🎙️ Welcome to AI in Finance: Beyond the Hype — the podcast for decision-makers navigating the future of financial services.

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a buzzword or a futuristic luxury; it’s a present-day necessity. As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang put it, “You won’t lose your company to AI, but to a competitor who uses it.” In each episode, we explore how AI and data are transforming financial institutions across the globe—from retail banking and investment management to fraud detection, insurance, and compliance.

We unpack real-world examples, such as how JPMorgan Chase’s COiN platform saved over 360,000 hours through legal automation, and how BlackRock’s Aladdin manages over $21 trillion in assets using predictive analytics and real-time risk modelling. Goldman Sachs’ Marcus uses behavioral data and NLP to manage more than $100 billion in deposits, while Ant Group serves over a billion users with AI-powered credit, insurance, and fraud detection. Meanwhile, Revolut detects over 95% of fraud in real-time, and firms like Renaissance Technologies and UBS are leveraging advanced machine learning and generative AI to gain competitive advantages.

Beyond use cases, the podcast explores critical topics like real-time data processing, cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure), AI in compliance, and the evolution from data warehouses to data lakes. We also address the organizational transformation needed for AI success—why 60% of digital initiatives fail due to leadership misalignment, and how AI literacy among executives and upskilling technical teams in areas like MLOps and LLMs is key to long-term success.

If you're ready to move beyond the hype and build a data-driven financial institution, this podcast is your roadmap. Tune in and lead the transformation—starting today.

In this podcast, we talk about end-to-end engineering, a crucial new educational paradigm designed to address the accelerating pace of innovation in artificial intelligence, automation, and hyper-connected systems. We explore why most traditional university programs for software engineers still train them for “middle-layer” duties, such as wiring together pre-built libraries, cloud services, and hardware they rarely touch. This narrow focus can blunt creativity, leave graduates ill-prepared to design complete, resilient solutions, and contribute to unemployment rates higher than in non-technical fields.

We delve into how end-to-end engineering education offers a holistic approach, fusing rigorous software foundations with hardware prototyping, robotics labs, mechanical design, and embedded security into a single, coherent toolkit. This comprehensive skill set empowers graduates to understand an entire system’s life cycle—from concept sketches and circuit diagrams to secure deployment in the field—fostering invention rather than just maintenance. We highlight the multifaceted benefits: students gain adaptability and become far harder to automate or outsource, and they are equipped to innovate independently, pursue entrepreneurial ventures, or lead multidisciplinary projects, enabling them to share more equitably in the value they create.

The discussion also covers how this comprehensive approach prepares engineers to tackle critical societal challenges, such as the spread of misinformation and the complexities of AI advancements, ensuring systems are designed with reliability, accountability, and ethical considerations in mind. We examine how pioneering institutions like MIT, Stanford, and Nordic universities are leading the way by integrating computer science, electrical engineering, robotics, and cybersecurity. Finally, we discuss the necessary reforms for curriculum transformation, faculty development, infrastructure investment, and industry collaboration to equip tomorrow’s engineers to build innovative, secure, and sustainable systems that benefit society.

This analysis highlights its critical role as a segment of the Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route), aiming to link mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave and extend connections to Turkey and Central Asia. The article emphasizes that international investments in this corridor are driven by nations' self-interest to prevent economic collapse, boost trade, and secure supply chains amid global disruptions like the Russia-Ukraine war and Red Sea tensions. It further explores the corridor's economic value, projecting billions in annual trade and significant GDP boosts, alongside its geopolitical leverage as a tool for influence among major global powers. Despite its potential for prosperity, the text notes the corridor faces significant challenges due to sovereignty disputes, regional rivalries, and opposition from countries like Iran and Russia.

This Cohere e-book, "Building Enterprise AI Agents," provides a comprehensive guide for organisations looking to implement AI agents, particularly within highly regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government. It explains the evolution of AI to autonomous agents, differentiating them from traditional automation tools by their ability to reason, adapt, and execute multi-step processes. The guide addresses five common implementation challenges, including managing tool integration, ensuring reliable decision-making, handling complex workflows, controlling hallucinations, and ensuring scalability. Ultimately, the resource aims to empower businesses to confidently deploy secure and private AI agents, offering practical insights, use cases, and best practices for successful adoption and long-term value.

Link to the eBook: https://cohere.com/lp/building-enterprise-ai-agents-cohere-ebook

The Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), the Dutch government body tasked with managing unemployment, sickness, and disability benefits, is facing serious allegations of misconduct in its handling of disability assessments. Recent reports suggest that efforts to reduce long waiting lists may have led to substandard evaluations, potentially resulting in incorrect benefit decisions that could defraud hundreds of citizens by denying them rightful support or improperly granting benefits. Adding to the controversy, there are indications that UWV employees, particularly insurance doctors, may have been rewarded with hundreds of thousands of euros for conducting assessments that resulted in wrong decisions disfavoring applicants, incentivizing speed over accuracy in a system already strained by backlogs. This comes amid a history of complaints against the agency, highlighting ongoing systemic issues that have eroded public confidence in the social security system.

Post: https://lens.lunartech.ai/post/uwv-under-scrutiny-allegations-of-possible-fraud-involving-disability-assessments-affecting-hundreds-of-citizens

In this episode, we're diving deep into the Sukhoi Su-57 "Felon", exploring Russia’s pinnacle of aerospace engineering and its ambitious future. We'll unpack how this fifth-generation, multirole fighter, designated "Felon" by NATO, was developed under the PAK FA program to succeed the Su-27 and MiG-29, aiming to compete with global peers like the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.

Join us as we explore:

• Its innovative design and aerodynamic mastery, which prioritises kinematic excellence, featuring three-dimensional (3D) thrust-vectoring nozzles and unique leading-edge vortex controllers (LEVCONs) for exceptional manoeuvrability and supercruise capabilities.
• The digital powerhouse of its avionics and sensor fusion, including the Sh-121 MIRES system with forward-facing, side-looking, and L-band Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars, the 101KS Atoll electro-optical system, and the L402 Himalayas electronic warfare suite. We’ll also highlight the Information-Control System (ICS-57), described as an “electronic second pilot,” which uses artificial intelligence to automate a significant portion of flight tasks.
• Its versatile arsenal for multirole dominance, showcasing how its internal weapons bays accommodate a diverse range of munitions for air, ground, and maritime missions, including advanced beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles like the K-77M and Kh-59MK2 stealthy cruise missile.
• The structural and material innovations that contribute to its strength, weight, and stealth, with approximately 25% of the airframe constructed from lightweight composite materials and titanium alloys.
• The opportunities for enhancement, including advancing its stealth capabilities by adopting fully serpentine S-ducts and flat thrust-vectoring nozzles, and the crucial powerplant evolution with the Izdeliye 30 engine, which promises sustained supercruise up to Mach 2.0.
• Challenges and solutions for scaling production capacity at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant (KnAAZ) and navigating geopolitical and export challenges.
• The crucial area of enhancing software and cybersecurity to protect its networked systems and improve pilot workload.
• Finally, we’ll look at the roadmap for future advancements, particularly the transformative Su-57M variant, which aims to integrate critical upgrades like the Izdeliye 30 engine, advanced stealth features, and manned-unmanned teaming with the S-70 Okhotnik drone. This comprehensive overview aims to underscore how these strategic investments and a clear roadmap can position the Su-57 as a cornerstone of Russian air power and a competitive global player for decades to come.

Scientists at ETH Zurich have developed novel flower-shaped microparticles for targeted drug delivery. These particles, constructed with a large surface area from tiny petals, can carry significant amounts of therapeutic substances. Importantly, they can be guided through the bloodstream using ultrasound and tracked via non-invasive imaging techniques. Initial studies in lab settings and mice demonstrated the successful loading, directed movement, and controlled positioning of these particles. This innovative approach offers a promising alternative to gas bubbles for precisely delivering medicine to specific locations within the body, potentially improving treatments for diseases like cancer and cardiovascular issues.

Link to article: https://lens.lunartech.ai/post/flower-particles-for-ultrasound-guided-drug-delivery

Sidus Space will launch its LizzieSat™ 3 on March 14, 2025, featuring a next-generation AI-driven system for space-to-space data relay, which is anticipated to significantly improve satellite communication efficiency. This mission has generated considerable interest from experts and the public, who foresee its potential to advance space technology and data utilization. The satellite's innovative AI capabilities are expected to enhance real-time data handling, optimize satellite operations, and set new standards for future space missions, impacting various sectors and driving growth in the commercial space industry.

Link to article: https://lens.lunartech.ai/post/sidus-space-lizziesat-3-ai-powered-space-data-relay-launch

Gemma 3, introduced by Google DeepMind, represents a major advancement in democratizing AI access by offering state-of-the-art open models that balance power and portability. Built upon the success of its predecessor, which saw over 100 million downloads, Gemma 3 delivers superior performance while optimizing efficiency for deployment across various devices, from mobile phones to high-performance workstations. Available in multiple sizes (1B, 4B, 12B, and 27B parameters), it allows developers to match models to specific hardware constraints. With enhanced multilingual capabilities supporting over 140 languages and cutting-edge multimodal reasoning for text, images, and videos, Gemma 3 facilitates diverse AI applications. Its expanded 128k-token context window and function-calling features further enhance its ability to process complex tasks, making it a versatile tool for developers worldwide.

Complementing this release, ShieldGemma 2 provides a robust 4B parameter image safety checker, ensuring secure AI applications by identifying dangerous, explicit, or violent content. Gemma 3's seamless integration with popular AI frameworks like Hugging Face, PyTorch, and JAX, alongside support for Google Cloud TPUs, AMD GPUs, and NVIDIA optimizations, makes it highly adaptable for developers. The Gemmaverse ecosystem fosters collaborative AI innovation, exemplified by projects like SEA-LION v3 for Southeast Asian languages and BgGPT for Bulgarian. Google DeepMind also supports academic research through the Gemma 3 Academic Program, offering $10,000 in Google Cloud credits to researchers. By prioritizing responsible AI development, accessibility, and innovation, Gemma 3 establishes itself as a leading force in the evolution of open AI technology.

Link to the article: https://lens.lunartech.ai/post/introducing-gemma-3-the-most-capable-model-you-can-run-on-a-single-gpu-or-tpu

In this explosive exposé, Lunar Tech lifts the veil on Plug and Play Armenia—a program that promised to revolutionize the startup ecosystem but instead delivered a toxic, broken experience. Join us as we delve into firsthand accounts of empty promises, questionable mentorship, and alleged misconduct. From unfulfilled investor introductions and strategic partnerships to disturbing claims of sexism and psychological manipulation, we present the evidence and correspondence that reveal a disturbing disconnect between the accelerator’s glamorous marketing and its harsh reality.Is Plug and Play Armenia a true startup accelerator or a startup killer? Watch as we break down the shocking details, share real documents, and challenge the accountability of those trusted with public funds. If you’re an entrepreneur or investor looking to navigate the startup world, this video is a must-watch for its candid look at what really happens behind the scenes.Stay informed, ask the tough questions, and decide for yourself: Is this the support you need to scale your business, or is it time to look elsewhere?Read the article here: https://lens.lunartech.ai/post/startup-accelerator-or-startup-killer-plug-and-play-armenia-exposed