Why is AI adoption in financial services so slow?

According to NayaOne’s Managing Director, Scott Sambucci, it’s the bureaucracy, not technology gaps.In this episode, he joins Ankur Patel to unpack what’s really stopping organizations from adopting AI, like endless committees, and share frameworks for testing AI responsibly, yet quickly. Tune in to learn why you should run structured validations and build a “fail fast” internal culture.

How do you make insurance work for small businesses?Henry Tam, Head of Business Development at Next Insurance, joins Ankur Patel to share how AI and automation are transforming underwriting, claims, and customer experience. From instant decisions to dynamic coverage, Henry explains how Next is reimagining insurance for Main Street America, while keeping customer simplicity at the core

What comes after SaaS in finance?Pete Keenan, VP of Finance at 645 Ventures, discusses the rise of agentic AI and what it means for high-stakes workflows in venture capital and beyond. From portfolio reporting to fund modeling, Pete shares where AI agents can deliver leverage today, why governance and explainability are non-negotiable, and how VCs can help their portfolio companies adopt AI, not just invest in it.

How are major banks embracing fintech with purpose?Malcolm Jussawalla, fintech leader and innovation strategist at TD Bank, joins Ankur Patel to share how he helps bridge the gap between startups and one of North America’s largest financial institutions. From de-risking innovation to building lasting partnerships, Malcolm offers a front-row look at making fintech work inside the enterprise.

What happens when a founder-turned-investor takes on AI?Colin Wallace, Managing Director at Lobby Capital and former Head of Innovation at Grubhub, joins Ankur Patel to explore the messy middle between product, trust, and experimentation. From investing in AI-first startups to building companies at the edge of automation, Colin shares how he evaluates founders and why thoughtful constraint often beats unbounded ambition.

How does a credit union compete with big banks - without big budgets?Chris Ferguson, VP of Consumer Lending at Forum Credit Union, joins Ankur Patel to share how his team is using Multimodal's AI to automate routine tasks, reduce errors, and scale auto lending without growing headcount. From trust-building to culture change, this episode explores what it really takes to bring AI into a highly regulated, member-first environment.

What’s really holding back AI in finance? Former Superintendent of Financial Services for the State of New York, Maria Vullo, joins Ankur Patel to unpack compliance risks, regulatory blind spots, and why explainability, not just capability, is key to enterprise AI adoption. Tune in for a practical, unfiltered look at how AI and regulation collide in the real world.

What do banks and insurers really want from AI? Luke Giancarlo, Director of the FinTech Innovation Lab, joins Ankur Patel to break down what’s working, what’s hype, and how startups can actually land deals with enterprise. From agentic AI to blockchain’s return, this episode unpacks the trends shaping financial innovation behind closed doors.

Austin Moss - entrepreneur, venture investor, and operator of seven companies- explores how founders can stand out in today’s noisy AI startup landscape. From vertical focus to scalable intelligence, we dig into due diligence, go-to-market moats, and why capital-efficient companies are rising fast. A must-watch for founders and investors navigating AI’s next wave

Christopher McDaniel, President of the Institutes Catastrophe Resiliency Council, joins Ankur Patel to unpack what it really takes to modernize the complex, risk-averse insurance industry. From climate risk to data silos, they explore how shared infrastructure, cross-industry collaboration, and regulatory engagement are redefining resilience in insurance. This conversation mentions, but goes beyond, blockchain and AI hype, focusing instead on the hard work of aligning innovation with real-world impact.