German fintech Solaris is eliminating 80 roles as new CEO Steffen Jentsch pivots the BaaS provider toward an AI-native banking model backed by Japan’s SBI Group.
Solaris, one of Germany’s most prominent financial technology companies, is eliminating roughly 80 positions — approximately 20 percent of its workforce — as its new chief executive reshapes the Berlin-based firm from an embedded finance platform into what he is calling an “AI-native bank.”
The cuts are the latest in a series of disruptions at Solaris, which has previously weathered job reductions, a significant write-down, and a rescue funding round from Japan’s SBI Group. Despite holding unicorn status, the company has spent recent years navigating the gap between its early promise and the commercial realities of the Banking-as-a-Service market.
The restructuring under new Chief Executive Steffen Jentsch represents a more fundamental strategic shift than prior reorganisations. Rather than refining Solaris’s existing model — providing white-label banking infrastructure to partners — Jentsch is repositioning the company around artificial intelligence as its operational core. Under the new structure, AI agents will handle operational processes directly, while human staff retain responsibility for control and governance.
The ambition is measurable: broader automation across products and processes, AI-driven financial services built for partners including ADAC and Boerse Stuttgart Group, and a leaner organisation designed to scale without proportional headcount growth.
Jentsch framed the move as the natural continuation of what Solaris pioneered a decade ago. “Ten years ago, Solaris was one of the first companies in Europe to prove that cloud-based banking via APIs works,” he said. “Today, we are taking the next logical step.”
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The transition carries risk. Solaris is making a significant organisational bet at a moment when regulatory scrutiny of AI in financial services is intensifying across Europe, and when the company is still rebuilding confidence among investors and partners following its recent difficulties. Jentsch acknowledged the regulatory dimension directly, noting that the repositioning is being developed in close dialogue with regulatory authorities, alongside the backing of SBI Group.
For the 80 employees losing their roles, the pivot offers little consolation. For the broader fintech industry watching Solaris, it is an early test of whether AI-native restructuring can deliver what conventional digital banking transformation has so far failed to achieve.
