Agendas that Drive the Future of Financial Services
Celebrate the start of the conference in the Sun Garden at the Hilton Orlando. With fountain views, a warm atmosphere, and room to mingle, it’s the perfect setting for an intimate yet lively evening of networking, dining, and connection.
Every bank in America is being told the same thing: adopt AI or get left behind. Boards are asking about it. Vendors are selling it. Regulators are watching it. But here’s what almost no one is talking about—the majority of bank AI initiatives are stalling not because of the technology, but because the data underneath isn’t ready to support it.
This session tackles the uncomfortable truth that most financial institutions face an AI readiness gap—a structural disconnect between their AI ambitions and the state of their data. Banks sit on decades of extraordinarily valuable information: loan officer notes, call recordings, transaction patterns, compliance documentation, and customer interaction histories. Digital channels are generating even more of it every day—mobile session data, chatbot transcripts, onboarding drop-off patterns, and real-time behavioral signals. Fintechs don’t have the institutional depth. Big Tech doesn’t have the regulatory context. But most banks can’t use their own data either, because it’s siloed, ungoverned, and locked in formats that modern AI tools can’t consume.
We will share a practical framework for diagnosing and closing the AI readiness gap. This is not another session about what AI can do. This is the session about what your institution needs to build first.
Indulge in a delightful breakfast while nurturing valuable connections with fellow attendees. Engage in meaningful conversations and network with like-minded professionals on The Floor.
Cetin Duransoy, U.S. CEO of Revolut, leads the American expansion of one of the world’s fastest-growing fintechs—a company that has redefined digital banking for 75 million customers globally. As Revolut accelerates its U.S. growth following regulatory approvals and strategic partnerships, Duransoy brings a unique perspective on how global fintech challengers compete against entrenched banking infrastructure.
In this keynote, Duransoy discusses what it takes to build digital-first banking at global scale, why the U.S. market presents both opportunity and complexity for fintech disruptors, and how traditional banks and fintechs are converging toward similar models despite starting from opposite ends. From product innovation and customer acquisition to navigating regulatory requirements across jurisdictions, he explores the strategic decisions that separate sustainable fintech growth from hype-driven expansion.
As financial services become increasingly integrated and instantaneous, institutions must navigate a complex landscape of emerging risks that challenge traditional defense mechanisms. Experts will discuss the strategic balance between providing a seamless, high-speed user experience and maintaining robust protections against sophisticated global cybersecurity and AI-enabled fraud threats. The conversation will focus on the shift toward proactive risk management, the impact of new regulatory frameworks on digital resilience, and the collaborative, cross-channel strategies required to safeguard the integrity of the financial system in an era of constant technological change.
Fuel up on insightful dialogue and connect with fellow professionals who share your drive during this networking break.
The U.S. digital banking landscape in 2026 is undergoing a profound transformation as regulators shift toward a more innovation-friendly and deregulatory stance, moving away from previous cycles of caution and restriction toward a mandate for technological integration. Experts will discuss the “regulatory sea change” under the current administration, including the rescinding of restrictive crypto guidance and the push for standardized licensing for digital asset service providers.
The panel will also consider the maturation of AI-driven lending regulations, meeting enhanced cybersecurity mandates for real-time payment systems, and managing the evolving balance of power as state regulators increasingly step into consumer oversight roles. This discussion will provide attendees with actionable insights on how these 2026 shifts redefine compliance from a cost center into a strategic driver of operational stability and competitive advantage.
Fraud has evolved into a cross-rail, cross-channel problem while most bank fraud programs remain organized around individual payment types. This new survey of financial institutions explores why by-rail fraud management is increasingly ineffective, how criminals exploit speed and organizational fragmentation, and how these dynamics contribute to both fraud losses and unnecessary customer friction. The research identifies the data, technology, governance, and operating model changes banks are making, or need to make, to detect fraud earlier, respond in real time, and deliver more secure, frictionless customer experiences.
Operating at the intersection of traditional banking and digital innovation, Gill Haus oversees a $7 billion annual technology budget and 12,000+ technologists serving nearly 87 million consumers and 7.5 million small businesses. In this conversation, Haus discusses technology transformation at scale, from modernizing legacy systems and accelerating cloud migration to deploying AI across the organization. Drawing from experience at both digital-native companies and established financial institutions, he explores what it takes to build technology infrastructure that moves at the speed customers demand.
