What is Valley Bank's technology stack?
Valley National Bank runs a cloud-first stack on a core it has already converted. Chief operating officer Russell Barrett told American Banker in June 2026 that Valley had migrated more than 80% of its data center capacity to a cloud-based hub; in January 2024 he told Bank Automation News that Snowflake was the bank's primary data hub provider, and in August 2024 that all of its data and data warehousing sat in the Microsoft Azure cloud. The core conversion took 16 months, according to Galileo, the SoFi Technologies unit that published an account of it with Barrett in January 2025. On top, Valley gives employees AI tools in five tiers, with about 80 of roughly 3,600 employees holding open access, and Barrett said in July 2026 that the bank was 'already replacing three external contracts' with what it builds. Partner banking runs on Infinant's Interlace platform, selected in October 2025. Valley has not named its core banking vendor or published an engineering headcount.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Data as of Nov 11, 2026 · Valley profile updated Nov 1, 2026 · 21 sources cited on this page · 141 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
What are the layers of Valley Bank's technology stack?
As Valley's chief operating officer, its investor decks and its named vendors describe them. Valley has not published an architecture diagram.
| Layer | What is on the record | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud infrastructure | More than 80% of data center capacity migrated to a cloud-based hub under a 'cloud-first strategy', which Barrett says gives a 'single pane of glass' on data | Russell Barrett, American Banker | June 2026[1] |
| Cloud target | Bank Automation News reported the aim as '100% cloud native by 2026' and said the bank 'looks to AWS, Snowflake for cloud services' | Bank Automation News | January 29, 2024[2] |
| Data hub | Snowflake is Valley's primary data hub provider | Russ Barrett, Bank Automation News | January 2024[2] |
| Data warehouse | 'All of our data and our data warehousing is completely in the [Microsoft Azure] cloud' | Russell Barrett, Bank Automation News | August 2024[3] |
| Core banking | Core conversion completed in 16 months, according to Galileo, which published the account with Barrett; the article does not name the core product | Galileo (SoFi Technologies) | January 7, 2025[4] |
| Open banking interfaces | Nearly six months of work on APIs to 'create more connected banking' ahead of open banking regulations | Russell Barrett, Bank Automation News | August 2024[3] |
| Partner banking | Infinant's Interlace platform, a cloud-based platform that works as a complement to the bank's existing core banking system while the bank keeps control of the ledger | Valley and Infinant release | October 27, 2025[6] |
| Treasury connectivity | An ERP banking product powered by Koxa's Treasury Gateway platform: real-time balances, transactions and payments from inside the client's enterprise resource planning software | Koxa release | September 17, 2025[7] |
| AI access | Five tiers of employee access to AI tools, two of them for engineering, quality assurance and model risk management staff with specialized tools; about 80 of roughly 3,600 employees have open access | Russ Barrett, Banking Dive | July 2026[5] |
| Acquired platform | Bluevine, which Valley agreed to acquire, brings a 'Proprietary technology stack: Data, API and decisioning layer unifying third-party core and payment rails into one platform' and ~180 R&D professionals | Valley acquisition deck | September 28, 2026[8] |
Does Valley Bank build or buy its technology?
