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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
This year, FinovateSpring will feature a trio of Executive Briefings offering insights into key topics in fintech and financial services.
Featuring panels of industry professionals and moderated by veteran analysts and entrepreneurs, FinovateSpring’s Executive Briefings are an excellent opportunity for attendees to participate in deep-dives and extended discussions on specific issues—and take away significant insights and strategies for action.
Tickets for FinovateSpring are still available. Visit our registration hub today and save your seat!
Wednesday morning, FinovateSpring will host its Women in Fintech Executive Briefing. Titled “How we can solve fintech’s gender diversity problem,” this session will look at the current state of gender diversity in fintech and offer insights into strategies to ensure greater participation by women in financial services and foster female leadership in the industry.
Moderated by Liang Zhao, CEO and Founder of Vansary, this session will feature:
This session will examine the challenges faced by the unbanked and review ways that banks and other financial institutions can help more individuals and small businesses improve their financial wellness by establishing a positive banking relationship.
Moderated by Jim Perry, Senior Strategist, Market Insights, this session will feature:
Priscilla O-lyari, Regional Marketing and Communications Outreach Officer, FACE Coalition
In this briefing, panelists will discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by community banks in America today, and where these key financial institutions should turn in terms of growing their customer bases, introducing new technologies, and competing with larger rivals in finance and even Big Tech.
Moderated by Jason Henricks, CEO, Alloy Labs, this panel will feature:
Pam Kaur, Head of Bank Technology, BankTech Ventures
Adam Turmakhan, CEO and Chief Operating Officer, TurmaFinTech
Steve Bishop, President and Co-Founder, amBaaSsador
AI is reshaping not just products but the very way product teams operate. To explore how the rise of AI is changing the role of the product manager, we sat down with Senior Tech Product Lead Bhoomika Ghosh. to get a better idea of the necessary balance between data and human intuition, and what ethical leadership looks like in the AI era.
A passionate technologist with a background spanning engineering, consulting, and product management, Ghosh has led product innovation at the intersection of AI/ML and customer experience. Her fascination with technology’s ability to solve human challenges began early in her career, wherein as an undergraduate, she developed an application that transformed 2D MRI slices into 3D models, helping doctors accurately identify tumor locations and volumes. This early venture sparked Ghosh’s passion for building technology that creates meaningful impact efficiently, and at scale.
We’re thrilled to feature her insights ahead of her appearance at FinovateSpring, where she will speak on the panel exploring gender diversity and responsible AI leadership.
AI is changing how products are built, but how is it changing how product managers operate?
Bhoomika Ghosh: The evolution of product management in this AI era has been nothing short of transformative. While our north star as a product manager (PM) remains unchanged—i.e., solving customer problems and delivering utmost value to customers—what has shifted is how we navigate towards that vision with AI. I see two dimensions of AI transformation within the product management space: first, we see a rise in product managers who leverage AI as a productivity accelerator. Tools like Bolt and Cursor are revolutionizing our prototyping capabilities, reducing prototype development cycles from weeks to mere hours, and initial design times by 35%. This efficiency gain allows PMs to invest more time in understanding deeper emotional user needs and ensuring our products create genuine value. Second, we see AI-enhanced PMs, who are using AI to fundamentally transform customer experiences in ways we never imagined. For example, Microsoft’s 365 Copilot leverages AI to revolutionize customer service interactions, which resulted in a 40% reduction in resolution time through AI-powered insights and recommendations. Looking ahead, I see AI enhancing our ability to make better quality and higher quantity decisions faster and evolve with customers in real time to deliver what matters the most to them.
What role does human intuition play in AI product management?
Ghosh: In today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape, AI adoption has surged from 33% to 65% in just the past year—making the role of human intuition in product management more crucial than ever. While AI excels at processing vast amounts of data and automating routine tasks, our uniquely human capabilities of judgment, critical thinking, and empathy remain irreplaceable. Take the evolution of customer service chatbots, for instance. While AI can handle >50% of routine inquiries, it’s the human product managers who recognize that customers need occasional human intervention for complex emotional situations, leading to hybrid human and AI solutions. This exemplifies what I call the “PM’s AI Trilogy of Responsibility,” where product managers in the AI world are now responsible to safeguard customer trust, ensure scalable efficiency, and measure genuine success beyond just automation metrics. The irony isn’t lost on me that in pursuing “artificial” intelligence, we’ve heightened the importance of “human” intelligence.
Let’s talk leadership. How do you think the rise of AI is reshaping what good leadership looks like in product and technology teams?
Ghosh: In the AI era, product and technical leadership demand a fundamental reimagining of how we guide teams and build products. What’s fascinating is that while 92% of global business leaders report positive ROI from their AI investments, success isn’t purely about technological implementation—it’s about creating an environment where both innovation and ethical considerations flourish. We see that the most successful AI products emerge from teams where leaders have mastered the delicate balance between data-driven decision-making and human empathy. Take Netflix’s AI-powered recommendation system, which generates $1 billion in annual value not just through algorithmic excellence, but through leaders who understood the critical intersection of technical capability and user psychology. This exemplifies how modern tech leadership requires a dual focus: pushing technological boundaries while staying deeply anchored in customer impact and responsible AI practices. As we navigate this transformation, I also see good leadership exuded in a way where teams are taught to watch over their shoulders and think beyond the happy path scenarios. For instance, what happens if AI was to fail? What would be your contingency plans? These tenets will help leaders foster an environment where teams feel empowered to innovate responsibly, ensuring our products genuinely enhance human experiences.
Many industries beyond big tech are leveraging AI. What advice would you give to product teams in a traditional industry like finance who are building their first AI-driven solutions?
Ghosh: The financial sector’s AI transformation offers powerful lessons for product teams embarking on their AI journey. While our brains might be the most sophisticated decision-making system, AI serves as a powerful amplifier of human capabilities, particularly in areas like fraud detection, personalized banking experiences, and risk assessment. In my experience, the key to approaching AI implementation is to solve specific customer pain points, and not solely use it as a technological showcase or a competitive advantage. I suggest AI implementation using a three-pronged approach. First, start with well-defined, high-impact use cases where AI can demonstrably improve customer experience rather than implementing AI for its own sake. Second, build cross-functional teams that blend domain expertise with AI capabilities. For instance, when developing AI-powered fraud detection systems, its combination with financial security expertise and machine learning capabilities enables real-time transaction monitoring and anomaly detection, protecting both customers and institutional integrity. Finally, and most crucially, establish robust feedback loops with your customers early in the development process. I often challenge teams to consider, “How would this feature feel to a user having their worst day?” This perspective is particularly vital in finance, where AI decisions can significantly impact people’s lives. I’ve seen the most successful AI adoption use cases aren’t simply using the technology, but rather building trust through it using transparent, ethical, and user-centric solutions.
