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Daniel Faggella
Unlock the business value of AI in financial services with in-depth interviews on trends, use-cases, and cutting-edge best practices.
In each episode, Emerj Founder Daniel Faggella interviews leaders at firms like HSBC, Citigroup, and Visa - as well as AI innovators from Silicon Valley and around the world.
Subscribe to Emerj's weekly AI newsletter by downloading our "AI in Financial Services Cheat Sheet" PDF guide: https://emerj.com/fin1
Autonomous Financial Workflows for the Individual and the Organization - with Supriya Gupta of Credit Karma
Today’s guest is Credit Karma Vice President and Core Team General Manager Supriya Gupta. Credit Karma is a multinational personal finance brand under Intuit that makes products free to consumers that help them find lenders. Supriya returns to the show today to discuss the rise of personalization data in financial services and how this will change the relationship between consumers and their personal finances. Along the way, Supriya advises financial services leaders about the best ways to take advantage of the influx of data. To access Emerj’s frameworks for AI readiness, ROI, and strategy, visit Emerj Plus at emerj.com/p1.
05:1029/05/2023
Finding ‘Ground Truth’ in Accounting Workflows - with Michael Hitchcock of Intuit
Today’s guest is the Director of Product Management, Accounting &Tax at Intuit, Michael Hitchcock. Michael returns to the program to talk about the impact AI will have on accounting workflows, how it will fundamentally change accounting as a profession, and what this is looking like from his position at one of the leading personal financial services brands. Together with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Michael discusses applicable Quickbooks use cases and the criteria they use to identify “ground truth” in personalization metrics. To access Emerj’s frameworks for AI readiness, ROI, and strategy, visit Emerj Plus at emerj.com/p1.
25:4522/05/2023
What Finserv Challenges Look Like to the CTO - With Rebecca Parsons of Thoughtworks
Today’s guest is Thoughtworks Chief Technology Officer Rebecca Parsons. ThoughtWorks is a publicly owned global technology company operating in 18 countries, providing software design and delivery tools and consulting services to clients like Google and Microsoft. Together with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Rebecca explores how financial services challenges look from the vantage point of data scientists at the onset of emergence in use cases for large language models. To access Emerj’s frameworks for AI readiness, ROI, and strategy, visit Emerj Plus at emerj.com/p1.
21:1815/05/2023
What Broad Democratization Means for Financial Services - with Kurt Muehmel of Dataiku
Today’s guest is Strategic Advisor for Dataiku, Kurt Muehmel. Dataiku is an AI and machine learning company with over $4.6 billion in funding. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Kurt dissects the business challenges driving trends that are described as the “broad democratization” of data in financial services and other surrounding sectors. Later, they take a closer look at how businesses will navigate the transitions therein from both cultural and technical standpoints. If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!
13:0108/05/2023
What the Rise of Personalization Data Means for Borrowers and Lenders - with Supriya Gupta of Credit Karma
Today’s guest is Credit Karma Vice President and Core Team General Manager Supriya Gupta. Credit Karma is a multinational personal finance brand under Intuit that makes products free to consumers that help them find lenders. Supriya joins us on today’s episode to talk about the future of autonomous workflows in financial services – for both the consumer and the organization. Together with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Supriya pulls apart what this means for both how consumers relate to lenders and how finserv organizations can find efficiencies in their own operations.
12:3301/05/2023
Intelligent Automation for Media Surveillance and Customer Service Workflows - with Paul Tepper and Tina Chace of WorkFusion
Today's guests are WorkFusion VP, Head of AI Paul Tepper, and VP of Product Management Tina Chace. WorkFusion is a software company with over $340 million in funding that blends RPA and AI – a process often called intelligent automation – to help businesses digitize their operations. Paul and Tina return to the platform to discuss the applicability of intelligent automation in financial service-driven use cases from media surveillance and customer experience. Together with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, they examine how cutting-edge capabilities in these spaces are refocusing business problems around topics and how they're discussed both outside and inside the organization. This episode is sponsored by WorkFusion. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.
