One Vision Podcast — Fintech, Banking, and AI with Theodora Lau

This is the first episode of our new series focused on Innovation in Asia - Red Envelope. Asia has proven to be a hotbed for Fintech innovation, where the consumer base, mobile penetration and lack of legacy have given way to leap frog moments. 

In this episode, Theodora Lau and Arun Krishnakumar talk to Charles D'Haussy about the Hongkong ecosystem. Charles is the Director Strategic Initiatives at ConsenSys, and previous to that Head of Fintech at Invest Hongkong.

Hong Kong, also known as the “Peal of Orient”, is home to 7.4 million people from countries around the world. It consists of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon peninsula (which borders mainland China), and many smaller islands, with total footprint less than Manhattan. It is a land of dream, hope, and resilience. It is also a city filled with people who believe that hard work will bring them a prosperous future, who continue to re-invent themselves despite all odds.

Hong Kong is also the third most attractive financial center globally and best in Asia according to the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI), with 159 banks (and 70 of the world’s 100 top banks) and 160 authorized insurers. The territory has seen strong growth in fintech startups in the past two years, especially in the areas of wealthtech and blockchain. This is largely due to an open economy, strong support by the Hong Kong Government, and favorable tax system. It is the link between the East and the West, a landing pad for fintech companies eyeing opportunities in Asia, and a launch pad for Chinese mainland fintech companies expanding abroad.

Listen in for Charles' views on Hongkong, China and the Fintech boom in the region that has become a case study for the world to learn from.

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As much as 85% of jobs that will be available in 2030 do not exist yet for today’s graduates – it is never too late to disrupt ourselves. 50 is indeed becoming the new 30. Soon, we will have five generations working alongside each other. Not only “when” or “how long” we are working has changed, “how” we are earning a living has changed as well. 

Given this new paradigm, is retirement still relevant? Or should we retire the traditional notion of retirement, and re-think how we should manage and grow our savings? 

In this episode of Judge Me by My Cover, Arun Krishnakumar and Theodora Lau, talk to Professor Andrew Scott, author of the best seller "100 Year Life". Andrew is a Professor of Economics and also served as a Dean at the London Business School. He is also the co-founder of the "Longevity Forum".

Andrew provides his views on the society where people are segmented by the stage of life they are into, rather than the age. With more years to live, the kind of assets we'll have to build through different stages of life also look pretty different.

While ageing is universal, how we age is not homogeneous – and we can no longer segment individuals and their needs by age. A 50-year old today is vastly different than a 50-year old twenty years ago. A 50-year old in China is also different than a 50-year old in Europe or the U.S.. Their financial needs, aspirations, and obligations are also likely different. 

Listen in to hear views from Andrew, Arun and Theo on this week's Rhetoriq podcast.

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If books are food for the soul – bookstores and libraries are great halls for feast. Reading not only helps us gain new perspectives and expand our horizon, it also helps us take a break from our ever-connected digital lives – where information is constantly being pushed to us. Books allow us the luxury of immersing ourselves in moments that go as far as our minds would wander – and travel abroad without the physical burden of a voyage. As J.K. Rowling said: “If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” 

This week, we have the pleasure of hosting Simon Cocking from Irish Tech News. Theodora Lau and Arun Krishnakumar discuss several aspects of the publication and Simon's favourite books in this episode. Simon commands a global following within the Blockchain industry, and is considered one of the top advisers in this space. He also had a few thoughts on what went wrong with the industry, and what needs to be done to get it back on track.

Simon shares his journeys at the Irish tech news, effects of Brexit on the Irish tech community, and the rise of emergence markets and its effect on readership at Irish tech news. 

We hope that you will enjoy our conversations with book lovers and accomplished authors on FinTech, Innovation, Longevity, Technology, and more. 

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a world where Chinese citizens with Chinese bank accounts can conduct their whole life on Alipay and WeChat super apps while outsiders pay cash; where 47% of American consumers are still writing checks; where people in Africa can pay and obtain microloans on their mobile phones in an instant – the answer to the age-old question to the promised land: “Are we there yet?” is unfortunately “No, not yet.”