Finally, what aspect of FinovateSpring are you most looking forward to?
Ghosh: I’m particularly excited about participating in the gender diversity panel at FinovateSpring, where we’ll explore the crucial intersection of diverse leadership and responsible AI development across industries. As a woman leader in tech, I advocate that diverse voices in product development aren’t just about equity or quotas, but rather about building better, more comprehensive solutions that serve entire customer bases. Beyond the panel, I’m looking forward to engaging with fellow industry leaders about responsible AI implementation in fintech. As we see AI adoption in financial services growing at an unprecedented rate, the conversations around ethical AI development and secure deployment become increasingly critical. I’m eager to both share insights from successful AI implementations I’ve seen and learn from other organizations’ experiences in navigating this complex landscape.
Don’t miss your chance to hear Bhoomika Ghosh, along with a wide range of other thought leaders and experts, on the FinovateSpring stage next month on May 7 through 9. Tickets are now available!
April is Financial Literacy Month. While we are all getting an education in trade policy these days, making sure we’re up to speed when it comes to financial wellness is just as important.
With that in mind—and with FinovateSpring less than one month away (May 7 – 9)—we wanted to highlight those demoing companies that have financial literacy and inclusion at the heart of their mission.
CoHome
Based in San Francisco and founded in 2025, CoHome offers a real estate co-ownership marketplace and management app that makes owning property more accessible for college students and their parents, reducing rent to zero.
How they support financial literacy: CoHome introduces parents to the concept of co-investing in student housing for their child.
Express Wages
Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Express Wages offers Earned Wage Access (EWA) services to enable employees to receive some or all of their wages as they earn them.
How Express Wages supports financial literacy: Express Wages features a Financial Literacy blog on its website with articles and guides on budget-making, saving for a first home, and strategies to pay back student loans.
Kaian
Los Angeles, California-based Kaian provides a billpay support system that ensures that credit union members never have to worry about missing a payment due to temporary cash flow issues. The company was founded in 2022.
How Kaian supports financial literacy: Kaian’s AI-powered assistance provides personalized, on-demand financial guidance, including insights on budgeting, saving, and long-term financial planning.
Penny Finance
Founded in 2020 and based in Boston, Massachusetts, Penny Finance describes its mission as “closing the wealth gap.” The company offers an online financial planning engagement engine for credit unions and small banks.
How Penny Finance supports financial literacy: Penny Finance provides tailored education, resources, and perks to credit union members and customers of small banks.
Supermoney
Headquartered in Santa Ana, California and founded in 2013, SuperMoney offers a comprehensive financial services comparison website providing recommendations on products from personal loans and savings accounts to tax preparation firms and brokerages.
How SuperMoney supports financial literacy: SuperMoney offers financial tools and resources—as well as industry studies—to help individuals make better financial decisions.
Credit unions are entering a new era, fueled by a combination of necessity, opportunity, and partnership. As the pace of the digital world accelerates, these community-focused organizations have increased their willingness to lean in and adopt new technologies. They are no longer simply seeking to compete with banks, but they are instead seeking to deliver the personalized, community-driven service that has always differentiated them. New fintech partnerships are helping credit unions modernize operations, meet rising member expectations, and stay resilient in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.
This collaborative approach isn’t new to credit unions, rather, it’s part of their DNA. “Credit Unions have always been collaborators,” said Ami Iceman Haueter, Chief Research and Digital Experience Officer at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. “We’ve had to be creative and scrappy to stay relevant and competitive in a crowded market. Fintech partners are a natural fit for this collaboration. Many allow us to personalize our service or products to our members and create a custom mix of solutions to go all in for our members. That’s what we do best. Having partners that are equally committed to that vision is invaluable. It’s what will carry us forward as an industry allowing us to continue showing up for our communities.”
The environment today is ripe for credit unions to take full advantage of this collaborative mindset. The combination of heightened member expectations, accessible new technologies, and a fintech community eager to partner has created a unique moment of opportunity. Below, we’ve highlighted four key reasons why credit unions have become some of the most active adopters of fintech innovation.
Tech integration is now compulsory
Credit unions now have to engage because involvement in certain technologies has become table stakes in the banking world. Over the past few years, the baseline expectations for banking services have shifted dramatically. Real-time payments, mobile-first experiences, and frictionless, digital onboarding are no longer differentiators, they’re requirements. If credit unions want to remain competitive and retain younger members, they must adopt similar digital tools that big banks and fintechs have. In 2025, falling behind on technology isn’t just a risk to growth; it’s a risk to survival.
More credit union-specific fintechs
The fintech ecosystem has matured immensely since the first bank launched online in 1994. Today, many providers are now creating solutions designed specifically for the unique needs of credit unions. From specialized digital lending platforms to member-centric financial wellness tools, fintechs are recognizing credit unions as an important, underserved market. This tailored approach makes partnerships more attractive and accessible, helping credit unions stay up-to-date on the latest tech trends.
Embedded finance is the ultimate enabling force
Embedded finance has made it easier for credit unions to leverage third-party technologies without needing in-house technical expertise. Gone are the days when integrating new technology required a complete overhaul of a credit union’s core system. Today’s embedded banking models allow credit unions to “plug and play” fintech solutions into their existing infrastructure. Because of this, these smaller players can offer services like buy-now-pay-later, upgrade their digital account opening workflows, or launch a new mobile app with a fresh look. Overall, embedded solutions allow credit unions to deliver tech-forward experiences without the burden of in-house development.
Regulatory clarity has eased pressure
Regulatory clarity and eased regulatory scrutiny has reduced barriers to forming partnerships with fintechs. As regulators have become more familiar with fintech partnerships, clearer guidelines and frameworks have emerged to support innovation in the credit union space. New charters, sandbox programs, and cooperative frameworks help credit unions explore partnerships more confidently. With better guidance in place, credit unions can engage with fintechs without facing the regulatory uncertainty that once made these partnerships seem too risky.
