Agility in Financial Services Marketing: What It Actually Looks Like in 2026

Everyone knows agility is important in marketing, but what does it mean in practice? And how can you stay agile in a highly regulated environment like finance? Our 2026 CMO Handbook for Financial Services offers insight into what an agile marketing team looks like and how marketing leaders can empower their employees through talent transformation.

At a Glance

• Agility in finance isn’t about moving fast; it’s about building structured systems that create the capacity to respond quickly when it matters.
• The Hybrid-Scrum Model for Finance integrates compliance from the outset, replacing the traditional “gatekeeper” approach with collaborative, sprint-based workflows.
• In 2026, the most valuable marketing qualities are not technical: they are creative thinking, strategic vision, and a willingness to experiment within controlled parameters.

Shifting from a Risk-Averse Mindset

If you’re looking to lead with agility, your mindset is the first place to start. According to Virginie Faucon, CMO of AXA Health International, being agile requires a willingness to experiment and embrace change. This can be helpful to keep in mind when hiring and when fostering team culture.

“Having the right mindset is essential for agility in marketing in 2026. You need people who are willing to experiment and embrace change.” -Virginie Faucon, CMO, AXA Health International

Between the rapid evolution of AI and ever-shifting industry conditions, marketing teams are being asked to adapt at a pace never before seen. This means that structure change management, communication, and support are critical to maintain this pace without spinning out of control. By fostering clear and direct communication within your organisation, you ensure that everyone can navigate changing market conditions.

Agility ≠ Chaos

Speed is a major characteristic of agility, but this does not mean sacrificing organisation or quality of work. In fact, true agility is based on maintaining structure. Through systemisation and controlled management of predictable work, you can create space for teams to respond effectively when a new project pops up.

As pointed out by Ingrid Sierra, Brand and Marketing Director at Zego, you cannot leave things unstructured and improvised in the name of agility. Developing structures around regular workflows means that they are taken care of when inevitable chaos is thrown in, preventing teams from becoming reactionary.

“There’s often confusion between agility and chaos. Calling something ‘agile’ doesn’t make it okay for everything to be improvised and unstructured.” -Ingrid Sierra, Brand and Marketing Director, Zego

Feature	Legacy Marketing	Agile Marketing
Planning Cycle	Annual / Quarterly	Monthly Springs + Real-Time AI Pivots
Compliance	Final Stage Gatekeeper	Integrated (From the Start) Collaboration
Data Usage	Historical Reporting	Predictive AI-Driven Experimentation

Calculated Experimentation – Responsibly!

Innovation is impossible without trial and error, and it can be difficult to balance the necessity of failure with the risk-averse nature of the finance sector. But by creating spaces to experiment safely on a small scale, you can foster evolution without sacrificing compliance. Sierra suggests setting aside time for testing, learning, and experimentation as a deliberate part of your team’s schedule.

“Plan properly, and deliberately schedule time for testing, learning and experimentation as a core part of how the team works.” -Ingrid Sierra, Brand and Marketing Director, Zego

This experimentation process requires collaboration with compliance and legal teams, and working with them from the get-go will enable faster learning and implementation of your successes.

Essential Qualities for Agile Marketers

As AI becomes more involved in operations, technical literacy is no longer the defining factor for financial services marketing leaders. Virginie Faucon argues that creative thinking, strategy, and vision are more essential than ever.

When assessing teams, qualities such as collaboration, engagement, confidence, and cooperation are just as important—if not more—than qualitative metrics. In order to achieve progress, teams must be aligned and share an understanding so everyone can move forward together.

Quick Checklist: Is Your Marketing Team Agile?

• Do you have a weekly sync with Legal / Compliance?
• Is 10% of your budget allocated to “safe-to-fail” tests?
• Are your workflows systemised enough to absorb an unexpected project without disruption?
• Does your team have dedicated time each month for testing, learning, and experimentation?

If you answered “no” to any of the above, our CMO contributors have advice for you.

To learn what else our CMO contributors advise you to keep in mind for 2026, read the full handbook.