22:4024/04/2023
Solving Bookkeeping Challenges for Accountants and Entrepreneur Workflows - with Michael Hitchcock of Intuit
Today’s guest is Intuit Director of Product Management, Accounting & Tax, Michael Hitchcock. Michael’s experience in product development and engineering goes back to his days at GE in the mid-2000s. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Michael overviews the challenges facing both entrepreneurs and accountants in bookkeeping workflows and the ways Quickbooks and other Intuit services have integrated AI capabilities in their platforms to meet those needs. Later, they pull apart the ways AI is personalizing processes and changing the fundamental nature of accounting work.
18:2017/04/2023
The Reality of ChatGPT for Financial Services - with Scott Zoldi of FICO
Today’s guest is Scott Zoldi, Chief Analytics Officer of FICO. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Scott digs deeper into his writings on the many well-publicized disadvantages of ChatGPT and a few of its under-discussed benefits. Under the backdrop of FICO’s recent report on responsible AI in the financial services space, Scott helps pull apart some promising financial use cases for the technology and cast them under a more sober, discerning spotlight. If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!
16:0710/04/2023
Solving Black Box Problems in Financial Services with Machine Learning - with Krishna Gade of Fiddler AI
Today's guest is Fiddler AI CEO, Krishna Gade. Fiddler AI builds custom monitoring platforms specializing in risk and compliance as well as the lending and trading spaces. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Krishna discusses why machine learning, in particular, is so effective in streamlining surveillance workflows and why financial services compliance is increasingly being geared toward verifying the customer from their introduction to the services funnel. Krishna also talks about the various 'black box' problems in financial services and how his previous experience working on the Facebook newsfeed after the 2016 election informs Fiddler's approach to model transparency. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.
20:1903/04/2023
Building an Effective AI Team in Financial Services - with Lori Cenci of HSBC
Today’s guest on the ‘AI in Financial Services’ podcast is Dr. Lori Cenci, US Head of Unauthorized Trade Surveillance at HSBC and Lecturer of Applied Analytics at Columbia University School of Professional Studies. She has over two decades of experience in risk, compliance, conduct, capital markets, quantitative research, product development, client advisory, consulting, writing, and teaching with such austere financial services brands as HSBC. Dr. Cenci returns to the platform to discuss the challenges in developing a company culture built around analytics. Together with Emerj CEO and Head of Research Daniel Faggella, she pulls from experiences across her career to advise on best practices for managing the c-suite and developing dashboards that solve real business problems.
18:1127/03/2023
Bringing AI to the Onboarding Process - with Sarah Welch of Curinos
Today’s guest is Managing Director at Curinos Sarah Welch. Curinos is a software company specializing in data-based solutions for financial services enterprises. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Sarah discusses how the same AI capabilities banking leaders might be familiar with across customer experience use cases are illuminating business opportunities and solving challenges in the onboarding process. As a greater image of customers and what makes them loyal emerges, Sarah explains how new questions arise from the data, including, “When is marketing’s job done?”. To access Emerj’s frameworks for AI readiness, ROI, and strategy, visit Emerj Plus at emerj.com/p1.
20:2420/03/2023
Effective Data Governance For Compliance Risk in Financial Services - with Supreet Kaur of Morgan Stanley
Today’s guest is Supreet Kaur, Assistant Vice President at Morgan Stanley. She’s spent the last five years working in data spaces across financial services and life sciences, along with essential advocacy work in mentoring a diverse next generation of data science leaders. In conversation with Emerj CEO Daniel Faggella, Supreet explains to the audience what works and what doesn’t in building effective data governance infrastructure and strategies for financial services organizations. If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!
25:3913/03/2023
Making Wealth Management Customizable with AI - with Alessandro Tonchia of InvestCloud
Today’s guest is the Head of Strategy, InvestCloud (EMEA), Alessandro Tonchia. InvestCloud is an AI-driven communications platform for wealth managers. Before starting there in 2021, Alessandro worked as a Director for smartKYC in London for nearly a decade and founded the digital insurance platform Finatix in the early nineties. On the AI in Financial Services podcast, Alessandro describes the challenges that wealth managers face in providing fully customizable interfacing experiences and visualizations with their clients. He also details InvestCloud’s strategies in developing platforms with a hierarchy between both financial advisors and clients as users. To access Emerj’s non-technical guide for getting started with AI deployment, check out emerj.com/beg1.
