says Diquattro: «We’ve launched an AI platform that allows banks and insurers to develop and run AI applications in compliance with data protection standards—for example, for chatbots, contract analysis, or fraud detection.»

New GPU Infrastructure

To support this, Inventx has developed its own GPU infrastructure, as the company recently announced: «The potential of AI is magnified when combined with core business data. For this, you need private GPU infrastructure, data privacy, and data sovereignty. The combination of our new AI platform services and our existing ecosystem offers a flexible, future-proof solution tailored to the needs of banks and insurers.»

Despite all these innovations, Diquattro does not expect revolutionary changes to the core systems. The banking world, for now, remains divided between Finnova and Avaloq. Both systems are over 20 years old, made up of hundreds of thousands of lines of code, and are essentially monolithic. «Now comes the cloud layer, and as developers we say: Let’s containerize everything, move to the cloud, and scale infinitely.»

A Matter of Ecosystems

In practice, though, a full greenfield approach is difficult and prohibitively expensive. A more realistic path is partial modernization—gradually decoupling individual applications from the core and rebuilding them in the cloud.

Finnova is pursuing this route with its Finnova Neo project. But even here, the question of cost arises: «Providers depend on clients to co-finance these developments,» he says, which often leads to tough negotiations. The current subdued business environment does not make this any easier.

As for the future of Inventx, Diquattro remains optimistic. In addition to absorbing the company’s recent growth, he aims to continue expanding: «We’re targeting annual growth between 5 and 15 percent. Some years may be slower due to investment, others faster.»