Both, and the balance is moving toward building. Barrett told Banking Dive in July 2026 that agentic AI has changed the calculus for a midsize bank: 'We are already replacing three external contracts', he said, and 'our ability to exponentially improve our engineering is totally a game-changer for a bank like Valley'. He credited the completed core conversion and the cloud-first strategy for the head start.[5]
The second-quarter 2026 earnings deck states the policy formally: AI adoption 'leverages prior investments in core infrastructure, data governance, and tech talent', through a 'Combination of build and buy approach' fed by Valley Ventures, the Tech Banking business and Bank Leumi.[9]
On cost, Banking Dive reported that technology, furniture and equipment expenses rose about 7% year over year to $31.9 million in the first quarter, largely on data processing fees and software licensing costs. Valley tracks AI spending monthly and Barrett called the bank 'very token-conscious'; it declined to say how much it has invested in AI.[5]
On September 9, 2026 Valley launched Valley Foundry, a technology and innovation capability led by Michael Rappaport and designed to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies through internal and external partnerships.[10]
What is not on the record: Valley has not named the vendor of its core banking system, has not said how its workloads divide between AWS and Microsoft Azure, both named in Bank Automation News reports, and has not published a technology budget or engineering headcount.[4][2][3]
What does the Valley profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the Valley AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Nov 1, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 27 dated moves, 17 use cases and 39 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley's AI Assistant and custom agents | Machine learning and custom gen-AI agents built by the AI and data science team. | In production | [11] |
| Valley Foundry | A dedicated capability to identify, test and advance emerging technologies, initially AI, cybersecurity, and data and analytics, through startup, fintech and vendor partnerships. | Announced | [10] |
| Bluevine AI-native small-business platform | Acquired production-grade AI engineering: per Valley's deal presentation, the majority of Bluevine's new code is AI-generated and roughly 80% of its inbound customer inquiries are AI-contained; about 180 R&D staff join to accelerate Valley's AI roadmap. | Announced | [8] |
| AI in software development | Valley says AI already accelerates its data analytics and software development; the acquired Bluevine platform reports that most new code is AI-generated. | In production | [12][8] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 2026 | Q3 call: efficiency ratio below 50% a quarter early; AI now in underwriting and servicing | Valley reports its efficiency ratio fell below 50%, its lowest since the third quarter of 2021 and one quarter ahead of schedule, and lists AI deployed in customer care, fraud and anti-money-laundering reviews, auto-loan collections, credit underwriting and loan servicing; coverage of the call describes the underwriting and servicing work as agentic. Valley says Bluevine is expected to add AI engineering and developer talent. | [13][14] |
| Sep 28, 2026 | Bluevine acquired for $340 million to accelerate the AI roadmap | Valley agreed to buy the digital small-business banking platform Bluevine for $340 million, adding $2.1 billion of low-cost core deposits, about 175,000 active small-business customers and roughly 180 engineering, product and data-science staff. The announcement and investor presentation frame Bluevine as 'production-grade AI capabilities and engineering talent' built in-house, citing that the majority of Bluevine's new code is AI-generated and about 80% of its inbound customer inquiries are AI-contained; CEO Ira Robbins said the deal would 'meaningfully accelerate our digital and AI capabilities.' Close expected early 2027. | [15][8][16] |
| Sep 9, 2026 | Valley Foundry launched; Michael Rappaport to lead | A new technology and innovation capability to speed adoption of AI, cybersecurity and data-and-analytics tools through internal and external partnerships; Rappaport joins from Capco, with earlier innovation roles at HSBC. | [10] |
| Jul 23, 2026 | AI strategy slides and a 500-basis-point efficiency thesis | The Q2 deck updates the AI strategy, ecosystem and roadmap first shown in the Q1 deck (adding wire-fraud identification, collections and loan servicing to the use cases); on the call the CFO puts savings at ~$15 million against $3–4 million of new AI spend, and the chief credit officer says agentic AI is not yet in core credit analysis. | [9][17] |
| Jul 10, 2026 | 'AI is changing the build-versus-buy question' | Three vendor contracts replaced; five access tiers; token use tracked monthly. | [5] |
| Jun 18, 2026 | Press release lists Valley's AI applications | Valley says it has advanced AI applications across anti-money laundering, operational quality, sales effectiveness and employee training, launched more than 50 digital initiatives in a year, and already runs Valley Foundry and Valley Ventures as parts of its innovation ecosystem. | [18] |
| Jun 1, 2026 | COO ranked No. 47 for building an 'AI-ready bank' | Cloud-first, data culture, the Valley Foundry and $100 million of savings. | [1] |
| Apr 23, 2026 | First-quarter deck presents Valley's AI strategy, use cases and journey | Slides set out guiding principles (measurable value, responsible AI), an AI team reporting to the head of data and analytics, and five use cases including agentic AI for credit underwriting; the roadmap runs from foundations (2023-2025) to 'AI portfolio execution' (2025-2027) and an AI-native organisation from 2028. | [19] |
| Apr 15, 2026 | Head of AI and data science on agent 'fleets' | Lachman's remit: governance to custom applications for Valley's AI Assistant. | [11] |
| Jan 29, 2026 | Fourth-quarter 2025 call ties AI to banker productivity | Robbins says past investments in data analytics, AI and sales effectiveness are making bankers more productive and that AI solutions are meant to speed customer acquisition; he cites 3,634 employees against about 3,351 when he became CEO. | [20] |
| Oct 27, 2025 | Infinant selected for Partner Banking | Valley picks Infinant's cloud-based Interlace platform to run deposit and payment programmes for fintech partners alongside its existing core, after what both describe as an extensive selection process. | [6] |
| Mar 19, 2025 | AI to compete for deposits | Among regionals using AI on customer data to lure deposits. | [21] |
Is Valley Bank in the cloud?