All of these aspects, and more, will be on full display at FinovateSpring, which takes place May 7 through 9 in San Diego.
If you’re attending next month’s event, don’t miss a special session designed exclusively for your credit union. TheCredit Union Spotlight: Closed Door Session will take place on Wednesday, May 7, from 3:20 to 4:50, and will offer the opportunity to meet companies that are building technology specifically for the credit union ecosystem. Each company will provide a short introduction, followed by roundtable discussions where you can dive deeper into their solutions. If you’re interested in joining, please email [email protected]. Please note that space is limited and subject to approval.
This year’s FinovateSpring conference in San Diego (May 7 through May 9) will feature six separate streams that will enable attendees to participate in deep-dives and extended conversations about some of the most dynamic areas of fintech and financial services.
From AI, customer experience, and open banking to innovations in lending and payments, our stream sessions will help professionals in fintech and financial services take better advantage of the trends that are driving innovation in our industry.
Tickets for FinovateSpring are available now! Visit our registration page today and take advantage of early-bird savings!
Artificial Intelligence
This stream will feature a fireside chat on the real use cases for AI in banking and financial services. Theodora Lau of Unconventional Ventures and Arvind Ayyala of Geodesic Investments will discuss how smart players are using AI to solve real pain points for their businesses and their customers.
This stream will also feature a Power Panel on how financial institutions can better leverage generative AI. This panel, moderated by Lau, will include insights from Chad Smith of Better.com, Alisa Rusanoff of Crescendo Asset Management, and Tamara Zaichkowsky of Acrisure.
Customer Experience
The Customer Experience stream will include a keynote address from Sean Albertson, Founder and CEO of CX4ROCKS on the battle for customer trust and ways that banks can make every department responsible for customer experience. The Customer Experience stream will also feature a Special Address from Kyle Mack, CEO and Co-Founder, Middesk.
The Customer Experience Power Panel will examine how financial institutions can deliver outstanding omni-channel CX and move away from a siloed approach to blend human and digital CX. This panel will include Kaushal Pandia of U.S. Bank and Glenn Borok of Jump Capital. Beyond the Arc CEO Steven Ramirez will moderate.
Future Banking
The Future Banking stream will feature a keynote address from Tiffani Montez, Principal Analyst, Insider Intelligence, on “The Bank of 2030: How to move from a product-centric design to life-stage banking and compete with big tech companies that are already experience-led.”
Shining a spotlight on the issue of bank modernization, this Power Panel will examine how banks can modernize their tech estates to be fit for the digital future. The panelists will discuss the key questions—and answers—around technology, cloud, business and operational models, risk, talent, and culture. Moderated by JT Thykattil, VP & Research Director, Forrester Research, the panel will include Aditya Vikram Singh of Capital One and Katie Quilligan of BankTech Ventures.
Future Lending
The Future Lending stream will include a keynote address on capturing the opportunity of SME lending and how financial institutions can successfully engage this market.
The Future Lending stream will also feature a Power Panel on the rise of embedded lending. The panelists will discuss how embedded lending is moving beyond Buy Now, Pay Later and discuss ways financial institutions can participate in the growing ecommerce trend. The panel will include Diksha Gera of Bloomberg Intelligence, Ibrahim Al Suwaidi of DCM, Jamie Twiss of Beforepay, and Rob Seidman of U.S. Bank Avvance.
Future Payments
The Future Payments stream will include a keynote address from Lindsay Lehr, Managing Director, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI), titled, “Are Real-Time Payments Ready to Take Off?” Lehr’s address will answer the question “is faster always better?” and look at the challenges involved when building products on top of RTP and FedNow rails.
The Future Payments stream will also feature a Special Address: “Navigating Regulation Uncertainty While Gearing Up for Growth.” Patrick Dix, Vice President, Client & Association Engagement, SHAZAM, will share his insights on this topic and the importance of “picking the right payments partner.”
Moderated by Rutger van Faassen of InformationBanker, the Future Payments Power Panel will discuss how new technologies, new competitors, new business models, and embedded payments will shape the future of the payments market. Sharing their insights will be Ipsita Basu of Shopify, Jim Colassano of The Clearing House, and June Yuan of Wise Platform.
Open Banking
Our Open Banking stream features a keynote address on the future of open banking, a deep dive into Rule 1033, and a look at how open data will impact the US banking industry.
The Open Banking stream will also include a Power Panel on compelling use cases for open banking in the US and what financial institutions in the US can learn from the success of open banking in the rest of the world. Joining the Power Panel will be Nirvikar Jain of Woodside Capital Partners.
Yesterday, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) to modernize the U.S. payments system by phasing out paper checks. The EO mandates that the Federal government will stop issuing paper checks for all disbursements starting September 30, 2025.
The EO, which is targeting waste, fraud, and abuse, will offer both banks and fintechs opportunities and challenges as they seek to bring digital banking to underbanked consumers who need to send payments to and receive payments from the federal government.
So as you begin your second quarter planning initiatives, here are a few things you’ll need to know about this week’s Executive Order.
Real time payments become solidified
Banks’ adoption of FedNow and The Clearing House’s RTP is increasing, and so are consumer expectations for faster fund transfers. This week’s EO stipulates the move to “fast, electronic payments,” which will change the expectations of even underbanked and elderly populations that rely on government monetary benefits.
Heightened emphasis on payment security and fraud prevention
The Fact Sheet detailing the EO specifically cites security and fraud prevention as major reasons for modernizing US payments. “President Trump is cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse in government by modernizing outdated paper-based payment systems that impose unnecessary costs, delays, and security risks,” the Fact Sheet said. The move will ultimately bring stricter standards to government payments and will help foster consumer trust.
A shift toward digital identity verification
As payments digitize, reliable identity verification methods will become increasingly crucial. While bringing payments into the digital space will help boost KYC and AML verifications, it will also offer opportunities for fraudsters to create new scams. As an example, non-digitally native consumers may be more likely to fall victim to phishing attacks that they perceive to be payments from the federal government.
