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Kiah Haslett walked into our Hot Takes session at the Alloy Labs annual member meeting with a thesis she’d been sitting on, and it’s a good one: in a lighter-touch regulatory environment, the prisoner’s dilemma rewards whoever moves first. The strategically correct move, she argues, might also be the morally bankrupt one. And she’s not sure that changes the math.

Dara Tarkowski — who sees the grand jury subpoenas before anyone else does — pushed back. Not on the logic, but on the premise. The statutes didn’t go anywhere. The switch can still be flipped.

And underneath both arguments is the question we’d been wrestling with the day before: if most banks only have a debt mindset — protect the downside, don’t lose, get your principal back — what are they leaving on the table? And what does it actually cost them to keep waiting for clarity that isn’t coming?

Joining Jason Henrichs are Kiah Haslett (Fintech Takes Banking), Dara Tarkowski (Much Shelist, P.C.), and Rick Geloff (Bank of North Dakota).

This week Captain Scott Kelly returns to the podcast with Brett King to talk Artemis II and NASA’s announcement of its intention to put a permanent base on the moon. Capt Kelly piloted and commanded shuttle missions before spending an entire year as commander of the International Space Station. We delve into the challenges for a lunar base, the similarities between the ISS and a base on the moon, and how the Orion capsule and lunar hardware differ from the shuttle and other spacecraft that Kelly piloted. The race is on between China and the US to set foot back on the moon.

This week the three hosts Rob, Ross and Brett are back in the studio debating the likely turning point in Geopolitical history from the Iran War, the resultant energy crisis, combined with the emerging demand for energy and compute based on AI. The world is irreversibally changing and The Futurists bring their unique insights and grasp on superforecasting to the momentum for what is coming. 

This week on Breaking Banks Brett King interviews bestselling author Igor Pejic about his new book Tech Money: A Guide to the New Game of Technology Investing, available May 26th. Brett and Igor discuss turbocharged innovations, frontier technologies, and how AI and technology investment are changing our future.

In this wide ranging conversation, Brett and Igor also debate the implications of wars fought largely by AI and how tech-first defense players like Palantir, Anduril and others are changing the sector from an investment perspective.

In this episode, Paolo Sironi speaks with Dr. Balakrishnan Mahadevan (Balu), author of Designing Change: My Journey Through India’s Digital Payments Transformation. India’s digital payments have grown from under one billion transactions annually around 2010 to over 225 billion by March 2025—a more than 200-fold increase. Through his unique lens as a former banking technology leader, COO of NPCI during its critical scaling years, and World Bank advisor, Balu offers a rare insider’s account of how this transformation actually happened. The conversation explores the book’s core message: that payments innovation is rarely about a single breakthrough. Instead, it emerges through decades of institutional development, regulatory leadership, collaborative ecosystem building, and combinatorial innovation—integrating real-time rails, mobile interfaces, APIs, and interoperable frameworks. Balu discusses the long journey from early electronic systems to real-time networks like UPI, the critical role of institutional design, overcoming early skepticism, and lessons for both developing and developed markets. The discussion highlights broader implications for digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion, and the evolving role of banks. This episode provides deep, practitioner-led insights into building scalable, inclusive financial systems.

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In this week’s Futurists episode Brett interviews bestselling author Igor Pejic on how AI and technology investment is changing valuations of defense industry players. Pejic is the author of Tech Money: A guide to the new game of technology investing. In this wide ranging conversation, Brett and Igor debate the implications of wars fought largely by AI and how tech-first defense players like Palantir, Anduril and others are changing the sector from an investment perspective.

This week on Breaking Banks, we feature sister podcast, Social Currency, powered by Sunrise Banks. Social Currency introduces us to some of the most innovative changemakers in finance, technology, and social impact—leaders who are dismantling barriers and reshaping their industries.

In this episode hosts Tyler Seydel, Chief Fintech Officer, and Eric Schurr, Chief Strategy Officer at Sunrise Banks are joined by Brian Tate, President and CEO of the Innovative Payments Association, to discuss where payments policy and innovation are headed next.

A graduate of Howard University with experience at the Financial Services Roundtable during the post-crisis reform era shaped by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Brian draws on decades inside Washington to unpack what’s coming for fintech, prepaid products, and the broader banking ecosystem. From regulatory modernization to emerging technologies, he shares his outlook on the opportunities and challenges that will define the next chapter of the payments revolution.

To hear more episodes of Social Currency go to provoke.fm or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This week Brett interviews South African futurist Bronwyn Williams, co-author of Surviving the AI Apocalypse. The discussion ranges from how we will work side by side with AI (not doing jobs but “work”) and the philosophical dilemmas that humanity faces as AI has greater and greater impact. This is a wide ranging conversation that delves into what it means to be human in the AI era.

Have we reached the point where AI is beginning to matter in a commercial sense or are we still in the ‘figuring it out’ stage and it’s not driving outcomes yet?

In this episode host Jason Henrichs is joined by Prashant Mehrotra, Chief AI Officer at U.S. Bank, and John Sun, Co-Founder and CEO of Spring Labs, for a deep dive into the frontier that is AI.

Listen as these executives share insights on AI as a transformational force, not just one part of the organization. Everyone needs to be brought along on the journey which requires evangelization, education, building, and execution as one. Best techs just exist, it should not feel like you are doing AI, you should just be doing your work — a state where intelligence is embedded and is everywhere.

The trio also explore the importance of balancing innovation with responsibility, and using AI thoughtfully. AI is complex, and organizations need to know where best to use it. There’s no need to overengineer every single solution. Generative AI costs every time you use it and human oversight remains essential, particularly in highly regulated environments.

As we search for efficiency and transformation for good, is AI the next set of prosperity, similar to the invention of the automobile?

This episode is part of the Hot Takes series, powered by U.S. Bank, and was recorded live at the University of Utah’s FintechXchange Conference.

In this episode of Breaking Banks, industry leaders Jason Hass (First Electronic Bank), Mike Jorgensen (U.S. Bank), and Louis Mrachek, (Merrick Bank) connect with Jason Henrichs for a dynamic conversation centered on embedded finance. Embedded finance seamlessly integrates financial services into non-financial platforms. Some examples include BNPL, Lending: Business & Personal Loans, and P&C Insurance, simplifying the claim process and getting the payment.

The panel explores how fintechs and banks are evolving from competitors into true partners—combining innovation, compliance, and trust to deliver better customer experiences.

They also tackle tensions between speed, risk and regulation, and the critical role banks still play behind the scenes. The future of finance may be invisible — but the trust powering it cannot be.

This episode is part of the Hot Takes series, powered by U.S. Bank, and was recorded live at the University of Utah’s FintechXchange Conference.