This article explores how organizational hesitation and delayed decision-making are becoming structural vulnerabilities in modern financial services. Featuring insights from Deniz Tudor, the piece examines how overlapping risks, AI disruption, macroeconom
In an environment defined by overlapping shocks and accelerating change, the greatest risk facing financial institutions may not be the decisions they make, but the decisions they delay.
Deniz Tudor, Head of Special Projects at Tabapay, believes hesitation has become a structural vulnerability in modern financial services, arguing that whilst the instinct to wait for clarity is deeply human, it is also increasingly dangerous.
“I think it’s people’s comfort zone
to incline to the status quo,” she said. “People don’t like uncertainty. They like being able to control things as much as they can.”
Yet the nature of uncertainty itself has changed. Unlike previous crises that were largely contained within a single domain, today’s environment is defined by simultaneous disruption across multiple fronts.
“What we’re going through right now is a little bit different because there are things happening in every direction,” Tudor explained, pointing to geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic volatility, and rapid technological advancement unfolding at once.
This convergence of pressures has created what she describes as a paralysis effect within
organizations. Leaders are no longer dealing with a single dominant risk, but a constant stream of competing priorities.
“People don’t know what to react to,” she said. “They’re wrestling with the problem of putting all these
different shocks together and then coming up with a reasonable plan for the
future.” The result is often inaction. But
Tudor is clear that this comes at a cost, even if it is not immediately
visible.
“When you’re not acting on information, it puts you in a disadvantage for the long term,” she warned. “Maybe in the short term you’re not going to see the disadvantage, but for the long term, you’re definitely going to be left behind.”
That disadvantage manifests in multiple ways. Firms that delay investment in areas such as
artificial intelligence risk falling behind competitors who are scaling faster and improving productivity. They also risk losing access to talent.
“If you’re not investing in the
future, you’re not going to be able to
attract talent that is already ahead,” Tudor warns.
However, she also cautions that acting without structure carries its own dangers. One of the most concerning trends she identifies is
the rush to adopt AI while simultaneously reducing subject
matter expertise.
“AI cannot function without SMEs,” she said. “You need people who know your business. If your business is payments, you need people who know payments.”
For Tudor, the current wave of AI adoption risks repeating the mistakes of past cycles of overconfidence. She draws a parallel with earlier periods of market exuberance, warning that not all investments will deliver expected returns.
