Navigating Small Business Lending Challenges During COVID-19

In this episode, we sit down with Lukas Haffer, CEO and Co-founder of Casca, and Ryan Hildebrand, Chief Innovation Officer at Bankwell, to explore how AI is transforming small business lending—starting with SBA loans. They discuss the challenges of building on top of legacy banking systems, the stress-test of the COVID-19 PPP era, and how a human-in-the-loop approach is key to deploying AI responsibly in financial services.

You’ll hear how their partnership evolved from a small pilot into a full-stack platform that slashes loan processing times from 90 days to 3. We also dive into fraud prevention, the reality of deploying AI agents in banking, and why trust—not hype—is the foundation of true innovation.

Thanks to Fundbox⁠ for sponsoring this week's episode. With over a decade of experience, ⁠Fundbox⁠ delivers customizable credit solutions including invoice financing, lines of credit, term loans, payroll protection, and more.