17:3706/03/2023
Giving Enterprise Data a Voice - with Martín Ramírez of WellSaid Labs
Today's guest is Martín Ramírez, Head of Growth at WellSaid, a company specializing in AI-driven voice-over tools. There are surprising use cases for these capabilities across various industries. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello on the 'AI in Financial Services' services podcast, Martín focuses on enterprise applications. From learning and training to supplementing conversational AI, Martín describes what is necessary to return enterprise-wide results from truly transformational use cases. Later, they discuss ways that information must transition from print to digital and, in an increasing number of multimedia workflows, from digital to audio. This episode is sponsored by WellSaid Labs. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.
23:0727/02/2023
Predicting Market Risk with AI - with Francis Geeseok Oh of Qraft Technologies
Today’s guest is Qraft Technologies APAC CEO, Francis Geeseok Oh. Qraft is an emerging invest tech AI solution for investment risk management. Those in the investment space, from retail to big-name Wall Street firms, might have some familiarity with Qraft’s AI Risk Indicator Tool. On their website, the AI-powered platform gives an instantaneous reading on the risk within a market during a given period, all with the fluidity of checking a mobile weather app. On the ‘AI in Financial Services’ podcast, he and Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello discuss overcoming the block box issues therein and where the human element is best delegated in risk management workflows, given the advantages of AI capabilities in these spaces. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.
29:1820/02/2023
The Future of Lead Optimization in Real Estate, Insurance, and Beyond - with Wilbur Swan of Catchlight Insights
Today's guest is the CEO of Catchlight Insights, Wilbur Swan. Catchlight is a Fidelity-backed and grown AI solution streamlining lead optimization for small and medium-sized financial institutions with a special focus on custom tools built for individual personal financial advisors and realtors. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Wilbur discusses strategies in data visualization and avoiding the all-or-nothing thinking that comes with developing dashboards that show "everything under one umbrella." Later, they pull apart use cases showing the difference AI is making in both individual and institutional lead optimization workflows. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.
21:5413/02/2023
What Autonomy Means for Accounting - with Alexander Hagerup of Vic.ai
Today's guest is Vic.ai Co-founder and CEO Alexander Hagerup. Vic.ai is a software as a service that offers full autonomy in accounting workflows, specifically in invoice processing and helping to streamline approval processes in a broad range of financial services sectors. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Alexander explains what AI autonomy can look like and what it takes to remove human beings from the decision-making process in accounting. Later, he pulls apart a number of applicable use cases in the real estate and fintech startup space. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.
27:3306/02/2023
Use Cases in Trust Automation - with Christian Van Leeuwen of FRISS
Today's guest is Christian Van Leeuwen, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of FRISS. His company accrued over $88 million to fund a workforce of 200 employees focused on claims underwriting, investigation, and working with the biggest names in the insurance space. Following his last appearance on the AI in Business podcast, he and Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello pull apart use cases in trust automation. Their conversation reveals how much the insurance space is beginning to resemble banking in terms of the increasing importance of knowing who your customer is from the front door of the insurance policy lifecycle. Plus, how AI is illuminating new business opportunities in commercial insurance given the influx of data emerging from the internet of things. This episode is brought to you by FRISS. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.
27:3230/01/2023
Building Deeper Customer Profiles with Computer Vision in Banking - with Kelly Harlin of Sharp/NEC
Today’s guest is Kelly Harlin, Director of Solutions Marketing and Commercialization at Sharp/NEC. As a manufacturer of computer monitors and large-scale information displays and systems, Sharp/NEC has a front row to how banks collect data - particularly visual - to better ascertain the lifestyle needs of their customers. Why is this information so important to banks? Kelly explains to Emerj CEO Daniel Faggella that the pandemic had a devastating impact on foot traffic to banking branches. There’s been some recovery, but now banks are more interested than ever in knowing why people need their physical branches and how to complement their needs best with digital services. To access Emerj’s frameworks for AI readiness, ROI and strategy, visit Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1.
18:1723/01/2023
AI for Upselling and Cross-Selling in Insurance - with Zohar Bronfman, CEO of Pecan.ai
Today’s guest is Pecan AI CEO and co-founder Dr. Zohar Bronfman. Pecan produces an AI-driven platform designed to drive business value using predictive analytics and proprietary model scoring. In conversation with Emerj CEO and Head of Research Daniel Faggella, Zohar discusses how insurers can use machine learning capabilities to find up- and cross-selling opportunities throughout the episode. Zohar points to particularly actionable steps for business leaders in insurance adjacent spaces in developing scoring optimization systems for upgrading policies, targeting high net-worth customers, and reframing business needs into predictive questions. If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!
23:3616/01/2023
How Insurance Will Fundamentally Change - with Pardeep Bassi of WTW
Today’s guest is Pardeep Bassi, Global Proposition Leader of Data Science at Willis Towers Watson. He’s also spent the last decade in data science leadership roles for insurance firms. Pardeep returns to the Emerj podcast platform to talk about a rising inflection point with old insurers who have data but don’t know how to use it and startups that don’t have data but are more agile in deploying AI solutions. He and Emerj Head of Research Daniel Faggella also discuss how insurance firms – particularly legacy institutions - can go beyond automation and predictive insights, using AI to find the right questions to ask to understand customers’ risk better. For access to Emerj’s Executive Cheat Sheet on AI in insurance, check out emerj.com/ins1.
22:3009/01/2023
Measuring the ROI of AI - with Jay Budzik of Zest AI
Today’s guest is Jay Budzik, Chief Technology Officer of Zest AI. What are the best ways to measure ROI for an early AI project? There are countless ways to answer the question, as virtually every organization working in AI finds the process challenging. Yet Jay and Emerj CEO Daniel Faggella pull apart what it means when the value of differing metrics changes and the best ways to find a proxy. Later, they discuss how best to prepare early AI adoption initiatives before they begin and what “strategic value” means outside immature expectations of financial returns in the first few months. If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!
22:4402/01/2023
Monitoring the Health of a Loan Portfolio - with Jackson Hull of OakNorth
Today’s guest is Jackson Hull. At the time of recording this interview, Jackson was the COO of OakNorth, but he now serves as the CEO of Elliptic. OakNorth is a financial services unicorn company based in the United Kingdom. In this episode, we explore a topic that is very pertinent to Jackson’s former role: assessing the health of your loan portfolio. Understanding your loan portfolio’s health is an essential skill for executives in the finserv industry, but right now, it is a sticky business and might be a place where artificial intelligence can add value. Jackson provides a high-level strategic perspective on the business and discusses an interesting use-case. To access Emerj’s non-technical guide for getting started with AI deployment, check out emerj.com/beg1.
23:4905/12/2022
FinServ's Shifting AI Priorities Post-COVID - with Sankar Narayanan of Fractal
This week’s guest is Sankar Narayanan, Chief Practice Officer at Fractal. Fractal is a unicorn company focusing on services and solutions in various industries, including financial services. In this episode, we unpack what the post-covid world looks like from a priorities standpoint for financial services leaders. Sankar shares perspectives from across the organizations they’re serving at Fractal and what he’s seeing amongst leaders in the financial services industries. He also addresses questions of funding, more or less critical problems in the industry, where AI might add value, and more. Discover more AI use-cases, best practice guides, white papers, frameworks, and more - join Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1.
30:2901/11/2022
Two Use-Cases of AI in Wealth Management - with Nirupam Sarkar of Fidelity Investments
Today’s guest is Nirupam Sarkar, VP of Data Science at Fidelity Investments, a legacy financial institution that presides over about $4.5 trillion in assets under management. In today’s episode, Nirupam discusses two workflows with broad applications across regulation-heavy industries. He also details use-cases involving summarization in wealth management and categorization in mutual funds. Nirupam also shares his thoughts on the future of leveraging and framing information to the essentials of decision-making at the highest levels of wealth management. If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from the insights in this episode, consider leaving a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!
26:1502/10/2022
Going to Market with an AI Product in Financial Services - with Jonathan Mascie-Taylor of FinTern
Our guest on today's episode of the AI in Financial Services podcast is Managing Director for Render at Fintern Jonathan Mascie-Taylor. Jonathan and Emerj CEO Daniel Faggella discuss his experience in product launches and how lenders, in particular, can approach AI adoption to enhance the process. Jonathan also explains in-depth strategies for identifying main value propositions and turning lenders into B2b sales. To access Emerj’s frameworks for AI readiness, ROI and strategy, visit Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1.
15:5601/09/2022
Becoming Truly Data Driven - with Tanvi Singh of UBS
In today’s episode, we’re talking about becoming data-driven in financial services. Our guest is Tanvi Singh. At the time of this recording, she was wrapping up nearly eight years with Credit Suisse, most recently as Managing Director of Digital Transformation and Product Labs. She is now the Group Head of the ADA Foundations Hub at UBS. There are two critical takeaways from this episode. The first is a view of the world of data and the future of financial services where data can be leveraged for AI value, drive value for customers, and operational efficiencies. The second half of the episode is about building that robust data mesh and becoming data-driven in a way that also sees a near-term value. Tanvi paints a picture of how to bear both near-team value and long-term value in mind and the long lumbering path from where banks are today to a place of real digital fluency.
26:3201/08/2022
Reducing False Positives for Anti-Money Laundering - with Scott Nowson of PwC
Today we are discussing the topic of anti-money laundering, a primary regulatory concern for financial services organizations. Our guest is Dr. Scott Nowson, Artificial Intelligence Leader at PwC. PwC is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. In this episode, Scott dives in on reducing false positives for anti-money laundering. Whether you’re focused on cyber security, payment fraud, or financial crime, the work of analysts is primarily looking at elements that inherently don’t have any risks. They have to dig through things like our transactions and online activity to identify cases that represent a financial and regulatory risk. Scott emphasizes how artificial intelligence impacts the analytics experience before and after. To access Emerj’s frameworks for AI readiness, ROI and strategy, visit Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1.
21:2101/07/2022
Today's Lending is Only Getting Half the Picture - with Stefan Boronea of Proportunity
Today’s guest is Stefan Boronea, CTO of Proportunity. Proportunity is a London-based firm focused on home lending and the future of finance. The topic of this episode is the future of lending and extending credit risk for lenders. In this interview, Stefan discusses the current trends in credit lending and where the gaps might be filled in with AI and data in the years ahead. Stefan also joined us on The AI in Business Podcast about three weeks ago, where he discussed the valuation of homes and several related use-cases in depth. If you’d like to listen to Stefan’s other episode and check out more insights from hundreds of business leaders, be sure to subscribe to The AI in Business Podcast on your preferred podcast platform.
12:4701/06/2022
The Evolving Role of AI for External Search - with Julien Cerutti of Meltwater
Today’s guest is Julien Cerutti, Vice President for Sales & Client Success, Enterprise Americas at Meltwater. Meltwater is a financial services company that focuses on drawing insights from outside data sources from various sources. Our focus this week is the topic of unlocking the power of external data. In this episode, Julien discusses a particular use-case that will be relevant in areas like wealth management as well as other business functions such as brand management, improving customer service, and more. Our conversation with Julien was recorded about a year ago, and while the market may have changed a bit since then, his insights are certainly relevant for business leaders navigating the industry today. If you’d like to discover critical AI applications and trends, be sure to download our whitepaper “3 Ways to Discover AI Trends” at emerj.com/t3.
33:3801/05/2022
How Fraud is Changing in a Post-COVID World - with Brett Beranek of Nuance Communications
This week’s guest is Brett Beranek, Vice-President & General Manager of Security & Biometrics Line of Business at Nuance Communications. In today’s episode, Brett speaks with us about the fraud-related trends in the financial services industry as a result of COVID and some of the concrete use-cases we could consider to address them moving forward. He first speaks specifically about the industry trends related to fraud and paints a picture of how fraud is shifting at a high level before diving into a concrete use-case more deeply. To learn more about the methods for finding AI trends that will allow you to stay ahead of the curve, download our whitepaper “3 Ways to Discover AI Trends” at emerj.com/t3.
19:4601/04/2022
When to Work with Existing Vendors vs. New AI Vendors - with Ian Wilson of Strategy 4 AI
Our guest this week is Ian Wilson. As one of our first ever guests on this podcast more than two years ago, Ian is the former Head of AI at HSBC, one of the largest financial institutions in the world. He now leads Strategy 4 AI, a strategy and education firm based in the United Kingdom. Ian speaks with us about how legacy software providers are starting to level up their software solutions with new AI features in this episode. He also provides some practical advice for selecting AI vendors and some surprising insights into the AI adoption trends that he sees in the enterprise. Be sure to download our whitepaper “AI in Banking: Executive Cheat Sheet” at emerj.com/cs1 to learn how to identify more critical trends in the industry.
26:4701/03/2022
Automating and Streamlining Customer Service Workflows - with Sunil Tahilramani of UiPath
Our guest this week is Sunil Tahilramani, Head of Artificial Intelligence at UiPath. With nearly a decade of experience in AI roles at Microsoft, Sunil has been with UiParth for almost two years now. In this episode, Sunil speaks about a particular use-case for RPA and artificial intelligence around routing email messages to clients. Specifically, he discusses the right combination of RPA and AI looks like to streamline and automate customer service workflows. If you've enjoyed or benefited from the insights in this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and let us know what you learned or liked most about this show or what you'd like to see in the future.
15:0501/02/2022
Making AI Accessible to Smaller Financial Institutions - with Jay Budzik of Zest AI
This week’s guest is Jay Budzik, CTO of Zest AI. In this episode, Jay discusses the topic of AI accessibility and the scalability process. Zest AI is a firm in the lending space that helps train algorithms to detect risk and determine approvals or terms for different lending products for all types of lenders, from gigantic financial institutions down to credit unions. If you’re interested in knowing more AI use-cases and finding new ways for AI to streamline or automate some of your own strategies, be sure to download our free AI in Financial Services Executive Brief at emerj.com/fs1.
22:1801/01/2022
AI Use-Case Highlight: Payment Processing for Checks - with Greg Council of Parascript
Our guest this week is Greg Council, Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at Parascript. Parascript is an AI vendor in the financial services space focusing on applications in document search and discovery and other kinds of NLP-oriented processes. In this episode, Greg gives an in-depth description of the manual methods to cash a check, including what banks and financial institutions have to do to process checks and where artificial intelligence fits into the workflow. If you’d like to discover more AI use-cases, best practice guides, white papers, frameworks, and more, join Emerj Plus at emerj.com/p1.
25:4101/12/2021
AI Use-Case Highlight: Streamlining Lending Processes - with Greg Council of Parascript
This week’s guest is Greg Council, VP of Product Management at Parascript. In this episode, Greg discusses the topic of where artificial intelligence can find its fit and start to automate the various paperwork-heavy workflows within the process of lending. He also discusses where Parascript is finding its fit for AI in the lending workflow and describes the workflows as they are today, what human beings are doing in terms of the paperwork in the back office of lending, and where artificial intelligence fits directly into those workflows. Learn more about how to identify and capitalize on the key trends of AI in banking at emerj.com/cs1.
18:3901/11/2021
Prioritizing AI Projects for ROI and Risk - with Ilan Gleiser of Synarchy AI
This week’s guest is Ilan Gleiser, Founder and CEO of Synarchy AI, an AI consultancy based in the Bay Area. Ilan has worked with large organizations, including a role as Product Owner for Artificial Intelligence Enterprise Solutions at Wells Fargo, the third-largest bank in the U.S. In this episode, Ilan explains his process for filtering projects based on criteria like the potential return on investment and risk involved to help determine which projects are the most realistic to start with. Ilan also speaks about how he was inspired by some of our frameworks and added his own layer of trust and risk assessment to models. Download our whitepaper “Beginning with AI” at emerj.com/beg1.
27:3501/10/2021
Are we Ready to Use AI? Assessing AI Maturity - with Ilan Gleiser of Synarchy AI
This week's guest is Ilan Gleiser, Founder and CEO of Synarchy AI, an AI consultancy firm based in the Bay area. Ilan has a lot of hands-on experience with large enterprises, including work as Product Owner for AI Enterprise Solutions at Wells Fargo, one of the world's largest financial services firms. Today, Ilan discusses AI maturity and how to assess a specific business's skills, culture, and data resources. He also shares the tools he uses to determine potential projects for companies ready to move forward with AI deployment. Ilan is an Emerj subscriber and Emerj Plus Member, and he references some of our frameworks in this episode. To discover more AI use-cases, best practice guides, white papers, frameworks, and more, visit emerj.com/p1.
32:3601/09/2021
Discovering Automation and AI Opportunities in Financial Services - with Christophe Makni of Basler Kantonalbank
Today’s guest is Christophe Makni, Managing Consultant for Lean AI and Automation at Basler Kantonalbank in Basel, Switzerland. Today, Christophe speaks about his processes for thinking about and identifying opportunities for automation in the Financial Services space. Christophe is also a valued Emerj Plus member. If you would like to learn more about how to join business leaders like Christophe around the world using our AI use-cases, whitepapers, and best practice frameworks in their work leading AI change, visit emerj.com/p1.
19:2601/08/2021
The Present and Future of ML Platforms - with Nick Elprin of Domino Data Labs
Today’s guest is Nick Elprin, CEO and Co-Founder of Domino Data Lab, an enterprise data science management platform. Domino has raised over $100M to date. Nick previously served as Senior Application Technologist at Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world. In today’s episode, Nick shares his definition of a platform in the proper sense and speaks about the place and purpose of AI platforms. He also discusses why an enterprise would choose a platform and under what circumstances it would be a worthwhile investment while also sharing his idea of what the future will look like. If you are interested in reaching the Emerj audience, whether through thought leadership, e-mail, podcasts, or more, check out emerj.com/ad1.
18:1201/07/2021
Unique Considerations for Applying Chatbots in Banking - with Peter Voss of Aigo.ai
Today's guest is Peter Voss, Founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist at Aigo.ai. Peter shares his perspective today on what is holding chatbots back and what the technology might do in the future. He also discusses some of the unique use cases and challenges of applying conversational interfaces in the banking space specifically. If you are interested in more interviews about conversational interfaces in general, where they are making a dent in business, check out the AI in Business podcast on all major platforms such as Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, Google Podcasts, etc.
28:3501/06/2021
Enterprise AI: When to Build, Buy, or Both? - with Pamela Negosanti of Expert AI
Today's guest is Pamela Negosanti, Head of Sector Strategy for Financial Services of Expert AI, a firm based in Italy, and doing lots of work globally in the financial space and NLP. Pamela breaks down in relative depth when and how to decide to build, buy, or combine the two. She lays out a couple of different continuums and gradients on decision-making that will help you figure out when you have more points on either side of the board, lean on the build or buy direction, or meet somewhere in the middle. If you are interested in learning to select the right AI vendor and going the buy route, be sure to download our free PDF brief called "5 Ways to Select the Right AI Vendor" at emerj.com/buy1
17:0301/05/2021
Post-COVID Changes of AI Priorities in FinServ - with Mark Gazit of ThetaRay
Today, returning with us is Mark Gazit, CEO, and Founder of ThetaRay, a firm based in Israel but doing business globally, with nearly $70M of funds raised, helping with fraud and anti-money laundering. Mark speaks with us today with a broader perspective in the world of fraud and AI deployments in general, as to where they will find more or less of a fit in the world of financial services in the year ahead as we aim to recover from this wild crisis. Want to learn more about AI deployment? Get Emerj's PDF guide: emerj.com/p1
18:0301/04/2021
Where Conversational Interfaces Belong in Banking - with Shankar Narayanan of Active.Ai