Why are Gen Z and Millennials increasingly turning to fintechs and what will it take for banks to win them back? Drawing on new national research from American Banker and Fiserv, this session explores how younger consumers are redefining their expectations for financial providers.
We’ll examine what’s driving fintech adoption, from intuitive digital experiences and integrated financial tools to personalized guidance and ease of use, and where traditional institutions are falling short. The research also highlights the critical role of trust, security, and emerging technologies like AI in shaping future preferences.
Join us for a data-driven look at the gaps banks need to close, and the opportunities they can seize, to stay relevant, competitive, and trusted with the next generation.
Immerse yourself in a delicious lunch, discover cutting-edge tech solutions, and engage in valuable networking opportunities with like-minded attendees.
Cross-border payments have been banking’s most profitable inefficiency—generating billions for banks precisely because they’re slow, expensive, and opaque: taking days, costing 6-7% in fees, with zero customer visibility. That’s ending. Real-time networks are connecting across countries, stablecoins are bypassing traditional banking, and new standards are forcing transparency. Banks moving $150 trillion annually face fintechs offering instant settlement at a fraction of the cost. Yet compliance remains complex at real-time speeds. This session examines how instant cross-border payments work, where stablecoins fit, how to maintain compliance at settlement speed, and whether traditional correspondent banking survives.
The critical role of leadership in dismantling the traditional silos between product innovation and risk compliance to transform potential friction into a competitive advantage has never been more important. By shifting the organizational narrative from “compliance as a gatekeeper” to “risk as a design parameter,” forward-thinking leaders can foster a culture where regulatory requirements are integrated into the earliest stages of the digital product lifecycle rather than treated as a post-development bottleneck. Experts will discuss actionable strategies for aligning cross-functional incentives, implementing unified workflow models to increase transparency, and cultivating a shared language of “sustainable speed” that empowers teams to innovate aggressively without compromising safety or trust.
As AI becomes embedded in payments, risk, compliance, and digital asset infrastructure, banks face a new question of control: where decision-making ends and autonomy begins. This panel examines how AI and agentic systems are reshaping execution, oversight, and accountability—and what bank leaders must do to retain control while moving at machine speed.
The regulatory ground is shifting beneath the fintech industry. The CFPB’s landmark 1033 open banking rule—finalized in October 2024—is now under reconsideration by new agency leadership, with enforcement enjoined and compliance timelines uncertain. Meanwhile, fintech-bank partnerships face heightened scrutiny following high-profile failures, and embedded finance providers navigate a patchwork of state licensing requirements that vary wildly by product and jurisdiction. This panel brings together fintech policy advocates and regulatory practitioners to examine the most pressing questions: Will open banking regulation survive in recognizable form? How should institutions prepare when the rules keep changing? And where can industry advocacy shape outcomes that balance innovation with consumer protection?
Every year legacy systems remain untouched, competitors move faster, customers grow impatient, and budgets are consumed by maintenance. Efficiency suffers.
Agentic AI has changed what is possible, but three challenges still derail programs.
- Tools evolve every six months.
- AI at scale can generate low quality as easily as value.
- Teams resist what they do not trust.
This session addresses all three with a framework designed for regulated environments, not demos. One presenter led this within a major U.S. insurer. The other built modernization frameworks across banks. Leave with a tool agnostic blueprint, a defensible quality model, and an adoption strategy that drives real business measurable outcomes.
As digital becomes the primary channel, personalization is no longer a differentiator—it’s the baseline expectation. This panel explores how leading banks are deploying agentic AI that doesn’t just respond to customer needs but anticipates them before they arise. Panelists will discuss the technical infrastructure, organizational changes, and privacy frameworks needed to deliver hyperpersonalization at scale—while preparing for a future where intelligent agents negotiate on behalf of both customers and institutions.
Banks have spent years piloting digital finance initiatives—from tokenization and real-time payments to AI-driven operations—but few have successfully scaled them across the enterprise. This discussion explores what separates experimentation from execution, including governance models, technology architecture, talent, and capital allocation decisions that enable sustainable innovation without introducing unacceptable risk.
