GenAI for DORA: Building Cyber Resilience Through Intelligent Regulatory Change Management

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) marks a fundamental shift in how financial institutions define
and maintain cyber resilience. No longer confined to IT or compliance, DORA demands a holistic, data-driven approach to managing operational risk — spanning governance, incident reporting, third-party oversight, and ICT continuity. Yet most banks are still navigating this change through fragmented tools, static spreadsheets, and manual processes.

Apexon’s approach to regulatory change management transforms this paradigm by embedding Generative AI (GenAI) directly into the regulatory lifecycle. Our solution enables institutions to move from reactive compliance to predictive, continuous assurance — identifying control gaps before they surface, automating interpretation of new mandates, and creating real-time visibility across cyber, risk, and compliance functions.

This paper outlines the emerging industry challenges surrounding DORA implementation and explores how Apexon’s GenAI-enabled regulatory intelligence framework empowers financial institutions to build resilient, scalable, and audit-ready compliance ecosystems – safely and efficiently.

The regulatory landscape for financial services is entering its most accelerated phase yet. In just the past 24 months, global institutions have faced an unprecedented convergence of digital resilience mandates — from Europe’s DORA to the UK’s PS21/3 and the SEC’s new cyber disclosure rules. These frameworks share a single, resounding message: operational resilience is no longer optional; it’s measurable, reportable, and enforceable.

Despite years of investment in GRC systems, most financial institutions still lack a unified data and control fabric that connects policies, risks, and controls across lines of defense.

Key industry challenges include:

Banks report a 30–50% rise in compliance costs related to digital risk management since 2022, while regulatory fines for operational disruptions have exceeded €300 million across Europe in the same period.

Institutions that treat DORA merely as another compliance exercise risk being perpetually reactive. Those that see it as a catalyst for AI-driven operational resilience, however, can achieve: