Dave and Dharm DeMystify

This week Dave sits down with Slavo Vojacek and Ricky Marcon, co-founders of OpenCoreOS, for a frank conversation about what “core banking” needs to become in an AI-native world.

Slavo (a distributed-systems engineer turned core-banking specialist) and Ricky (a product and business-builder with deep delivery experience) argue that the industry is at a new inflexion point: real-time payments, growing transaction volumes, and cloud fragility are exposing the limits of both legacy platforms and the so-called next-generation cores.

They unpack why OpenCoreOS is deliberately opinionated about what a “core” should be. For them, it is primarily the ledgering and transactional engine (interest, postings, and reconciliation at scale), while other components, like customer master data and product tooling, increasingly sit outside the core.

The discussion then moves into the hard engineering: what it means to build a platform designed to run across multiple clouds, aiming for zero downtime and zero data loss, and why retrofitting that kind of resilience into an existing architecture is far harder than it sounds.

Finally, the episode connects the dots to “agentic banking” and why AI cannot simply be “sprinkled on top” of yesterday’s platforms. OpenCore OS is designed so that product and operational configuration can be expressed in natural language, abstracting complexity while staying deterministic where it matters. Dharmesh also shares why he joined the company’s board, and why this approach feels fundamentally different from bolt-on AI features.

If you care about the future of banking infrastructure, resilience, and what AI-native actually means (beyond the marketing), this one is for you.

In this episode, Dave and Dharm are joined by Alice Violet, founder of Alice Violet Creative and host of the Cyber Made Human podcast, for a wide-ranging and refreshingly human conversation about the current state of cybersecurity.

Based in the heart of the UK’s cybersecurity ecosystem in Cheltenham, Alice brings a unique perspective shaped by her journey from luxury travel marketing to senior roles at Sophos and, ultimately, to building a specialist agency focused on cyber and complex technology. Her core belief is simple but powerful: cybersecurity is no longer a niche technical concern. It is a leadership issue, a commercial issue, and fundamentally a human one.

The discussion explores why cybersecurity has remained opaque for so long, and how fear-based messaging and jargon have actively held the industry back. Alice argues that recent high-profile outages and breaches have forced cybersecurity into the mainstream, making it unacceptable for senior leaders to plead ignorance. Yet she is equally critical of scaremongering, advocating instead for education, clarity, and a reframing of cyber as both protection and opportunity.

Dave and Dharm probe how CEOs should think about cybersecurity without becoming technologists themselves, why CISOs must learn to communicate in business language, and why even the most sophisticated technical defences can be undone by human behaviour. From ransomware-as-a-service to AI-powered impersonation scams, the conversation makes clear that many of today’s biggest risks sit outside the data centre.

The episode also tackles quantum computing, Q-Day, and the growing anxiety around encryption, separating genuine long-term risk from headline-driven panic. Alice offers a pragmatic, optimistic view: technology will evolve, but so will the countermeasures, provided organisations stay informed rather than paralysed.

AI features prominently, both as an accelerator for attackers and as a productivity tool for defenders, marketers, and content creators. Across marketing, cybersecurity, and leadership, the group converge on a shared view: AI works best as a co-pilot, not a replacement for experience, judgement, or human connection.

Throughout the episode, one theme consistently surfaces. Cybersecurity only becomes effective when it is made understandable, relatable, and embedded into culture. Or, as Alice puts it, humans may be the weakest link in cyber, but they are also the strongest defence.

This is an essential listen for fintech leaders, CEOs, CISOs, marketers, and anyone navigating a world where digital trust is central to business survival.

In this episode, Dave and Dharm welcome back Ziad Nassar, Deputy CEO of Huspy, one year after his first appearance on the show. And what a difference a year makes.

Ziad shares how Huspy has evolved from a UAE-based mortgage innovator into one of the fastest-scaling proptechs in EMEA, now active across the UAE and Spain with expansion under way in Saudi Arabia. Backed by a US $59 million Series B round led by Balderton Capital, Huspy is pursuing an ambitious mission: empowering the people who serve homebuyers and sellers.

The conversation explores:

Why Huspy focuses on enabling agents and mortgage brokers—the professionals closest to homebuyers and sellers—through technology, training, and fairer rewards.

The logic behind expanding to Spain, and the company’s disciplined playbook for entering new markets.

How AI is transforming property discovery and agent productivity—from natural-language search (“find me a Georgian-style home near London with a vet nearby”) to smart tools that augment rather than replace human expertise.

The importance of focus and discipline in scaling a startup, and the lessons Huspy has learned from trial, error, and relentless iteration.

Why PropTech remains one of the least-disrupted global industries, and how human experience, data, and automation can finally start to change that.

Ziad’s candour and passion make this a compelling listen—an honest look at what it takes to modernise real estate, balance technology with trust, and build for the people who make the housing market work.

In this episode, Dave and Dharm sit down with Ben Goldin, CEO and Founder of Plumery, to explore how digital banking needs to evolve beyond its legacy foundations.

With more than two decades in banking technology — including senior roles at Mambu and Backbase — Ben shares his deep insights into what’s broken in today’s digital banking architectures and how Plumery is reimagining them for a composable, experience-led future.

The conversation covers:

Why banks must decouple from monolithic core systems to deliver genuine digital experiences.

How real-time, purpose-built data models are transforming customer personalisation.

The cultural and organisational shifts required for banks to think like digital product companies, not siloed institutions.

The limits, and the promise, of AI in financial services, including why understanding its stochastic nature is essential.

A candid discussion on regulation, with Ben calling for regulators to move from policing to proactive collaboration, accelerating innovation safely.

Ben also explains why the next wave of banking will blend lifestyle, financial, and ecosystem services, and why success will belong to those who can bridge technology, experience, and trust.

A must-listen for anyone interested in the future of banking architecture, digital transformation, and the human side of innovation.

In this special 30th-anniversary episode, Dave is joined by Abdeslam Alaoui, co-founder and CEO of HPS, to reflect on three decades of transformation in payments and digital finance. He shares how HPS has evolved from a regional firm into a global powerhouse, quietly powering everyday transactions around the world—from mobile payments to digital loans—without most users even knowing.

The conversation explores HPS’s commitment to innovation, its ethos of invisibility, and the company’s rigorous cycle of reinvention every ten years. Abdeslam offers insight into the strategic thinking that led HPS to adopt English as its operational language from day one and the importance of maintaining technological freshness through continuous redevelopment.

Looking forward, Abdeslam discusses the shift from products to experiences in financial services, the growing integration of AI, and HPS’s acquisition of CR2, enabling a seamless “glass-to-ledger” customer experience. He highlights the power of orchestration, hyper-personalisation, and dynamic digital engagement as key trends shaping the future.

The episode concludes with reflections on Africa’s role in leapfrogging legacy financial infrastructure, the opportunity AI presents to transform education and financial inclusion, and a provocative suggestion: that payments may well eat banking as revenue models shift from account-based income to transaction-driven services.

In this episode, Dave and Dharm sit down with Cristina Pieretti, Head of Digital Content and Innovation at Moody’s, to explore how one of the world’s most data-driven organisations is reimagining itself through Generative AI.

Cristina reveals how Moody’s moved rapidly from early experiments to launching its first commercial GenAI product, the Moody’s Research Assistant, which became the company’s fastest-adopted tool in history. She shares how GenAI now powers everything from developer co-pilots to agentic sales and strategy tools, reshaping how thousands of employees work and think.

The conversation dives deep into:

How Moody’s is embedding GenAI across teams while managing risk, trust, and data integrity.

The cultural shift needed to make AI adoption part of everyone’s job — not just the developers’.

Why agentic systems represent the next big leap for productivity and innovation.

How banks and financial institutions are following suit, with parallels drawn to the early days of cloud adoption.

Cristina’s candid thoughts on the so-called “AI bubble” and why she believes specialisation and high-quality data will separate lasting innovation from hype.

This is a masterclass in how established financial institutions can turn disruption into opportunity, with human creativity and trusted data at the core.

In this episode of the Dave and Dharm Demystify show, Dave Wallace sits down with Neal Mann, co-founder of Noan, a platform pioneering the creation of a “facts layer” for AI-native businesses. Neal draws on years of experience working with the C-suite at global corporations to reveal the hidden chaos behind most companies’ knowledge structures. He explains why AI often fails in business contexts and how Noan is solving that problem by giving companies a single source of truth to build from.

From enabling entrepreneurs to finally take control of their business data, to unlocking transformative opportunities in fintech, lending, and investment, Neal makes the case for why facts, not memory, are the future of AI.

This episode explores everything from the practical impact of having a conversational interface to your business, to the powerful implications for financial services, business growth, and personalised support.

Whether you're building a startup, navigating enterprise transformation, or just curious about how AI can work better for business, this conversation will change the way you think about knowledge, control and the future of work.

In this episode of Dave and Dharm Demystify, the 2 D's sit down with Helena Wardle, a Chartered Financial Planner and founder of the fintech Money Means, to explore how technology is transforming financial advice.

Helena explains her motivation for building AIDA, an AI-powered digital advisor designed to make quality financial guidance accessible to people who traditionally couldn’t afford it. She discusses the challenges of creating technology that isn’t just functional but genuinely supportive, conversational, and capable of replicating the empathy and understanding that clients expect from a human advisor.

The discussion covers some of the hottest topics in financial services today:

Why expert-trained AI models can handle not just processes and compliance, but also the relational side of advice.

How regulation, liability, and accreditation will need to evolve as AI steps into roles once reserved for humans.

The emotional side of money and why understanding client behaviour is as important as the numbers.

The potential for AI to support collaboration across professions, from solicitors to accountants, creating a joined-up “team of digital advisors” around the customer.

Helena also shares her belief that service industries, just like retail before them, are on the cusp of massive disruption, and why the firms that embrace AI will be best placed to thrive. With AIDA launching soon, this conversation offers a first look at how AI could democratise access to financial planning and reshape the advisor–client relationship forever.

Chapters:

00:00 Meet Helena Wardle: Chartered Financial Planner

01:32 The Birth of Money Means: A FinTech Solution

02:36 Creating AIDA: The AI Digital Advisor

04:01 AI in Financial Advice: Challenges and Opportunities

06:40 Expert Trained Models: The Future of AI

08:23 The Disruption of Service Industries by AI

13:57 Training AI for Financial Exams

16:29 Regulation and Liability in AI Financial Advice

19:45 The Ethical Considerations of AI

21:13 Emotional Banking: Understanding Money's Emotional Impact

22:25 Incorporating Emotional Intelligence in Financial Planning

25:25 Personalising Financial Advice with AI

30:20 The Future of Financial Advice: AI vs Human Advisors

34:27 The Role of AI in Comprehensive Financial Planning

37:08 Launching AIDA: The AI Digital Advisor

39:02 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Dave and Dharmesh are joined by Stephanie Emile, General Manager of Binance FZE based out of the UAE, to demystify the evolving world of crypto, regulation, and adoption. Stephanie shares her journey of building Binance’s regulated home in Dubai, where the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has emerged as a pioneering, crypto-native regulator.

The conversation explores how the UAE’s forward-thinking stance positioned it ahead of global peers, taking bold steps even in the aftermath of events like the FTX collapse. Stephanie highlights the UAE’s pragmatic “try, learn, adapt” culture, contrasting it with slower traditional regulators such as the FCA.

Key themes include:

Regulation as an enabler: Why licensing and collaboration with regulators matter for building trust with users, banks, and institutions.

User experience and adoption: The crypto space must become simpler, safer, and more intuitive for mass adoption – from wallets to payments to everyday transactions.

The role of advisors: Just as financial advisors guide traditional investments, Stephanie argues that they will need to integrate digital assets into portfolios, supported by education initiatives like Binance Academy.

Global outlook: From the UAE’s stablecoin projects to Trump’s stance against CBDCs, the discussion touches on how regulation in the US and elsewhere may shape the future of digital assets.

Africa’s potential: With high adoption and demand for financial freedom, Africa emerges as a vital region for Binance’s long-term vision.

Stephanie leaves listeners with a view of crypto not as a speculative playground, but as a tool for financial freedom, lower-cost remittances, and real-world use cases. Regulation, education, and innovation, she argues, will bring digital assets into the mainstream — not kill them.

In this episode, the hosts welcome back David Jarvis, co-founder and CEO of Griffin, for his second appearance on the show. The discussion centres on the emerging concept of agentic banking and Griffin’s development of the MCP server. David explains how the MCP server enables AI models to interact with banking APIs using a configuration file, significantly enhancing automation and functionality.

The conversation explores how this technology could transform areas such as corporate treasury, wealth management, and broader financial services. David outlines how AI agents might one day handle complex tasks traditionally managed by intermediaries like mortgage brokers and treasurers, streamlining operations and reducing costs. While still in the early stages, this innovation is already gaining interest from banks and fintech firms.

The episode also looks ahead to the future of AI in banking, examining both the potential and the practical challenges of integrating agentic systems into existing infrastructure.

Listeners can find out more via Griffin’s website (https://griffin.com/) and blog.