The fastest-growing fraud threat doesn’t come from external hackers—it comes from customers exploiting their own accounts and synthetic identities created specifically to defraud banks through payment networks. First-party fraud schemes using ACH, mobile deposits, and peer-to-peer platforms are surging because they look like legitimate customer behavior until it’s too late. Check kiting rings that move funds across multiple institutions, bust-out schemes that max out credit before disappearing, and synthetic identities built from real and fabricated data that pass KYC checks—all exploit the trust embedded in payment systems. This panel examines how network-level visibility reveals fraud patterns individual banks can’t detect, what rules and risk frameworks actually prevent these schemes, and where liability falls when the fraud originates from inside your own customer base.
Immerse yourself in an engaging series of technology-focused presentations, unveiling an array of innovative products and services specifically tailored to enhance your workflows.
Automation isn’t autonomy. Agentic AI systems reason across domains, plan workflows, and execute decisions autonomously—a shift from scripted tasks. This session explores autonomous AI applications including loan processing, payments, customer service, and treasury operations. Panelists share how they’re building AI agent “fleets,” infrastructure across legacy systems, and governance for independent AI. Learn what separates proof-of-concept from production and why the limiting factor isn’t the models—it’s the discipline to trust them at scale.
Loosening regulatory expectations are increasing just as banks are being pushed to innovate faster. This panel examines how bank leaders can pursue digital finance transformation while maintaining regulatory credibility, auditability, and consumer protection—turning compliance into an enabler of innovation rather than a constraint in a market undergoing radical transformation.
The hardest challenge in business banking isn’t serving small businesses OR enterprise clients—it’s serving both on the same platform without compromise. A local coffee shop needs payroll and point-of-sale. A multinational needs letters of credit and supply chain finance. Building digital banking that scales across this spectrum requires platforms that are simultaneously simple enough for a sole proprietor and sophisticated enough for treasury teams. This panel examines how major banks architect products and capabilities that work for businesses of all sizes, the technical decisions that enable scale without fragmentation, and why “comprehensive” beats “specialized” in competitive business banking.
Customers expect consistency across mobile apps, web platforms, voice banking, call centers, and branches—yet most banks still operate in silos where context is lost and journeys restart with each channel switch. This session examines how to build truly omnichannel experiences through real-time context sharing, voice and gesture-based interfaces, and the technical architecture needed to make every interaction feel unified. Panelists will explore the organizational alignment, design systems, and inclusive accessibility strategies required to deliver seamless experiences at scale.
With tokenized deposits, stablecoins and on-chain settlement gaining momentum, bank executives must recognize that these developments represent a foundational shift in the industry and decide where best they can play a crucial role in the on-chain ecosystem. Panelists will discuss where on-chain finance creates real strategic advantage, how it integrates with existing balance sheets and regulatory frameworks that are changing, and what banks should—and should not—be investing in now.
Banks struggle to move AI from pilots to permanence because they treat intelligence as a tool rather than infrastructure. This fireside chat examines how to embed AI agents into enterprise workflows, measure integration beyond efficiency metrics, and lead transformation that builds trust rather than erodes it. Drawing from her book Return on Intelligence, Kristin Milchanowski shares frameworks for scaling AI across complex organizations while maintaining human-centered leadership. The conversation addresses why innovation without empathy creates resistance, how to move from experimentation to embedded ecosystems, and what return on intelligence actually means when efficiency alone isn’t enough.
Immerse yourself in an engaging series of technology-focused presentations, unveiling an array of innovative products and services specifically tailored to enhance your workflows.
As U.S. banks navigate margin pressures, regulatory complexity, rising customer expectations, and intensifying competition from national and digital-native players, incremental digital change is no longer enough. The next phase of transformation requires reimagining the bank as an AI-first enterprise – where intelligence is embedded across the core, operations, risk, and customer engagement.
At this breakfast session, we explore how banks can move beyond isolated AI use cases to enterprise-wide reinvention – modernizing core platforms, activating real-time data, strengthening trust through responsible AI, and unlocking new growth models. The discussion will outline practical pathways to transform today’s digital bank into a future-ready, intelligent institution built for resilience, efficiency, and sustainable growth.