In this opening episode of our next series "Judge me by my cover", Theodora Lau and Bradley Leimer talk to Chris Skinner, author of the book Digital Human. As Chris Skinner wrote in his book “The new world is one of transient relationships, shorter-term commitments and everything online all the time. However, the financial system is built for lifetime relationships, long-term engagement, and everything over the counter.”

If the industry is to thrive in a new environment with competition from global technology firms, we must leverage the scale and trust of incumbent banks, agility and focus of fintech startups. Until recently, a consumer's financial data was centrally held within their financial institution. But this too has started to change with the implementation of various Open Banking initiatives that have evolved through the past decade and launched within recent years across the globe.

Listen in for insights on future of banking from three Fintech gurus, Theo, Brad and Chris.

Join us at Money20/20 Europe this June in Amsterdam, as we dive further into the game-changing stories and trends, driving forward the global Financial Services, Payments and FinTech community. Find out more about the Money20/20 Agenda and Stories by clicking on the links below.

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New US CEOs are now averaging 58 years old, and 62 as the average age of the top performing CEOs in the world, the companies they run spend 500% more to attract millennial customers.

In this episode of Shades of Grey, Arun Krishnakumar and Theodora Lau are joined by Bradley Schurman and Lilian Myers, the Co-Founders of EconomyFour. EconomyFour helps companies, policymakers, and people understand and fulfill the promise of a 100 year life.

Thanks to advancement in healthcare, we are in an ageing world. Global demographic shift continues to strain governments and health services facing more people in post-retirement entitlement programs than in the tax-paying workforce. Yet a fast-moving change is underway as vital, vibrant individuals passing the half-way mark in a 100-year-life see themselves, not ‘retreating’ form economic engagement, but running hard in it.  And they will control US$15T in global spending power by 2020.

Brad and Lilian highlight the challenges and opportunities for businesses to innovate around the ageing population. Lilian says "For me it's coming back to normal", referring to her transition back into the startup world with Economy Four, and Brad says "Inclusion at the end of the day is the No 1 goal". 

Listen in for more insights from Brad, Lilian, Arun and Theo on the opportunities in an ageing world.

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beyond companionship, another challenge facing older population is the loss of mobility and the ability to drive. A few years ago, Justin Boogaard started GoGoGrandparent to help older adults maintain their independence by accessing on-demand services like Uber & Lyft without a smart phone. As with many entrepreneurs in the longevity ecosystem, Justin started his journey with a personal story – of the need for an accessibility solution for his grandmother. 

Srin Madipalli, our guest in this Shades of Grey episode, started Accomable (acquired by Airbnb in 2017) to solve a personal challenge, and to raise the profile on the needs of the disabled. Arun Krishnakumar describes how he passed on Srin's funding request, only to find them acquired by Airbnb in a year's time. 

Theo, Arun and Srin discuss the reasons behind the founding of Accomable, the growth that it saw in the market, and how the acquisition came about. Srin is now a global ambassador for Airbnb, and travels the world shouting out the need for mobility.

To be successful in today’s diverse society, accessibility cannot be an after thought. People with disabilities and physical ailments, or those who are illiterate, now have the means to obtain information, control smart home appliances, and engage with others outside their homes. The ability to bridge physical distance, or navigate the world via the digital highway – using one’s voice is simply empowering.

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to the relentless work and advocacy from many men and women, gone are the days when banks required a woman applying for credit to have her husband co-sign, or when companies could legally fire women for being pregnant. However, as a society, we still have ways to go to get to any sense of 50/50 equality. 

In this episode of Shades of Grey, Arunkumar Krishna Kumar and Theodora Lau talk to Ramya Joseph - the CEO and Founder at PEFin. Ramya has made the transition from Proprietary trading at Goldman Sachs to founding the world's first AI based financial advisor.