Not everyone is required to make the change
The EO states that exceptions will be made for people without banking or electronic payment access, in specific emergency payments cases, for certain law enforcement activities, and for other special cases that qualify for an exception.
Consumer awareness is key
The EO explains that, prior to the September 30 deadline, the government will initiate a comprehensive public awareness campaign to inform federal payment recipients of the shift to electronic payments. Banks should work alongside these campaigns with public awareness initiatives of their own to offer guidance on setting up digital payments and mitigating fraud.
Overall, this new EO represents a significant opportunity for banks and fintechs. By accelerating the shift to digital payments, the EO underscores the value of digital-first strategies and positions banks in a great place to attract new customers who previously relied on paper checks.
Banks and fintech companies that proactively support consumers during this transition—through seamless onboarding, education, fraud prevention, and robust digital identity verification—can strengthen their market position, deepen customer relationships, and foster long-term trust. Ultimately, the shift away from paper checks will reinforce existing efforts toward financial inclusion, drive consumer adoption of digital tools, and encourage innovation across the payments landscape.
Earlier this week, we highlighted some of the women who will be introducing their companies to Finovate audiences via the demo stage at FinovateSpring 2025 in San Diego, May 7 through 9.
Today, as part of our continued Women’s History Month commemoration, we feature the “content” side of Finovate conferences by showcasing the women who will be discussing and interpreting many of the trends and technologies that are shaping fintech today.
Ipsita Basu
Product Management Leader, Shopify
Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Shopify is an international commerce company that provides tools to enable entrepreneurs to start, grow, manage, and market a retail business of any size. The company powers millions of businesses in more than 175 countries.
Behavioral scientist and Managing Director, Irrational Labs
Irrational Labs leverages behavioral science to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. The company applies behavioral economics findings to product, marketing, and organizational design problems. Through environment design and thoughtful interventions, Irrational Labs improves decision-making for both companies and their customers.
SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, Valley Strong Credit Union
With more than 350,000 members, Bakersfield, California-based Valley Strong Credit Union offers checking and savings accounts, credit cards, personal and auto loans, mortgage and home loans, investing and retirement services, and more.
Headquartered in London, Wise provides currency management and exchange solutions that enable individuals and businesses to hold more than 40 currencies, move money between countries, and spend money abroad. Launched in 2011 as “TransferWise,” the company serves 16 million people and businesses around the world.
Culture Fluid is a monthly newsletter, published on LinkedIn, that offers “a new way to think in a post-AI world.” Recent newsletter topics include “What is Creativity in an AI Age?” “DeepSeek: Searching for Answers in the Depth of the US-China AI War,” and “The Agentic Future and How it Will Change Work.”
Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) provides independent perspectives, interactive data, and research across a variety of industries and international markets. The BI team features 400 research professionals who help clients make more informed decisions in an ever-shifting investment landscape.
A paid subscription service of Amazon, Amazon Prime gives users access to a range of additional services including one- or two-day goods delivery; streaming music, video, e-books, gaming, grocery shopping services, and more. The company has more than 200 million subscribers around the world.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, TTV Capital invests in fintechs that serve the diverse needs of businesses in financial services as well as the consumers of financial products. With more than 100 years of venture capital and relevant industry operating expertise, TTV creates value for entrepreneurs and investors, helping them grow and succeed.
Chief Research and Digital Experience Officer, MSU Federal Credit Union
MSU Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) was founded in 1937 in order to help its members secure financial success and stability during challenging economic times. MSUFCU has 23 locations including five in Oakland County, one in downtown Detroit, two in Grand Rapids, and two in Traverse City.
Built by community bankers to help community banks innovate, evolve, and thrive, BankTech Ventures is a strategic investment founded in 2021. Based in Costa Mesa, California, BankTech Ventures seeks to generate both strategic value and financial returns for their investors. The fund sources, vets, invests in, and introduces bank-enabling technology solutions to boost the competitive positions of its community bank partners.
Innovator, Technologist, and Connector, Unconventional Ventures
Unconventional Ventures provides boutique consulting services to drive innovation that enhances financial wellness. The firm connects founders to funders, provides mentorship to entrepreneurs, advises a broad range of corporates, and helps broaden opportunities for diversity with financial services. Unconventional Ventures works with banking clients, fintech startups, and technology firms alike
Managing Director, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI)
Based in San Francisco, California and founded in 2022, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) works with payment and technology companies from around the world to help them make strategic decisions in emerging markets through research, data analysis, and innovative thinking. PCMI is a subsidiary of Latin America-based market intelligence company Americas Market Intelligence (AMI).
Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869. A leading global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm, Goldman Sachs offers a range of financial services including investment banking, securities trading, asset management, and wealth management to corporates, governments, financial institutions, and individuals.
A digital bank serving small businesses, startups, and investors in the innovation economy, Grasshopper Bank offers digital solutions for small businesses, venture-backed firms, fintech-based Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and commercial API banking platforms, as well as both SBA and commercial real estate lending. Founded in 2019, Grasshopper Bank is based in New York.
U.S. Bank is the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. The firm offers a diversified mix of businesses, including commercial and institutional banking, business banking, payments, wealth management, and consumer banking. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Finovate conferences showcase cutting-edge banking and financial technology through a unique combination of live, short-form technology demonstrations and mainstage presentations from thought leaders and analysts in fintech and financial services.
Head of Embedded Payments, SVB, a Division of First Citizens Bank
SVB, a Division of First Citizens Bank, is known for its role in supporting innovative companies, entrepreneurs, and investors. More than 70% of cyber companies featured on the Fortune Cyber 60 list are SVB clients as are 50% of all US VC-backed technology companies with 2024 IPOs.
Curinos was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in New York. The firm leverages AI-based decisioning tools, predictive analytics, and science-based platforms to enable clients to spot emerging opportunities that lead to better decision-making and enduring performance gains.
Head of Credit / Trade Finance, Crescendo Asset Management
Crescendo Asset Management offers a trade finance strategy focused on supply chain finance, embedded finance, accounts receivable purchasing, structured trade and other trade finance structured products that support the SME (small and mid-sized enterprise) market in the US as well as around the world.
SVP, Chief Retail Officer, Valley Strong Credit Union
Headquartered in Bakersfield, California and founded in 1938, Valley Strong Credit Union serves its community with extensive loan programs—including home and auto—as well as the latest in digital technology, retirement and wealth management services.
