In this episode, Navin talks with Stuart Wall, CEO and Co-founder of Setpoint, a fintech company reshaping the asset-backed lending industry. Stu reflects on his entrepreneurial upbringing, competitive chess background, and the lessons learned from past failures. He also explains how Setpoint is using AI to automate complex loan agreements—making credit markets faster, more transparent, and more efficient.

Prior to founding Setpoint, Stuart founded Signpost.com, a purpose-built CRM for service businesses, which he scaled to over 300 employees before. He began his career in Bain & Company’s Private Equity Group, where he evaluated multi-billion-dollar buyouts and developed deep expertise in financial operations.

Stuart earned his MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School and holds a BS in Finance from Miami University. He was named one of Glassdoor’s Top 25 North American CEOs in 2016 and shares insights on fintech and digital infrastructure with outlets like TechCrunch and Forbes.

In this episode, Navin is joined by Balan Ayyar, retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General and the Founder and CEO of percipient.ai. They discuss Balan’s deep military experience, how the commercial sector ensures U.S. defense capabilities, and if A.I. can benefit society.

Prior to leading percipient.ai, Balan served in the U.S. Air Force, including serving as Commanding General of the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435, in Kabul, Afghanistan. After retiring, he served as CEO of a $100M+ government services IT firm before founding percipient.ai, an artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision firm dedicated to intelligence and national security efforts.

Navin is joined by Jordan Blashek, a U.S. Marine veteran, investor, and co-founder of America’s Frontier Fund. They discuss how the U.S. military uses AI on the battlefield, accelerating the R&D cycle to bring critical technologies to market, and the importance of public-private partnerships to bolster U.S. competitiveness.

Blashek is the co-founder and managing partner of AFF, a mission-driven fund investing in frontier technologies that are vital to U.S. competitiveness on the global stage. His perspective on innovation and investing in America’s future evolved during his service with the U.S. Marine Corps, seeing first hand how critical technology like artificial intelligence can influence communications and intelligence operations across the board.

Introducing, Ripple E-ffects, the latest podcast from CSIS. Ripple E-ffects examines how technology redraws the contours of power, economics and national security. Host Navin Thukkaram engages technology pioneers, national security experts, and business leaders in precise conversations that seek to separate signal from noise. New episodes release monthly.