President, North America
Engine by Starling
Jody Bhagat is Engine by Starling’s President of North America. Engine by Starling is the global technology arm of the highly successful UK digital bank, Starling. Since its launch in 2017, Starling has become one of the world’s most innovative digital banks serving 4.6M retail and SME customers in the UK. It is leading the way for first-class digital products and features, with some of the highest levels of customer satisfaction in the market, as well as a proven track record for operational efficiency, the bank is now in its fourth year of profitability.
A seasoned leader in the finance sector, Jody is at the forefront of Engine by Starling’s North American operations. He has a proven track record of delivering successful digital transformation programs, and in this role, he is bringing Engine by Starling to banks and credit unions across the US to drive real business results through technological change.
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.