Mostly, by its own account. Chief operating officer Russell Barrett said in June 2026 that more than 80% of Valley's data center capacity had moved to a cloud-based hub. Bank Automation News reported in January 2024 that the bank aimed to be 100% cloud native by 2026, and in August 2024 Barrett said its data and data warehousing were completely in the Microsoft Azure cloud.
Which data platform does Valley Bank use?
Snowflake is Valley's primary data hub provider, Barrett told Bank Automation News in January 2024, and in August 2024 he said all of the bank's data and data warehousing was in the Microsoft Azure cloud. Barrett says the setup lets a data task that takes another bank five months be done in five days.
Which core banking system does Valley Bank run?
Valley has not named it in the sources read for this page. Galileo, the SoFi Technologies unit, published an account with Barrett in January 2025 saying Valley completed its core conversion in 16 months, and Barrett cites the finished conversion as groundwork for its AI program.
How does Valley Bank control employee use of AI tools?
Through five tiers of access. Two tiers are for engineering, quality assurance and model risk management staff and carry specialized tools, and about 80 of roughly 3,600 employees have open access as cross-functional power users. Barrett says spending is tracked monthly and token use is monitored.
What technology does the Bluevine acquisition add?
Valley's September 28, 2026 deck describes Bluevine's proprietary technology stack as a data, API and decisioning layer that unifies a third-party core and payment rails into one platform, with a majority of new code AI-generated and about 180 research and development professionals. The deck presents the deal as accelerating Valley's technology and AI initiatives.
- #47 Valley Bank's COO is building an AI-ready bank
- Valley Bank to be 100% cloud native by 2026
- Regional FIs deploy tech to remain competitive
- How to Get Banking Core Modernization Right (Galileo, with Valley Bank COO Russell Barrett)
- Valley Bank exec: AI is changing build-versus-buy question
- Valley Bank Selects Infinant to Enhance Partner Banking Capabilities
- Valley Bank Launches New Enterprise Resource Planning Banking Solution Powered by Koxa
- Accelerating Valley's National Digital Banking Franchise (Form 8-K Exhibit 99.2)
- Valley National Bancorp second quarter 2026 earnings presentation (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.2)
- Valley Bank Launches Valley Foundry, Names Michael Rappaport to Lead
- Nickolaus Lachman, SVP, Head of AI & Data Science, Valley Bank (Digital Banking speaker profile)
- Valley (VLY) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript
- What Valley National Bancorp (VLY) Said on Its Q3 Earnings Call
- Valley National Bancorp Q3 2026 Earnings Call Summary
- Valley National Bancorp to Acquire Bluevine Inc., Accelerating Its Digital Small Business Growth Strategy and Meaningfully Enhancing Its Core Funding Capabilities
- Valley National Bank to acquire fintech Bluevine for $340M
- Valley National Bancorp (VLY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
- Valley Bank's Russell Barrett Named to American Banker's Inaugural 2026 Most Innovative People in Finance List
- Valley National Bancorp first quarter 2026 earnings presentation (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.2)
- Earnings call transcript: Valley National Bancorp beats Q4 2025 expectations
- Fifth Third Among Banks Using AI to Help Lure Customer Deposits
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