Ing: Scaling Innovation Is The Real Challenge

In this conversation, Marnix van Stiphout of ING addresses a reality many large organisations are quietly grappling with: innovation is no longer the hard part — adoption is. Ideas are plentiful. Business cases are strong. Use cases are clear and increasingly well-understood. Yet despite this, scaling innovation across a global bank remains one of the industry’s most complex challenges.

Van Stiphout explains that the core issue is not whether new solutions work, nor whether they deliver value. In many cases, ING already has significant initiatives up and running, producing meaningful outcomes. The real question is whether the organisation itself is ready to absorb them at scale. That readiness goes far beyond technology.

At the heart of the challenge is people. Scaling innovation requires teams across the world to work differently, develop new skills, and operate new solutions confidently and consistently. This is not a matter of deploying a tool and moving on. It requires rethinking operating models, redefining responsibilities, and ensuring that risk, control, and governance processes evolve in parallel with innovation.

For a global institution like ING, scale introduces its own friction. Rolling out new capabilities across regions means aligning diverse teams, regulatory environments, and maturity levels. A solution that performs well in one market may demand entirely different skills, controls, or operational support in another. Without the right foundations, even the strongest innovation risks stalling.

Van Stiphout is candid about where ING stands today. While there are already major initiatives in place — “big cases” that demonstrate real value — the organisation is not yet at the point where hundreds of such initiatives can run seamlessly in parallel. Reaching that stage requires ING to continue evolving as an organisation, not just as a technology adopter.

This perspective reframes how progress should be measured. Success is not defined by the number of pilots launched or proofs of concept completed, but by the organisation’s capacity to sustain and operate innovation at scale. Skills development, ecosystem readiness, and operational resilience become just as important as creativity and ambition.

The message is clear: the next phase of innovation in banking will not be won by those with the best ideas, but by those who can turn ideas into everyday, repeatable practice across the entire organisation. For ING, that journey is ongoing — and it is as much about transformation from within as it is about technology itself.

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