AI in Financial Services Podcast

Steve Hasker, CEO of Thomson Reuters, a leader in legal, tax and financial information, speaks about deploying AI in regulated workflows. He discusses the need for absolute accuracy and human sign-off. He covers data isolation, transparency teams, and which regulatory filings and workflows are most likely to change first.

Modern enterprise leaders face a critical strategic challenge in balancing seamless digital onboarding with the increasing threat of sophisticated, AI-driven fraud. In this episode, Mary Ann Miller, VP of Client Experience and Fraud Advisor at Prove, unpacks why a robust "welcome mat" strategy centered on high-assurance identity verification enables the safe scaling of high-value services and drives institutional ROI. The conversation examines the implementation of endpoint bot protection to counter agentic AI attacks, the transition to intelligent data pre-fill to reduce abandonment, and the role of tokenized identity in creating a persistent, frictionless customer experience. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/e2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on Emerj's flagship 'AI in Business' podcast.

Tal Elyashiv, Co-founder and managing partner at SPiCE VC, a tokenization and blockchain infrastructure investor. He explains why tokenized assets are moving from pilots into institutional-scale use. Topics include tokenization as settlement infrastructure, tokenized treasuries and new products, AI-driven fraud and identity challenges, and human-in-the-loop governance for AI in finance.

Kiruba Eswaran, CEO of Eleos Life, builds a fully digital life and disability insurance platform with 24/7 AI guidance. He explores why protection lags digital behavior. He explains finding contextual moments to offer coverage. He outlines embedding insurance into digital ecosystems. He discusses where AI can scale education and where humans should handle empathy-heavy interactions.

Debjit Saha, VP of Engineering & Product for Risk & Compliance at MoneyGram, builds data- and AI-driven controls for fraud, compliance, and payments decisioning. He discusses why siloed fraud, AML, and sanctions systems break down. He covers the market forces pushing unification. He outlines measuring success and designing tiered human-in-the-loop controls. He examines how sophisticated, syndicated fraudsters exploit gaps.

Debjit Saha, VP of Engineering & Product for Risk & Compliance at MoneyGram, discusses navigating the complexities of modern payment systems. He shares insights on how fraud sophistication is rising while customers seek seamless experiences. Debjit highlights the importance of data privacy and regulatory compliance, such as GDPR, in shaping AI controls. He also emphasizes the need for explainability in AI, the role of human oversight, and actionable steps leaders can take to enhance credibility in just 90 days.

Mary Ann Miller, VP and Fraud Executive Advisor at Prove, dives deep into AI's transformative role in financial services onboarding. She shares how AI-driven identity verification can reduce fraud while easing operational burdens. With insights on automating manual checks, detecting bots, and personalizing customer experiences, she highlights the urgency for financial institutions to modernize or risk losing customers. Mary Ann also discusses the impact of regulatory changes on data pre-fill and the future of seamless, one-click onboarding.

Today's guest is Nicole Haverly, Vice President of Credit Unions at nCino. nCino is a provider of intelligent banking solutions. Headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, the company helps banks and credit unions modernize and streamline core banking tasks, empowering financial institutions of all sizes globally to deliver faster, more intelligent, and customer-friendly banking experiences. Nicole joins Emerj Senior Editor, Marilie Fouché, to discuss how credit unions can balance community-focused member experiences with the growing demand for digital-first engagement. Nicole also explains practical ways automation and AI can streamline account opening and lending, reduce manual data entry, and allow staff to focus on deeper, high-value member interactions, driving measurable results in efficiency, product adoption, and member retention. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/e2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on Emerj's flagship 'AI in Business' podcast!

Kyle Hathorn, Director of Customer Experience and Strategy at FNBO, shares insights on leveraging AI to enhance customer journeys in financial services. He discusses the rising customer expectations amid economic pressures and the importance of holistic, personalized experiences. Kyle emphasizes the need for balancing AI with human connection to build trust, addressing skepticism around data usage. He also outlines key metrics for assessing customer engagement and advocates for strong data practices to ensure seamless service across platforms.

Today's guest is Karan Gandhi, Senior Director for Verification and Fraud at Best Egg. Best Egg is a consumer lending platform focused on responsible, data-driven credit access. Karan joins Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to explore how deepfakes, synthetic identities, bot attacks, and agentic systems are reshaping the fraud landscape and what these shifts mean for data and AI strategy in financial services. Karan also breaks down the practical steps enterprises can take to strengthen verification workflows, leverage metadata and OCR analysis more effectively, and frame fraud-prevention ROI in a way that secures executive buy-in for modernizing their technology stack. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/e2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on Emerj's flagship' AI in Business' podcast! If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!