Today's guest is Shankar Narayanan, Co-Founder, and COO of Active.Ai, a Singapore Head Quartered Fintech startup with an innovation lab in Bengaluru that delivers conversational banking services to help banks and financial institutions redefine their future digital strategy through AI. Shankar speaks to us today about where conversational interfaces belong in banking, where they can get fruitful use, and the areas where it is unrealistic to expect them to deliver value. Are you interested in more NLP use cases, including Conversational Interfaces? Download our free PDF Brief "Unlocking the Business Value of NLP" here: emerj.com/nlp1
27:3501/03/2021
Text Analytics and NLP in Financial Services - with Ram Sukumar of IndiumSoft
Today's guest is the great and brilliant Ram Sukumar, Co-Founder and CEO of Indium Software, a Technology Solutions company with deep expertise in Digital and QA services, such as AI, Advanced Analytics, Text Analytics Center of Excellence, Big Data, Data Engineering, Stream Processing & Data Virtualization, and low-code development across platforms. Ram speaks with me today about particular workflows for text analytics. What does it look like in operation? Where do people get it wrong, where can it fit into play, and where is the potential value for text analytics when it comes to ideas for use cases? What are the practical realities of what you need to expect when deploying these technologies? Are you interested in more use cases and best practices around AI adoption and ROI? Check out Emerj Plus at emerj.com/p1
28:5701/02/2021
Applying NLP in FinServ, Practical Considerations - with Luca Scagliarini of Expert.ai (formerly Expert System)
Returning today is the great and brilliant Luca Scagliarini, Chief Product Officer of Expert.ai (formerly Expert System). Expert.ai is a public enterprise services company specializing in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Expert System went public in 2014 and continues to grow, raising $29.4 million to expand its AI text extraction & analysis capabilities in 2020. Its clients include giants like Dow Jones, Vodafone, and the U.S. government. Expert.ai's approach combines symbolic human-like comprehension and machine learning to transform language-intensive processes into practical knowledge. In this episode, Luca helps us dive into: the "war" between symbolic & ML techniques for NLP, when to use NLP to support financial services, and what companies often get wrong. Want to learn more about unlocking the business value of NLP? Get Emerj's PDF guide: emerj.com/nlp1
26:5501/01/2021
AI in Risk Management - with Ash Fontana, General Partner at Zetta Ventures
Today Emerj welcomes the return of the great and brilliant Ash Fontana, General Partner at Zetta Ventures. Zetta primarily invests in AI-first companies with B2B business models, with a portfolio including Kaggle, Domo, and other notables. Ash's career has spanned private equity, investment banking, as well as venture capital. In this episode, he offers a valuable perspective on where AI is taking financial services. Episode topics include: AI-driven risk measurement, risk prediction, and risk mitigation. Want to learn more about AI in financial services? Get Emerj's pdf guide: emerj.com/fin1
21:1301/12/2020
Making the Business Case for AI in Insurance - with Ron Glozman
Today's guest is the great and brilliant Ron Glozman, CEO of Chisel AI. Chisel is an AI-driven platform for commercial insurance, which won Gold at the 2019 Zurich Innovation World Championship and the ACORD InsurTech Innovation Challenge in 2018. The platform recognizes over 500 insurance-specific data points, including limits, premiums, deductibles, coverages, exclusions, and more. In this episode, Ron shares how he helps leaders make the business case for his AI-driven solutions, breaking down the challenges and opportunities for AI in insurance and in general. Want to discover more AI use cases in insurance? Get Emerj's AI in Insurance Cheat Sheet: emerj.com/ins1
20:5001/11/2020
Auditing Machine Learning Systems in Financial Services - with Andrew Clark of Monitaur
Today's discussion is with Andrew Clark, cofounder of Monitaur, a Techstars-funded startup that provides auditability, transparency, and governance for companies using machine learning software. Andrew formerly served as Pincipal Machine Learning Auditor at Capital One. And in this episode he shares how AI can audit and monitor algorithms so they don't pose regulatory risks, breaking down why this is necessary, and how it works. Click here to learn more about opportunities for applying AI in financial services: emerj.com/fs1
22:2901/10/2020
AI Consulting Do's and Don'ts - with Kevin Dewalt of Prolego
Kevin Dewalt, founder of Prolego, shares AI project do's and don'ts from a consultant's perspective. Kevin previously served as Director of Strategic Alliances at In-Q-Tel, VC arm for the CIA and US intelligence community, now focuses on training, strategy, and implementation of AI applications for Fortune 500 companies. Are you working to catalyze AI for your organization or your clients? Enroll with Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1
24:4801/09/2020