Emprise Bank has announced a design partnership with Maximum, an AI-native banking infrastructure company, to transform its core banking system.
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Maximum will deliver the first AI-native operating system purpose-built for traditional banks, providing them with the speed and agility they need to deliver best-in-class customer experiences. This investment will fundamentally alter Emprise’s economics and enable it to scale its customer count by 10 times in the next 24 months while improving efficiency margins.
Emprise believes adding artificial intelligence to infrastructure built for a different era is not enough. Deloitte's Center for Financial Services describes the ceiling this can create: the capabilities of new technology may be constrained by the foundation beneath it. Maximum is building AI-native infrastructure for banks, designed from the ground up to replace fragmented legacy technology with a unified system for data, operations, intelligence and the next generation of financial products.
“Our highest priority is empowering our customers to thrive, and that starts with the strategic and operational freedom to be able to deliver what’s best for them instead of waiting on someone else’s roadmap,” said Matt Michaelis, chairman and CEO of Emprise Bank. “That’s exactly what we found in Maximum. A partner who shares our focus on customers, partners and employees.”
The partnership will equip Emprise with advanced technology designed to accelerate innovation, streamline operations and deliver exceptional customer experiences while preserving the personalized, relationship-driven approach that defines the bank. At the foundation, core banking functions will remain deterministic, secure and fully auditable, while the operations surrounding them become increasingly intelligent and automated. AI agents will operate within clearly defined permissions and governance frameworks, enabling the bank to move faster, operate more efficiently and introduce new capabilities without compromising security, control or accountability.
Emprise expects to move its first traffic onto the platform by the end of 2026, with broader migration happening in phases, with existing systems continuing to run alongside the new platform throughout the transition. This approach is designed to protect operational continuity and minimize customer disruption.
Maximum, which closed a $30 million seed round late last year, is on a mission to replace the fragmented, decades-old infrastructure that powers most of the banking industry today. Its founder, Randy Fernando, previously founded Vault, which was acquired by Acorns in 2017, and Power, which was acquired by Marqeta in 2023.
“Banks deserve technology that expands what’s possible, not systems that constrain what comes next,” said Randy Fernando, founder and CEO of Maximum. “Emprise is exactly the kind of institution we built Maximum for. They have thrived for more than 100 years by earning the trust of their customers and continuing to evolve with their needs. We couldn’t be more excited to work together to usher in the next century of banking.”
“Our conviction in Maximum is rooted in the belief that AI-native infrastructure will unlock an entirely new era of banking,” said Caitlin Bolnick Rellas, general partner at CRV. “Emprise stands out as a bank that champions innovation rather than waiting on it. Their partnership is a powerful validation of our thesis and a model for where the industry is headed.”