Have you had a chance to look through what’s ahead at FinovateFall next week? Between the live demos, keynotes, stream discussions, and summit sessions, there will be a lot of content coming your way.

The event will take place on September 24 through 26 in New York (tickets are still available). During the first two days, 80 companies will take the stage to show off their newest technologies, live in front of an audience of financial professionals. The final day we’ll host industry analysts and experts to share their knowledge of key trends, as well as hold panel discussions regarding the grittiest topics in banking.

Behind this grit are the individual trends we’ll see at this year’s event. Check out the word cloud below that depicts the biggest driving forces of new fintech in 2018:

AI

It’s not a surprise to see AI come out on top as one of the biggest themes at this year’s FinovateFall. The enabling technology is pervasive throughout fintech, making shifts in security, investing, customer relationship management, sales, and marketing. In next week’s demos, we’ll see where and how AI is being used in fintech and learn how you can leverage this powerful technology.

Data

In financial services, it’s data or die. No matter what sector of fintech you’re in, if you haven’t started leveraging your data yet, you’re behind the competition. Data is increasingly critical in credit scoring and risk underwriting for loans, personalization of banking services, analytics marketing, investing, and security. Unlocking the value of data requires not only access to large sets of consumer data but also a way to sift through and organize the data, making it useful for analysis. Next week, not a demo will go by that doesn’t use data in some way. It’s up to you to decide which use case is most valuable for your institution.

Compliance

Compliance isn’t sexy; in fact, most firms simply see it as an obligation and a stumbling block. But who says compliance can’t be fun? Many fintechs are using enabling technologies such as the blockchain and AI to create efficiencies, and some are even using gamification to boost active participation during training exercises. We’ll host a number of companies demoing compliance tools that make regulation seem more exciting than ever.

Customer engagement

There are more tools than ever to help financial services companies gain consumer interest in their products and services. From marketing campaign personalization to predictive analytics that anticipate consumers’ needs, these revenue-boosting technologies are worth implementing. We’ll host multiple demos next week that showcase the latest tools to help your organization boost sales numbers.

What are you hoping to discover at FinovateFall next week? Check out the agenda to learn more of what’s in store. Have questions? Visit our contact page to get in touch and we’ll help you out.

Finovate has curated an additional summit day that will take place the day after FinovateFall on September 27. The exclusive summit day kicks off at 8am and will focus on two of the technologies that are driving fintech innovation forward in the 21st century: Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology. Be sure to register if you’re interested in taking part in these conversations.

Here we’ll preview the Blockchain Technology track.

B is for Blockchain Technology

Our blockchain discussion kicks off with a keynote address from Daniel Gorfine, Director of LabCFTC and Chief Innovation Officer at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Formerly VP for External Affairs and Associate General Counsel with OnDeck, Gorfine will also participate in our Wednesday panel discussion, Demystifying the Myth: Separating the Blockchain Hype from the Reality – The Good, the Bad, and the Future of Money Supply.

Gorfine made headlines earlier this year when he warned against “hasty regulatory pronouncements” during Congressional testimony before the House Committee on Agriculture. He said:

Indeed, while some may seek the immediate establishment of bright lines, the reality is that hasty regulatory pronouncements are likely to miss the mark, have unintended consequences, or fail to capture important nuance regarding the structure of new products or models.

Finding the balance between regulation and innovation where new technologies like the blockchain are concerned will be a theme our speakers will likely address more than once during our Blockchain track.

As befits a topic as controversial as blockchain technology, our Blockchain summit day also will include a trio of debates and a real applications showcase to introduce interesting use cases involving the blockchain and distributed ledger technology. Our first conversation of the day is a C-Suite Debate moderated by Trustology’s Head of Operations, Boris Spremo, that will consider the ways financial services companies have leveraged distributed ledger technologies to cut costs and improve efficiency. The debate will feature Ian Putter of Standard Bank Group, Joyce Shen of UC Berkeley, Ron Quaranta of Wall Street Blockchain Alliance, and Helen Altshuler of Google/SafeChain.

We will also examine the role of blockchain technology in the enterprise. Our debate, Running Blockchain Projects by Banks, Insurance and Investment Firms, provides a “from the boardroom perspective” on how to make enterprise blockchain projects a success. Hosted by Evolve Capital Partners’ Alex Koles, this debate features Banca Mediolanum’s Demetrio Migliorati, Vanguard’s John Evans, Northern Trust’s Arijit Das, Prudential’s Anindya Sengupta, and Tata Consultancy Services’ Gomathy Subramanian.

Our third debate of the Blockchain Technology summit reviews the role of fintechs in advancing blockchain technology. Fintechs as Enablers of Change: Collaboration and Partnership – How to Do it Right? will feature Goldmoney’s Roy Sebag, Yang Ventures’ David Friedman, and UC Berkeley’s Joyce Shen examining ways that FIs and fintechs can build relationships that are beneficial to both parties. Moderated by Peter Sexton of the International Trade Administration, this discussion will include real world examples and examine journeys taken by financial firms.

