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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 provokestage.wpengine.com 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.

In this episode of Breaking Banks Africa, Matteo Rizzi sits down with Dr. Stanley Jacobs, President of Fintech Nigeria and VP for West Africa at the Africa Fintech Network. They explore Nigeria’s fintech evolution, the rise of unicorns, and the opportunities shaping Africa’s youthful, tech-savvy population. From ecosystem building and cross-border innovation to talent development and digital inclusion, Dr. Jacobs shares insights on harmonizing regulations, fostering financial literacy, and empowering the next generation of African digital natives. This conversation offers a front-row seat to Africa’s booming fintech landscape and the strategies driving inclusive, scalable growth across the continent.

Quit to win” is the unconventional advice given by entrepreneur Francesco Urso, who has written a book by that title. Urso explains to The Futurists how the best career strategy in a time of turmoil is to create your own company. In this episode, he explains how to surmount the barriers of fear and inertia, to quit your job and start a new venture.  

In this episode, author Dimitrios Salampasis joins host Paolo Sironi to introduce the Research Handbook on FinTech, a global scholarly effort to understand finance’s radical transformation. Two decades ago, finance meant traditional banks and centralised institutions. Today, digital payments, AI, blockchain, and central bank digital currencies are rewriting the rules. Dimitrios explains why this handbook arrives at the perfect moment: FinTech has matured from startup hype into core infrastructure, involving regulators, central banks, technology companies, and incumbents alike. It now shapes payments, digital assets, identity, trust, and inclusion worldwide. He reveals his motivation: to bridge the gap between rapid innovation and lagging academic theory by uniting leading scholars across finance, law, economics, and technology into one intellectual map. Editing the book felt like conducting an orchestra—bringing global experts together while keeping pace with fast-moving developments. Dimitrios highlights the surprising global reach of FinTech, the convergence of AI and blockchain, and the growing role of governments. Essential reading for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and students seeking to understand—and shape—the future of digital finance.

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