Headquartered in San Diego, California, Symphonic Capital is a pre-seed venture capital fund. Led by veteran pre-seed investors and operators, the fund bets on founders at their earliest stages and matches them with the tools, guidance, and capital they need in order to succeed.
Founded in 2011 and known as “TransferWise” when it made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2013 in London, Wise today facilitates the movement of $37 billion (£30 billion) across borders each quarter. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker WISE, and has a market capitalization of $11.5 billion.
At Finovate conferences, our special track sessions give attendees an opportunity to dive deep into specific industries and themes within fintech. Via keynote addresses, fireside chats, and power panels, our Finovate tracks provide time for more extended analysis, discussion, and even debate about key developments in fintech and financial services.
This year at FinovateEurope, we held five separate tracks covering AI, payments, lending, customer experience, and banking, risk, and regulation. Below are our summaries, reviews, and key takeaways from the presentations in each of those tracks.
Julie Muhn, Senior Research Analyst, Finovate
Customer Experience
During the Customer Experience Track, Taner Akcok’s keynote address titled “Enabling Hyper-Personalization” emphasized that today’s financial institutions must go beyond transactional relationships to deliver deeply personalized, always-on experiences that meet the high expectations set by big tech companies. Achieving this level of personalization requires an API-first strategy, where data, modern technology platforms, and advanced APIs combine to enable real-time, tailored customer interactions. Crucially, financial institutions no longer need to be the primary channel through which products and services are offered. Instead, banks can embed themselves within broader business management ecosystems, using customer data from procurement systems, accounting platforms, and other third-party tools to power proactive financial insights, such as tax preparation assistance or financial health recommendations. Ultimately, Akcok noted, this shift moves banks from product providers to intelligent financial assistants, delivering insights and solutions based on life events and real-time business needs.
Moderated by Anette Broløs, Director and Co-Founder of Finthropology, the customer experience panel explored the customer experience revolution. Panelists stressed the importance of proactive engagement, where banks anticipate customer needs based on behavior, data, and life events—rather than reacting to requests. Banks need to balance deep personalization with ethical data usage, ensuring they treat each customer as an individual while considering accessibility and usability for users at all experience levels. The panel also highlighted the dangers of building overly complex feature sets designed for power users, as it is better to tailor experiences for beginners and casual users as well. Ultimately, cross-functional collaboration within financial institutions is critical to delivering these personalized experiences, breaking down internal silos to ensure all departments—from product teams to customer support—work together to design and deliver cohesive, customer-centric solutions.
Banking, Regulation, and Risk
The Banking, Regulation, & Risk track at FinovateEurope provided a comprehensive overview of the evolving regulatory landscape shaping Europe’s financial sector. In his keynote, Thomas Zink from IDC Financial Insights highlighted how the rapid pace of regulatory change—from DORA and PSD3 to FiDA, eIDAS 2.0, and the Digital Markets Act (DMA)—is placing an immense compliance burden on European financial institutions, which may put them at a competitive disadvantage compared to international peers. While PSD3 aims to simplify the payments ecosystem by merging payments and e-money rules, it also references DORA for operational resilience, GDPR for data protection, and introduces new obligations for third-party risk management and incident reporting. Meanwhile, FiDA will broaden open finance obligations, and eIDAS 2.0 will introduce a pan-European digital wallet for seamless identification, onboarding, and trust services across the EU. These changes promise greater transparency and interoperability but raise concerns about security, implementation complexity, and long-term regulatory fatigue.
The panel discussion, which was moderated by Omdia Principal Analyst Philip Benton, expanded on Zink’s discussion of regulatory challenges, particularly focusing on DORA and digital identity frameworks. Panelists stressed that while DORA’s direct applicability is limited to the EU, similar resilience and outsourcing requirements are already emerging in the UK, with the FCA increasingly focused on third-party oversight and ensuring financial institutions have robust contingency plans for operational failures. The panel also addressed the growing role of AI in risk management, emphasizing the importance of explainability. If firms can clearly explain to regulators how their AI works, it is a strong indicator they understand it themselves. Effective vendor management was another hot topic, with panelists warning against excessively long infrastructure contracts that make timely upgrades difficult, potentially exposing firms to operational and cybersecurity risks. Ultimately, the track underscored that collaboration, transparency, and proactive risk management—both internally and with third-party partners—will be critical to navigating Europe’s increasingly complex regulatory environment.
Theodora Lau, Author, Analyst, Podcaster, Founder of Unconventional Ventures
Artificial Intelligence
It’s been over 820 days since November 30, 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT, and the world has never been the same. According to OpenAI, ChatGPT has amassed more than 400 million weekly active users, up 30% in the last couple of months. Of course, we all know that AI is more than just generative AI. As a technology, AI has been around since the early 1940s, and it has been used in banking and other industries for quite a while. But ChatGPT and the generative AI race that followed have changed the narrative—simply because now this is a tool that we can all use and play with. We can touch and feel it firsthand, and we can do things that we have never done before. One can certainly feel the energy buzzing at FinovateEurope, especially during the extended AI track this year, where we hosted four presentations and two panel discussions. There has been a noticeable shift in conversations from the hallways to the stage, where we have gone from a cautious exploration mode to one where we share learnings and war stories.
We are at an interesting inflection point. While many have high hopes for the technology and promising use cases abound, ranging from customer service, personalization, and fraud management to workflow automation, market analysis, and software development, we must also go in with eyes wide open to potential pitfalls if we are not careful. In their separate keynote addresses, Aurélie L’Hostis from Forrester, along with Nombuso Matsape and Rahul Aggarwal from ICBC Standard Bank, pointed out some of the top hurdles that our industry faces, including skills gaps, ethical and privacy challenges, regulatory pressure, operational complexities, security concerns, and trust. So where can we gain value from AI, and how can we best manage change while accelerating the right adoption, as Rich Wham from Airia rightfully asked?
As the panels suggested, beyond the tech stack readiness and implementation strategies (for example, selecting the right use cases to begin), success will depend on people and culture, as well as business buy-in, where we must focus on generating real value. A good governance and risk management framework is also key. As Sajid Iqbal pointed out afterwards, AI is an F1 car—fast, but useless without brakes. While some might quip that the future of finance is agentic AI, I believe we still have a bit of a way to go.