We will also take a specific look at cryptocurrencies. Our In the Spotlight panel, moderated by Morgan Polotan of Genacast Ventures, will consider the status of cryptocurrencies as an alternative financial asset, review the rise of ICOs and the current landscape for initial coin offerings, as well as discuss tokenization and token business models. Our panelists for this conversation are Jeff Koyen of 360 Blockchain USA, Rob Nance of CityBlock Capital, Raphael Ouzan of Thrive Capital, and Ron Quaranta of Wall Street Blockchain Alliance.

Our afternoon sessions will focus on successful use cases of blockchain technology. Arijit Das, SVP for FinTech Solutions and Enterprise Messaging at Northern Trust, will discuss leveraging blockchain for private equity fund management. And our real applications showcase will feature Ian Putter of Standard Bank Group, Helen Altshuler of Google/SafeChain, and Finhaven’s Dohyung “DH” Kim looking at identity management, payments, smart contracts and other business operations and processes where blockchain technology can and is being deployed.

Already registered for the main 3-day FinovateFall event but would like to add on the summit for the discounted rate? Please reach out to customer services at register@knect365.com or +1 (888) 670-8200 to activate the discount. 

Finovate has curated an additional summit day that will take place the day after FinovateFall on September 27. The exclusive summit day kicks off at 8am and will focus on two of the technologies that are driving fintech innovation forward in the 21st century: Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology. Be sure to register if you’re interested in taking part in these conversations.

Here we’ll preview the Artificial Intelligence track.

A is for Artificial Intelligence

Our Artificial Intelligence Fintech Summit will begin with Wells Fargo & Company’s Brad Stewart who is SVP for the bank’s Artificial Intelligence Enterprise Solutions group. Analysts believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a major role in financial services and commerce, driving greater personalization, efficiency, and security. Wells Fargo CEO and President Tim Sloan highlighted the potential for AI to transform banking by comparing it with events from his own 30-year experience in the industry:

I remember starting out as a retail banker when the first ATM was delivered to our branch! The ATM was revolutionary because it provided customers with a different way to do business with us. But innovation in financial services isn’t about delivering the latest technology. It’s about providing customers with better information in the moment, so they can make better decisions.

With Tata Consultancy Services estimating that people will manage 85% of business relationships without human interaction by 2020, AI will help shape the future of fintech. In his keynote address, Driving Organizational Transformation with AI, Stewart will look at the impact of artificial intelligence in financial services, providing a context for the expectations we should have when it comes to dealing with this new and evolving technology. Similar themes will be addressed by Optimove CEO and Founder Pini Yakuel during his midday discussion on How Science Builds Relationships.

Our AI track will also feature case studies that help us understand how banks are putting AI to work. Chief Analytics Officer for Commonwealth Bank of Australia Emil Matsakh will lead a discussion titled Mastering Adoption of Advanced Analytics and AI, that will look at the challenges of integrating AI in the enterprise. Jake Tyler, founder and CEO of Finn.AI, and Sumit Sarkar, head of Customer Experience & Strategy for Personal Banking at BMO will talk about the launch of BMO’s conversational AI solution, BMO Bolt, and share key metrics and early results.

A third opportunity to hear about AI in action comes in our real applications showcase. This conversation will feature data scientists and technical architects Hari Ramamurthy of Kuflink, Agnes Tourin of New York University, Jeffrey Yau of AllianceBerstein, Julia Romero of Haven Life, and ShanShan Li of Mass Mutual, who will share their experiences with and insights into AI’s business applications.

We’ll also get to hear a few fightin’ words where AI is concerned. A series of debates scheduled throughout the day will provide some lively and spirited conversation about some of the more controversial aspects of artificial intelligence. Sears Merritt, VP & Chief Data Scientist for MassMutual, and Katie Meyers, SVP & Chief Data Scientist for Farmers Insurance, will debate the latest data management strategies for successful AI.

Neeraj Arora, Global Head of Decision Science and Data Automation, Personal Insurance, AIG will moderate a debate how fintechs and corporates can build a productive partnership in AI. Participating in this conversation will be Veronica Osinksi, Founding Managing Partner, Trifecta Capital; Max Chee, Head of Aquiline Technology Growth, Aquiline Capital Partners; and Dan Dall’Asta, Partner, Route 66 Ventures.

Ellen Carney, Principal at Forrester Research, will sit down with Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at HCSC, Imir Arifi, to discuss how to build a “foundation for success” when it comes to introducing robotics into financial services and AI.

This track will also feature a roundtable on how to use AI to add value to the customer experience. This session features Beyond the Arc’s Steven Ramirez, Swiss Re Management Corporation’s Jerry Gupta, Wells Fargo’s Ryan Miller, USAA’s Darrius Jones, Celent’s Daniel Latimore, and Ally Financial’s Aravind Rajasekaran.

Already registered for the main 3-day FinovateFall event but would like to add on the summit for the discounted rate? Please reach out to customer services at register@knect365.com or +1 (888) 670-8200 to activate the discount.