Expect the unexpected

A slight pomegranate incident derailed this week's newsletter and much of yesterday's productivity ... We did say, always be ready for the unexpected.

Speaking of the unexpected. My lovely friend, Diana Wu David , spotted Beyond Good on the shelves in the Bali airport this week. That made my day.

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I've been having quite a few chats with friends in the ecosystem around artificial intelligence (well, who isn't?). Unsurprisingly, data privacy and security concerns rank amongst the highest when it comes to deploying AI in financial services. We all agree that data is essential in helping us make better decisions, and creating better and more personalized products and services. Those organizations who can figure out how to access the data and use them effectively will likely be the ones who can pull ahead. So who's providing the tools for these enterprises to unify their data and build with a data-centric model?

Watch this space.

(The diagram below is from an eBook by SAS: Your journey to a GenAI future .)

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What I am reading ...

[1] Branch is dead. Long live the branch.

So what roles do bank branches play in the future? Do consumers still use branches and for what purpose? As it turns out (as it always is), details matter.

According to RFI Global, "a third of Gen Zs want innovative services at their branch ... Gen Z are the heaviest users of branches with 42% of Gen Z using it on a monthly basis, higher than any other UK demographic."

And more importantly, will AI eventually move the needle and eventually reduce the need for branches?

[2] On the continuous battle on deepfakes and guardrails.

A federal judge just blocked California law that prohibited deepfake political campaign ads, because it violated the 1st amendment. Essentially this means now we don't really have any "prohibition against those who use AI to clone a candidate's image or voice and portraying them falsely without revealing that the images or words are fake."

[3] The thin line between convenience and privacy.

How many times have we met someone at a conference or on the street, struggling to remember their names or how we first connected? What if we have a facial recognition tool that can share that information with us discreetly? Wouldn't that be convenient?

But how do you draw the line between convenience and privacy? Now, that's a slippery slope.

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In this week's One Vision Podcast ...

Credit unions and smaller financial institutions rely heavily on 3rd party providers for AI solutions. But lack of clarity on regulations is one of the factors hindering the adoption of AI in the industry.

In this episode of One Vision — FinTech Fuse! I chat with Elizabeth Osborne , COO of Great Lakes Credit Union , on the strategies and challenges for adopting AI in the financial services industry. Pro tip from Elizabeth: Start with a focused used case and keep it simple; avoid unnecessary and overcomplicated layers of requirements and dependencies. And don’t forget to listen to your members’ feedback!?

Give this episode a listen and let us know what you think.

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As always, thank you for reading. If you enjoy my posts ...

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