Musings from Finovate Spring'23

As with most conferences, the week often feels like a whirlwind. Serendipity encounters always end up breaking even the most meticulous attempts to plan ahead.

Here are some of my takeaways ...

The cool kids

The one thing we love most about Finovate are always the startup demos. The one by Flybits in particular caught my eye — giving us a glimpse on how banking in the future might look like.

Speaking of ... here are the best of show winners:

Top trends

The "Analysts All Stars" this year was presented by Tiffani Montez , Dan Latimore , and Dylan Lerner , who covered the topics of Gen Z, Buy Now, Pay Later, Generative AI, and consumer financial fitness.

AI is in the air

It is quite impossible to miss the AI trend this year, particularly against the backdrop of round-the-clock news from tech companies. Discussions around AI, along with data and privacy, dominated quite a few demos and panels.

As I stressed in my keynote presentation, it's crucial for our industry to proceed —?with caution, while keeping an eye out on bad actors and unintended consequences. Ultimately, it is about people.

Community

Which brings me to the last and most important point: The fintech community. Attending Finovate has always been like a family reunion, and it feels particularly true this year. Not only was I able to catch up with many old friends in person, I also met quite a few new people who left me inspired and super energized.

And that —?is the magic of Finovate.

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Stay tuned for pictures from the event. And see you all in NYC for Finovate Fall!