Indulge in a delightful breakfast while nurturing valuable connections with fellow attendees. Engage in meaningful conversations and network with like-minded professionals on The Floor.
AI capability doubles every 100 days. Data quality doesn’t. While banks race to deploy new models, they’re discovering the real bottleneck isn’t computing power or algorithms—it’s fragmented, low-quality data trapped in legacy systems. In this session, panelists tackle the unglamorous but critical foundation layer as they explore building centralized data platforms that work across silos, implement data lineage governance that satisfies both AI teams and auditors, and protect against “AI debt”—the compounding cost of models built on poorly documented, unverified data. Learn why nearly half of all banks cite data quality as their number one AI obstacle and the importance of treating information assets like the strategic resources they are.
With 80% of fraud incidents originating in digital channels, robust security and privacy measures are not optional—but bad design can turn even the most effective measures into a point of friction. This panel examines how leading banks are treating trust as a competitive differentiator, how biometric authentication and behavioral analytics can enhance both security and user experience, communicate threats without causing panic, and balance data-sharing with customer control.
With embedded finance projected to reach $7 trillion globally by 2030, the question is no longer whether to collaborate but how to do it profitably and at scale. Leading banks are moving beyond pilot programs to industrialized partnership platforms—white-label BaaS, API marketplaces, and co-innovation labs generating measurable revenue. Yet 40% of bank-fintech partnerships fail to operationalize due to poor alignment, scalability issues, and unclear governance frameworks. This session examines how to structure compliant partnerships that enable speed, navigate revenue-sharing models, and build infrastructure supporting dozens of fintech integrations simultaneously—transforming from “protect the franchise” to “expand the ecosystem” strategies.
After starting their AI journeys deploying a handful of models, many banks now have hundreds—sometimes thousands. Each business unit—credit scores, fraud detection, customer churn, pricing, compliance, etc. etc.— builds its own models. And each vendor brings embedded AI. Effective portfolio management means knowing what’s running, where and on what data so you don’t drown in operational overhead or accumulate catastrophic risk. Panelists discuss building centralized model registries that actually get used, implementing continuous monitoring to catch drift before it causes failures, the risk of vendors embedding AI you can’t audit, and why “shadow AI”—models built outside official channels—represents both your biggest risk and best source of innovation, and how to govern it without killing it.
Artificial intelligence has shattered the economics of cybercrime, enabling sophisticated, personalized attacks on an industrial scale. Regional banks and credit unions face asymmetric warfare: attackers using cutting-edge AI while defenders operate with limited budgets, legacy infrastructure, and small security teams. This panel examines how AI-powered threats are evolving, why smaller institutions are increasingly attractive targets despite lower volumes, and what realistic defense strategies look like when you can’t outspend the threat. From behavioral biometrics to threat intelligence sharing and consortium-based defense models, panelists discuss practical approaches to surviving the AI arms race.
Digital finance strategies are still too often organized around products and rails rather than customer behavior and intent. This session explores how fraud, payments, identity, and digital assets are converging—and why banks must shift toward customer-centric architectures and intelligence models to compete, protect trust, and manage risk in real time.
Immerse yourself in an engaging series of technology-focused presentations, unveiling an array of innovative products and services specifically tailored to enhance your workflows.
Every click away from your platform is a conversion risk. Buy-now-pay-later proved that embedded finance isn’t just convenience—it’s a revenue driver. Platforms offering seamless, embedded financial products see higher average order values, increased conversion rates, and stronger customer loyalty. This session examines how leading platforms turn embedded finance into competitive advantage: which financial products drive the most revenue, designing experiences that feel native rather than bolted-on, understanding the unit economics, and when to partner with fintech providers versus building in-house. The future belongs to platforms that never make customers leave.
After years spent proving AI could cut costs, banks are now asking whether AI can grow revenue. Leading institutions have shifted their AI investment thesis from defensive efficiency to offensive growth as financial media networks turn checking accounts into ad-supported assets, predictive engines drive lifts in non-interest income and AI-powered embedded finance creates entirely new revenue streams. This session looks at the business case for revenue-focused AI, measuring top-line impact beyond vague “customer satisfaction” metrics, and navigating organizational resistance when AI disrupts established revenue models. Learn why the banks winning on AI aren’t always the ones with the best models—they’re the ones who figured out how to charge for them.