David Penn, Research Analyst, Finovate
Payments
This session features Claire Simpson, Senior Manager, APP Fraud Policy Lead, Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), discussing the challenge of authorized push payment fraud, along with our Power Panel on the growth of the payments market and opportunities for banks. Participating in our Payments Power Panel were Pragya Jauhari, Senior Product Manager, Fintech, Booking.com; Alexandre Stervinou, Director, Banque De France; Leticia Costa, Executive Director, Cash Management Sales, JP Morgan Payments; and Andrew Stewart, CRO Europe, Thunes. Moderated by Zil Bareisis, Director, Retail Banking & Payments Practice, Celent.
We began the conversation on payments with a discussion on the challenge of fraud, particularly fraud and financial crime like authorized push payment (APP) fraud to which innovations like faster payments are especially vulnerable. In her keynote address, Claire Simpson, Senior Manager, APP Fraud Policy Lead, PSR, explained this vulnerability, the rise of “psychologically based” fraud, and the way this particular type of fraud can erode trust between financial institutions and their customers. Simpson also underscored what entities like PSR have done to help both FIs and consumers better manage the fraud threat—such as advancing solutions like Confirmation of Payee and the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code, which require banks to reimburse customers who are fooled into making fraudulent payments. Simpson noted that it was key for financial institutions on both sides of the fraudulent transaction—the sending and receiving institutions—to have a role to play in making whole customers who have been impacted by APP fraud. That said, her message in large part was that fighting fraud was not simply a task for regulators and banks. Technology companies, including fintechs, help by creating innovations that make it easier for consumers to identify and protect themselves from scams and fraud, as well as solutions that facilitate intelligence sharing between financial institutions about current fraud threats.
Our Payment Power Panel featured a wide-ranging discussion on a $2.85 trillion market that is expected to reach $4.78 trillion by 2029. Moderated by Zil Bareisis, Director, Retail Banking & Payments Practice, Celent, the panel looked at how banks can reimagine payments to take advantage of this sizable growth opportunity. To this end, the panelists reminded attendees that, from the merchants’ point of view, “payments are a way of facilitating a relationship” and, as such, issues of trust and security are just as important as speed. In line with remarks from Simpson’s keynote, the panelists underscored the role of regulations in helping drive innovation and noted that as payments become more ubiquitous via open finance and embedded solutions, it will become all the more important for non-traditional actors participating in the financial services and banking space—such as telcos and platforms— to be covered by the same sort of regulatory umbrella that governs the current players in the payments space. When asked what areas of payments our panelists are most optimistic about for growth, the top areas noted were cross-border payments, embedded finance, and stablecoins—although there was also a great deal of enthusiasm about alternative payment methods (APMs), the rise of domestic payment schemes, and the challenges and opportunities of serving digital nomads and workers in the gig economy.
Lending
This session featured a fireside chat with Joel Perlman, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director, OakNorth; an address on self-driving finance and agentic AI from Varun Ghai, Associate Vice President, NewGen Software; and a Power Panel on BaaS-powered embedded lending featuring Ishtiaq M. Ahmed, Senior Product Manager, Emerging Tech, Innovation & Ventures, HSBC; Joris Hensen, Initiator and Co-Lead Deutsche Bank API Program, Deutsche Bank; Olaf ten Duis, Lead Embedded Lending, Rabobank; and Ram Devanarayanan, Head of Business Consulting, Infosys Finacle Europe. Moderated by Philippa Ushio, Managing Director, Prosek Partners.
Our conversation on lending in financial services began with a fireside chat with OakNorth co-founder Joel Perlman. Perlman highlighted the firm’s work in what he called the “middle-market” of businesses that are typically overlooked by banks and traditional lenders. This issue is especially acute in the UK, Perlman explained, because of the relative dominance of a few major entities that represent as much as 90% of lending to enterprises. This compares to about 25% in the US. Perlman pointed out that lenders often turn away from certain industries as borrowers because of poor results in the past or from a lack of nuance that prevents them from separating the wheat from the chaff. As one example, Perlman noted that a retrenchment from lending in a sector broadly defined as, for example, retail apparel, may prevent lenders from serving worthy borrowers in a subset of that field, such as yoga pants and athletic clothing. To this point, Perlman acknowledged the role of enabling technologies such as machine learning and AI to help lenders make more discerning assessments, but asserted that “precision” and the basics of good lending matter as much “or more.”
Varun Ghai, Associate Vice President, NewGen Software, discussed the role of self-driving finance and agentic AI in reinventing business lending. In his keynote address, Ghai highlighted the role of data science and low-code technology to bring greater speed and efficiency to the business lending process. He explained the challenges in business lending, from its inherent complexity and extensive documentation requirements to both current and emerging regulatory hurdles. In response, fintechs and innovators like NewGen Software deliver technologies that provide end-to-end automation to streamline workflows and reduce manual data entry, as well as AI-driven decision-making to take guesswork out of the process. Furthermore, NewGen leverages a low-code approach that boosts flexibility and helps to lower operational costs by as much as 50%.
The Lending track concluded with a lively Power Panel discussion that examined the current state of BaaS-powered embedded lending. Among the key takeaways of the conversation was the role of APIs, a desire to move “beyond BNPL,” and the growing importance of technologies like AI—especially explainable AI—in helping ensure transparency in the lending process as well as promote customer education. The customer was very much at the center of the panelists’ thinking, noting that customer preferences are dynamic and changing, but that change often comes at a slower pace than financial institutions and fintechs, determined to provide the latest innovations to their customers, often expect. Here, institutions were advised by panelists to focus on helping customers “make the right decisions at the right time” and to fashion their offerings with this goal in mind. Institutions also need to be aware of regional differences that might favor, for example, credit cards over newer embedded lending solutions, and be ready to meet those customers where they are rather than where an institution or a fintech innovator might otherwise expect them to be.
Last week, we introduced you to a handful of special addresses taking place at FinovateEurope 2025, 25-26 February in London at the Intercontinental O2. This week, we’re sharing another four special addresses covering a range of topics from open source innovation and the rise of digital assets to leveraging the cloud and the power of process intelligence.
