Jack Henry’s Brynn Ammon on Database Evolution, Modernization, and the Future of Credit Union Tech

By John San Filippo

The America’s Credit Unions Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) was held in Washington, DC, March 2-6, 2025. While there, Finopotamus conducted several interviews of credit union technology luminaries, including Brynn Ammon, president of credit union solutions at Jack Henry. Ammon discussed the company’s current focus and future strategy, emphasizing data modernization, platform evolution, and the increasing importance of cybersecurity for credit unions. 

Brynn Ammon

Database Evolution: Moving to SQL

A major focus for Jack Henry has been the evolution of its Symitar database, explained Ammon. The goal is to transition from a proprietary hierarchical database to a commercially available SQL database. This move is foundational to Jack Henry’s broader technology modernization strategy.

Ammon highlighted the benefits already seen by credit unions making the switch. “The biggest one is just speed,” she stated. Citing a $3 billion asset credit union with 170,000 members, she noted, “The day that they transitioned from where they were to commercial, their goodnight shrunk by 30%.” Other advantages include leveraging commercial tools like transparent data encryption and improved data accessibility.

While Jack Henry is encouraging the move, there’s no immediate end-of-support timeline for the legacy database. “We are not announcing end of support for product retirement for the legacy database at this point,” Ammon stated, adding that ample notice will be given when a decision is made. However, all new installations are already on the SQL database.

Supporting both systems presents challenges, including increased costs for testing and maintenance, but Jack Henry is balancing this with providing clients adequate transition time.

Technology Modernization and the Jack Henry Platform

The database transition is a key step towards Jack Henry’s overarching technology modernization strategy, centered around the Jack Henry Platform (formerly Project Origin). The strategy involves “componentization and decomponentizing the items in the core,” Ammon explained. These components, like the already available cloud-native Wires application, connect back to the core Symitar application, but can also function independently.

This approach aims to create “an agnostic data layer...to get to a place where you have data in the cloud that allows you to do ingress, egress data from any source, any place that allows you to be more nimble, that then allows you to do more with AI (artificial intelligence).” Importantly, work done on the Symitar core, such as the database migration, is “part and parcel” of this strategy and will be reusable within the Jack Henry Platform, not discarded.

Ammon clarified that while the platform development involves collaboration between banking and credit union teams, the focus remains distinct: “There’s still definitely a banking team and a credit union team... Credit union has its own focus. Banking has its own focus.” The platform will allow institutions to “pick and choose which components that they want.” A credit union running Symitar could continue doing so while adopting specific Jack Henry Platform components to address specific needs, integrating them alongside existing third-party solutions. A potential future use case involves a “digital only core” for niche brands, fully integrated back into the main Symitar application.  

Ecosystem, Openness, and CU Build

Jack Henry emphasizes openness and collaboration within the fintech ecosystem, Ammon pointed out, noting the jackhenry.dev portal where fintechs can access APIs, sandboxes, and support. This openness is also showcased at events like CU Build. “BU Build for us is really about showcasing the power of the openness of the system... And then the creativity of our customers as well,” Ammon said. She views it as an opportunity to “see innovation happening live” and demonstrate the strength of the entire ecosystem, including partners.

Cybersecurity and Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Ammon stressed the critical role of cybersecurity. “Cybersecurity is going to be increasingly important. It doesn’t matter whether you are on-prem, hosted public cloud, private cloud – doesn’t matter,” she warned. With cybersecurity experts both scarce and expensive, she noted a rise in credit unions using virtual or fractional information security officers. This is crucial as attackers increasingly target credit unions. “It’s paramount that credit unions are really taking a strong stance in making sure that they are secure,” Ammon urged.

Ammon sees the current period as one of significant change. “We are living through ecosystem disruption right now... where the internet was to the world decades ago is where AI is to us right now,” she reflected. She anticipates dramatic changes in how business is done and the pace of innovation over the next five to 10 years. The focus on data modernization is key to enabling this future: “Better data means better innovation,” she concluded.