AI in Financial Services Podcast

Today’s guest is Qraft Technologies APAC CEO, Francis Geeseok Oh. Qraft is an emerging invest tech AI solution for investment risk management. Those in the investment space, from retail to big-name Wall Street firms, might have some familiarity with Qraft’s AI Risk Indicator Tool. On their website, the AI-powered platform gives an instantaneous reading on the risk within a market during a given period, all with the fluidity of checking a mobile weather app. On the ‘AI in Financial Services’ podcast, he and Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello discuss overcoming the block box issues therein and where the human element is best delegated in risk management workflows, given the advantages of AI capabilities in these spaces. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

Today's guest is the CEO of Catchlight Insights, Wilbur Swan. Catchlight is a Fidelity-backed and grown AI solution streamlining lead optimization for small and medium-sized financial institutions with a special focus on custom tools built for individual personal financial advisors and realtors. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Wilbur discusses strategies in data visualization and avoiding the all-or-nothing thinking that comes with developing dashboards that show "everything under one umbrella." Later, they pull apart use cases showing the difference AI is making in both individual and institutional lead optimization workflows. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

Today's guest is Vic.ai Co-founder and CEO Alexander Hagerup. Vic.ai is a software as a service that offers full autonomy in accounting workflows, specifically in invoice processing and helping to streamline approval processes in a broad range of financial services sectors. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Alexander explains what AI autonomy can look like and what it takes to remove human beings from the decision-making process in accounting. Later, he pulls apart a number of applicable use cases in the real estate and fintech startup space. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

Today's guest is Christian Van Leeuwen, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of FRISS. His company accrued over $88 million to fund a workforce of 200 employees focused on claims underwriting, investigation, and working with the biggest names in the insurance space. Following his last appearance on the AI in Business podcast, he and Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello pull apart use cases in trust automation. Their conversation reveals how much the insurance space is beginning to resemble banking in terms of the increasing importance of knowing who your customer is from the front door of the insurance policy lifecycle. Plus, how AI is illuminating new business opportunities in commercial insurance given the influx of data emerging from the internet of things. This episode is brought to you by FRISS. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.

Today’s guest is Kelly Harlin, Director of Solutions Marketing and Commercialization at Sharp/NEC. As a manufacturer of computer monitors and large-scale information displays and systems, Sharp/NEC has a front row to how banks collect data - particularly visual - to better ascertain the lifestyle needs of their customers. Why is this information so important to banks? Kelly explains to Emerj CEO Daniel Faggella that the pandemic had a devastating impact on foot traffic to banking branches. There’s been some recovery, but now banks are more interested than ever in knowing why people need their physical branches and how to complement their needs best with digital services. To access Emerj’s frameworks for AI readiness, ROI and strategy, visit Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1.

Today’s guest is Pecan AI CEO and co-founder Dr. Zohar Bronfman. Pecan produces an AI-driven platform designed to drive business value using predictive analytics and proprietary model scoring. In conversation with Emerj CEO and Head of Research Daniel Faggella, Zohar discusses how insurers can use machine learning capabilities to find up- and cross-selling opportunities throughout the episode. Zohar points to particularly actionable steps for business leaders in insurance adjacent spaces in developing scoring optimization systems for upgrading policies, targeting high net-worth customers, and reframing business needs into predictive questions. 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!

Today’s guest is Pardeep Bassi, Global Proposition Leader of Data Science at Willis Towers Watson. He’s also spent the last decade in data science leadership roles for insurance firms. Pardeep returns to the Emerj podcast platform to talk about a rising inflection point with old insurers who have data but don’t know how to use it and startups that don’t have data but are more agile in deploying AI solutions. He and Emerj Head of Research Daniel Faggella also discuss how insurance firms – particularly legacy institutions - can go beyond automation and predictive insights, using AI to find the right questions to ask to understand customers’ risk better. For access to Emerj’s Executive Cheat Sheet on AI in insurance, check out emerj.com/ins1.

Today’s guest is Jay Budzik, Chief Technology Officer of Zest AI. What are the best ways to measure ROI for an early AI project? There are countless ways to answer the question, as virtually every organization working in AI finds the process challenging. Yet Jay and Emerj CEO Daniel Faggella pull apart what it means when the value of differing metrics changes and the best ways to find a proxy. Later, they discuss how best to prepare early AI adoption initiatives before they begin and what “strategic value” means outside immature expectations of financial returns in the first few months. 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!

Today’s guest is Jackson Hull. At the time of recording this interview, Jackson was the COO of OakNorth, but he now serves as the CEO of Elliptic. OakNorth is a financial services unicorn company based in the United Kingdom. In this episode, we explore a topic that is very pertinent to Jackson’s former role: assessing the health of your loan portfolio. Understanding your loan portfolio’s health is an essential skill for executives in the finserv industry, but right now, it is a sticky business and might be a place where artificial intelligence can add value. Jackson provides a high-level strategic perspective on the business and discusses an interesting use-case. To access Emerj’s non-technical guide for getting started with AI deployment, check out emerj.com/beg1.

This week’s guest is Sankar Narayanan, Chief Practice Officer at Fractal. Fractal is a unicorn company focusing on services and solutions in various industries, including financial services. In this episode, we unpack what the post-covid world looks like from a priorities standpoint for financial services leaders. Sankar shares perspectives from across the organizations they’re serving at Fractal and what he’s seeing amongst leaders in the financial services industries. He also addresses questions of funding, more or less critical problems in the industry, where AI might add value, and more. Discover more AI use-cases, best practice guides, white papers, frameworks, and more - join Emerj Plus: emerj.com/p1.