To learn more about what’s coming at FinovateEurope next week, visit our FinovateEurope hub today. And if you haven’t bought your ticket, there’s no time like the present to register and save your seat.
Supercharging financial services with Open Source & MySQL
Featuring Jim Gallagher (LinkedIn), Oracle MySQL Alliances & Channels Manager for UK and Ireland, this special address will discuss how MySQL powers cutting-edge solutions that drive transformation across financial services. Gallagher will show how open source collaboration is fueling new standards, enhancing security, reducing costs, and accelerating growth.
Founded in 1977 and currently headquartered in Austin, Texas, Oracle is a cloud technology company that provides businesses and organizations with the computing infrastructure and software they need to innovate, boost efficiency, and become more effective. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provides higher performance, security, and cost savings.
Digital assets: Ready for take off
Featuring Nick Kerigan (LinkedIn), Managing Director, Head of Innovation, Swift, this special address will help financial services companies make the most out of the growth in the digital asset market, which is forecast to grow up to $15 trillion by 2030. Kerigan will discuss recent developments in digital assets and currencies worldwide and share insights from Swift’s 2025 live trials that are helping facilitate transaction interchangeability on its network for both current and new forms of value.
A member-owned cooperative, Swift is a leading provider of secure financial messaging services. Swift’s messaging platform, products, and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organizations, market infrastructures, and corporate customers in 200+ countries and territories.
Trends, challenges, and strategic imperatives — is hybrid cloud the way forward for business leaders?
Featuring Waheed Mahmood (LinkedIn), Financial Services Lead, and Matt Armstrong (LinkedIn), Solution Director, Financial Services, with Rackspace Technology, this special address will examine how IT leaders optimize workloads, build resilience, and drive the next wave of digital transformation. The discussion will leverage insights from a Rackspace Technology survey of more than 1,400 global tech leaders on the importance of futureproofing through adaptability and flexibility.
San Antonio, Texas-based Rackspace Technology is an end-to-end, hybrid, multicloud, and AI solutions company. The firm designs, builds, and operates customer cloud environments across all major technology platforms, regardless of both technology stack and deployment model.
Become the adaptive bank – thrive on change with process intelligence
Featuring Joaquim Nogueira (LinkedIn), Industry Principal for Banking, Celonis, this special address will discuss how process intelligence gives companies a living, moving, digital twin of their entire value chain. Nogueira will also explain how, with a decade of process improvement knowledge and AI, process intelligence shows companies where value is hiding, and enables teams and technologies to capture it.
Munich, Germany-based Celonis has helped more than 1,000 of the world’s largest companies realize value across the top, bottom, and green line. The company’s Process Intelligence Platform leverages the data companies already have and use, and presents them with a living digital twin of their end-to-end processes. The platform is system-agnostic, bias-free, and provides all parties with a common language for understanding and enhancing processes.
Is anyone else having difficulty keeping up with all of the changes that have taken place since the new administration took office last month? Over the course of the last 18 days, sweeping shifts have reshaped regulations, agency leadership, and key financial policies— creating both uncertainty and opportunity for businesses navigating this evolving landscape.
While many of these changes will have broad implications for U.S. citizens and organizations operating in the country, I’ve distilled the most significant updates on the White House’s website impacting financial services. Below, I break down the four most critical developments that banks, fintechs, and other financial institutions need to watch closely.
Imposing a regulatory freeze
On January 20, President Trump signed an executive order to halt new rulemaking and review pending regulations across federal agencies. It also calls for the withdrawal of any rules that have been sent to the Office of the Federal Register but not published yet. The administration plans to use the pause to reassess both existing and proposed regulations so that they align with its policy objectives.
For banks and fintechs, this makes it challenging to prepare for future regulatory requirements. It may impact firms’ compliance timelines and will likely confuse financial services companies’ strategic planning efforts.
Strengthening hold on digital assets
On January 23, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.” The order prohibits the establishment of US central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). It also establishes a working group to propose a regulatory framework for digital assets within 180 days and allows individuals and entities to access and use open public blockchain networks.
This may present opportunities for banks and fintechs to engage in the stablecoin economy, especially when it comes to cross-border transactions and digital payments. Additionally, governmental protection of an open blockchain may spark the creation of new blockchain-based products and services.
Removing barriers to AI
Also on January 23, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence that aims to enhance the US’s position in AI. The order removes existing AI policies and directives that are considered barriers to innovation. Within 180 days, officials are tasked with creating a plan to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance.
This emphasis on reducing regulatory barriers may lead to both banks and third party fintechs adopting AI technologies at a faster rate. However, as AI is a double-edged sword, the relaxed regulatory environment may create uncertainty as organizations wait for new guidelines to develop.
Implementing the DOGE workforce optimization initiative
On February 11, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled Implementing The President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative, which intends to streamline the federal workforce and enhance operational efficiency. Controversially, the order gives Elon Musk and his team direct access to data held at the US Treasury Department. As a result, a coalition of more than a dozen US states is planning to file a lawsuit to block access in order to protect the personal data of US citizens.
By reducing staffing at federal agencies that oversee financial institutions, the order may impact the efficiency and thoroughness of regulatory examinations and compliance enforcement. The instability could also cause uncertainty for banks, disrupting strategic planning and compliance efforts.
Other actions
There are two other actions not yet listed on the White House’s official news release page, but each is significant.
Earlier this week, the Associated Press unveiled that the Trump administration ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to suspend all of its activities. Finovate Analyst David Penn reported on the details of the situation, including what the CFPB can still do and who may take over the agency if it continues to exist.
Today, the Wall Street Journal exclusively reported that the Trump administration is also considering folding the FDIC into the Treasury Department. Experts cited that this is unlikely to transpire, however, as Congress is unlikely to pass such a measure. “This idea would pose an enormous risk of terrifying Americans about the safety of their deposits and triggering bank runs,” Former Federal Regulator Patricia McCoy told CNN.
What makes an address “special”? This year at FinovateEurope 2025, the designation is going to speakers addressing an especially wide range of topics — from AI to quantum computing. Some of the presentations we’re highlighting today will be on the mainstage at FinovateEurope. Others will be offered as part of our focused tracks examining topics in payments, customer experience, AI, lending, and banking risk and regulation. All of them promise to be insightful discussions on key topics impacting fintech and financial services today.