Open banking was sold on a promise: APIs would unlock innovation, data sharing would empower consumers, and banks would discover new revenue streams. Five years in, the results are mixed. The institutions winning in open banking identify specific customer pain points first, then reverse-engineer the technology and partnerships to solve them profitably. Panelists will share how customer-first open banking strategies generate measurable returns through reduced acquisition costs, improved retention, strategic partnerships that expand market reach, and digital architectures built for long-term profitability.
In 2026, Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) has evolved into a roughly $30 billion market defined by “invisible banking,” where financial services function as modular “bricks” embedded in every digital journey. This panel explores the next frontier of BaaS, focusing on the shift toward open finance, the rise of autonomous agentic money, and the integration of stablecoin rails for real-time settlements. Industry leaders will discuss how leveraging cloud-native cores and agentic AI allows firms to move beyond legacy constraints to deliver a hyper-personalized, 24/7 financial ecosystem.
Authorized Push Payment fraud—where criminals manipulate victims into willingly sending money—cost Americans over $8 billion in 2024. Unlike traditional fraud, customers authorize these transfers, creating a liability gray zone. The UK now mandates reimbursement for fraud victims (up to £85,000), and U.S. regulators are watching closely. Banks face a three-part challenge: detecting social engineering in real-time without blocking legitimate payments, determining liability when customers override warnings, and balancing protection with personal responsibility. This session examines behavioral analytics, friction-based interventions, effective customer education, and evolving liability frameworks.
Banks have moved past “What is generative AI?” to “How do we use it safely at scale?” GenAI can fabricate information and expose proprietary data, yet properly deployed it delivers 30-40% faster code development and automated document analysis. This session examines the difference between agentic AI (which takes action) and generative AI (which creates content), explores where GenAI delivers measurable value versus unacceptable risk, and provides frameworks for prompt engineering, output validation, and human oversight that make production deployment possible without compromising accuracy or compliance.
Immerse yourself in an engaging series of technology-focused presentations, unveiling an array of innovative products and services specifically tailored to enhance your workflows.
Immerse yourself in a delicious lunch, discover cutting-edge tech solutions, and engage in valuable networking opportunities with like-minded attendees.
AI has moved from proof-of-concept to production—and business leaders now expect results, not roadmaps. The question is no longer whether your institution has adopted AI, but whether it’s delivering measurable impact. In this session, Prashant Mehrotra examines how U.S. Bank is scaling AI across the enterprise and translating deployment into tangible outcomes: workforce productivity, operational efficiency, revenue growth, enhanced client experience, and fraud prevention. He’ll also explore the rapid rise of agentic AI and how autonomous systems are fundamentally reshaping workflows in digital banking.
Financial institutions face a fundamental challenge: customers expect speed and agility, but complex regulatory environments and legacy infrastructure make rapid transformation extraordinarily difficult. This panel examines what enables operational velocity at scale: transforming payments and operations at institutions processing massive transaction volumes, building the data infrastructure that enables both enterprise agility and AI deployment at scale, and understanding which architectural patterns from modern financial institutions can be adapted to legacy environments. The conversation addresses what traditional banks must modernize to achieve velocity, how AI and automation compress timelines without sacrificing reliability or compliance, and real-world examples of achieving speed while maintaining security and regulatory standards at enterprise scale.
Fuel up on insightful dialogue and connect with fellow professionals who share your drive during this networking break.
Between 2026 and 2030, banking will be re-architected at its core. Artificial intelligence will move from decision support to autonomous execution. Financial activity will increasingly occur on-chain. Banking services will be embedded into non-bank platforms. Cyber risk and fraud will redefine digital trust. And regulation will be rewritten for a world of real-time, programmable finance.
This super-panel brings together executive leaders to examine the five forces that will define competitive advantage over the next five years—and to debate what incumbents must change now to remain relevant. The discussion will focus not on experimentation, but on strategic choices, operating model shifts, and leadership decisions that will shape the future of banking, including a deep dive into the following:
- Agentic AI becomes core banking infrastructure.
- On-chain finance moves from edge case to systemic relevance.
- Open finance becomes embedded finance.
- Digital trust, cybersecurity, and fraud converge.
- Regulation rewrites the rules of innovation.