As we continue the digital journey, algorithms are increasingly instrumental in determining societal outcomes. It is more imperative that ever that our tech teams, in banking, technology, healthcare, and beyond, include a mix of people with different life experiences and backgrounds, to spot when biases might skew the outcomes, whether by unconscious or thoughtless omissions. 

After all, “AI is created by humans, for humans,” as beautifully articulated by Ramya Joseph, CEO and Founder at Pefin. Listen in for more insights from Ramya.

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite increased awareness of gender equity issues, and commitment by various executives and industry leaders, progress towards equality appeared to have stalled. Is it really a lifestyle choice, or is it born out of necessity (i.e. constraints), perhaps due to lack of affordable childcare, flexible work arrangements, and outdated cultural norms that women should bear the primary caregiving responsibilities – of children and older parents? 

In this episode of Shades of Grey, Theodora Lau and Arunkumar Krishnakumar speak with Catherine Flax, CEO of PEFin. Catherine made her transition to the startup world after several successful years at Wall Street. The discussion focuses on her transition from Wall street to the start up world, and the take aways from there. 

The conversation then moves into the Venture capital industry and the biases that a woman founder faces. Unless women are being appointed into the senior roles (in banking, VC, and tech alike), no substantial changes will occur. And it’s not just about helping women getting into the corner offices either; to achieve sustainable success will require cultural and policy changes to support working parents. 

Deloitte, for example, is introducing a new policy that allows parents to take 18 weeks of parental leave over 36 months – recognizing that parenting is not something that happens for only 12 months. Listen in for more insights.

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens if the world actually runs out of people? While you may not fully subscribe to this point of view, we all need to start paying much more attention to the needs of its fastest growing segment of our global population: those households that are over the age of 50. As aging itself is far from homogeneous, the solutions we create today to serve the needs of our aging population will determine our future quality of life. Our very future is at stake. 

In this episode of Shades of Grey, Theodora Lau and Arun Krishnakumar talk to Bradley Leimer, Co-Founder at Unconventional Ventures. Brad shares insights from his travels in Asia and compares the innovation of the West to that emerging from the East. The discussion moves on to what the challenges and opportunities are in an Ageing world, especially in countries like Japan and Italy.

The challenge of east vs west in regard to opportunities for financial services is one of scale, from physical health to financial wellness. Technologies such as automation and robotics ensure activities of daily living are accomplished more efficiently. Voice technology and mobility solutions through autonomous vehicles and transit systems help to keep aging societies connected and active. We must remember that the eighty-year-old of today was not the same eighty-year-old of fifty years ago nor fifty years in the future.

Listen into the episode for more insights.

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we live longer and the cost of healthcare increases, where would we turn to for support? For many, that responsibility falls largely on their family members. More often than not, these caregivers are those that belong to the sandwiched generation, ones with their own family and children that they are taking care of. In addition to helping with daily chores, many also provide financial support, with monthly contribution averaging $403, according to the latest study by RBC Wealth Management. 

In this episode of Shades of Grey, Theodora Lau and Arun Krishnakumar talk to Evin Ollinger, CEO of Golden. Evin is an executive with high growth track record in startups and Fortune 500 companies. He has led two companies to successful exits namely, DistribuPro and Chronos Software.

Evin describes his journey to founding Golden, and his vision of the firm. Imagine if your loved ones end up in the emergency room, and you were to take charge of their financial obligations, would you know what bills they have and when they will become due? Do you know where they hold their financial assets or if they have a safety deposit box? And how do we overcome the challenge of living apart – and ensure that our loved ones continue to live independently and with dignity?

Listen in to hear Evin's views on how Golden solves the challenges around Financial Caregiving.

One Vision Podcast is a fintech, banking, and AI podcast hosted by Theodora Lau (Founder, Unconventional Ventures; author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence). One Vision goes beyond the headlines on AI, agentic commerce, digital banking, financial inclusion, and the future of money — with founders, analysts, venture capitalists, technologists, and operators building the next chapter of financial services. New episodes weekly. Featured guests include leaders from Ant, bunq, J.D. Power, Forrester, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAS, SAP, and Wall Street Journal. Recognized in American Banker's Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.