Our slate of speakers for FinovateEurope is growing by the day. Visit our FinovateEurope 2025 hub for the latest updates on who’s speaking and when.
Mainframe modernization: the journey to agile digital services in 2025
Featuring Paul Holland (LinkedIn), CTO, Astadia: An Amdocs Company, this special address looks at how tools such as Generative AI (GenAI) can help accelerate digital transformation to unlock even further modernization. Holland will also lead a conversation on how financial institutions can complement existing capabilities to successfully modernize mainframe applications at scale. Tuesday, 25 February, 10:05 am.
An Amdocs company, Astadia is an industry-leading mainframe migration and modernization firm. Astadia’s core competencies include cloud migration, refactoring, replatforming, DevOps, and managed IT services. The company has conducted more than 300 successful migrations with world-class organizations.
Countdown to Q-Day: Why Banks Must Act on Post-Quantum Authentication Now
Featuring Petr Dvořák (LinkedIn), Founder and CEO, Wultra, this special address will examine the evolution of quatum computing and the potential challenges the technology will bring to digital banking. Dvořák will discuss the migration to post-quantum authentication (PQA) and the importance of transitioning to quantum-resistant authentication before “Q-Day” — when quantum computers are powerful enough to break contemporary cryptography. Tuesday, 25 February, 3pm.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Prague, Wultra helps banks and fintech brands build secure digital applications. The company offers modern, compliant authentication solutions that deliver security, easy access to financial services, and straightforward deployment.
Building Interactive Data Applications with Plotly: How AI Enhances the Delivery and Usage of Data Apps
Featuring Andy Wisbey (LinkedIn), European Sales Director, Plotly, this special address is part of FinovateEurope 2025’s Artificial Intelligence Track. Wisbey will lead a hands-on session that will demonstrate how to leverage Plotly’s advanced visualization capabilities to create an interactive data application that transforms complex financial data into actionable insights. Wednesday, 26 February, 10:50am
A Bronze sponsor of FinovateEurope 2025, Plotly is a leading provider of open-source graphing libraries and enterprise-grade analytics solutions. The company’s flagship solution, Dash Enterprise, enables organizations to build scalable and interactive data apps that drive impact decision-making.
Also providing special addresses at FinovateEurope this year are:
Pedro Andrade, Key Account Director, ORACLE MySQL
Vladimir Lounegov, Co-Founder, Mbanq
Waheed Mahmood, BFSI Lead, Rackspace
Be sure to check out the Finovate blog as more speakers for FinovateEurope are confirmed. And if you haven’t picked up your ticket yet, there’s no time like the present! Visit our FinovateEurope hub today and save your seat!
At FinovateFall last year, we heard plenty of analysts and industry experts say that AI agents are going to replace generative AI on the hype scale. That’s because AI agents, or agentic AI, have the capability to perform tasks, not just generate information. It is this differentiator that has the potential to create a great amount of value for both banks and fintechs, so much so that it has become the newest buzzword in financial services.
Fueling the rise of AI agent hype is the launch of Operator, Open AI’s new AI Agent. “Operator is a system that can use a web browser– in this case, a web browser in the cloud– to accomplish tasks that you give it,” said Open AI CEO Sam Altman during the launch. “Just like you would use a web browser… Operator can do that and control all sorts of things.” Operator has already gone live for ChatGPT Pro users and will soon be available to Plus users.
Open AI isn’t the only tech company launching an AI agent, and the use cases aren’t limited to making a restaurant reservation or buying groceries. Agentic technology is already live and in-use at some financial institutions.
The new technology has a number of potential use cases, five of which I’ve listed below. Keep in mind that some of these are not possible with current AI agent tools, and most are not able to be achieved fully autonomously, and require human-in-the-loop during some stages. However, the technology is moving fast, and AI agents will likely reach this level of autonomy soon.
Customer service and support
Banks and fintechs have used all forms of AI to improve and automate their customer service for years. They can now use AI agents to understand customer queries and analyze the conversations to identify the root cause of an issue, then offer customers the appropriate reply.
Potential prompt: “When a customer contacts you seeking an agricultural loan, contact the county in which the property is located to verify the legal property boundaries.”
Content marketing and copywriting
AI agents can be deployed to research and analyze all available information on a specific topic. Banks can then use another AI agent to transform all of that information into a blog post or marketing copy for a webpage.
Potential prompt: “Research new budgeting websites and capabilities, then write a five-part blog post series and email it over the course of five weeks to customers with less than $5,000 in assets held at the bank.”
Loan and credit underwriting
While generative AI is able to analyze customer profiles to assess creditworthiness, AI agents can take the process a step further by completing tasks in a workflow analyzing credit histories, transaction patterns, and market analysis to make instant, accurate decisions about potential borrowers.
Potential prompt: “For every new small business loan inquiry that comes in, analyze the individuals’ credit and overdraft histories. For small businesses with a physical location, analyze foot traffic of similar businesses in the same region and make a credit decision based on this information.”
Administrative tasks
Because AI agents are able to “think” for themselves and operate independently, they can easily complete tasks such as organizing and making a reservation for a client dinner, placing an order for a new computer keyboard, or placing a catering order for an office party.
Potential prompt: “Make a dinner reservation at a restaurant my client would like, given their Instagram account, for 10 people on May 2 at 7 p.m. Tell the restaurant that two people in the party have a gluten allergy.”
Customer communication
Banks can deploy AI agents to communicate with customers to send personalized messages about their preferences, needs, or simply to autonomously notify them of account changes. They can also reply to customer responses. And because AI agents can generate answers without being trained, they can even reply to customers in cases where they do not have a specific, canned response template.
Potential prompt: “Email all of my wealth management clients that have been with me for over three years asking them to update their risk tolerance. Use their replies to update their portfolios.”
While it is fun (and a bit spooky) to think about all of the potential use cases of agentic AI, we are far from the reality of putting most of these potential prompts to use in a seamless manner. Operator and other AI agent technologies are still in their early stages; even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted they still have “a lot of improvements to do” on Operator.
Because of how new the technology is, there still needs to be a manual confirmation for most of the use cases, especially when it comes to making transactions. Similarly, even though there is no current AI regulation for banking operations, banks should use caution and keep humans in-the-loop, especially when making underwriting decisions and communicating with customers.