THE CHALLENGE
Traditional banks face a defining tension: the need to modernize at pace while keeping complex, business-critical operations running without disruption. Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) set out to address this head-on — establishing strategic objectives to strengthen its position in corporate business credit and accelerate its capacity for digital transformation.
To get there, CGD needed more than new technology. It needed a new way of working.
THE SOLUTION
Critical Software partnered with CGD not as a vendor, but as a business partner — combining deep knowledge of the bank's operations with the technical capability to drive meaningful change. Working together, we delivered an end-to-end transformation built on microservices architecture and a diverse, modern technology stack, keeping CGD's teams informed and involved throughout.
At the heart of the engagement was an Agile Maturity Model Assessment — a structured framework to challenge existing ways of working, surface the main pain points, and build a roadmap toward continuous improvement. The model was built around five pillars: Leadership & Organization, People & Culture, Agile Mindset & Methods, Performance & Monitoring, and Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery.
The result was a Programme Level Agility Assessment Model that turned slow, manual processes into efficient, scalable ones — and left CGD genuinely equipped to continue the journey independently. We supported this through a Build, Operate, and Transfer model, ensuring the bank owned its transformation from day one.
THE RESULTS
The corporate business credit solution delivered measurable commercial impact — improving CGD's agility, increasing base risk penetration rates, and significantly reducing the time needed to compile commercial proposals. Decision workflows were streamlined, and the overall customer offer became faster and more targeted.
CGD now recognizes Critical Software as a front-running digital enabler — and the work done together continues to set the standard for the bank's ongoing digital transformation.
THE TEAM
50+ person software factory
Joint teams with CGD
5+ multidisciplinary squads
Supported by a pool of business and technology SMEs
THE TECHNOLOGY
Service development: Spring Boot
Monitoring & alerting: EFK stack
Containerization: Docker / Kubernetes
Business support: Camunda / IBM ODM
Client data 360 view: Apache Ignite
Automated testing: Cucumber
Continuous delivery: Jenkins
Caixa Geral de Depósitos
Critical has been Caixa Geral de Depósitos's key partner in the adoption of agile methodologies and the facilitation of internal change essential to the success of the digital transformation, as well as in the creation of innovative digital solutions that position CGD at the forefront of Digital Banking.