Agenda

08.30 - 09.15: Registration and refreshments

09.15 - 09.20: Chairman’s welcome
Jonathan Easton, Editor, FStech

09.20 - 09.50: Keynote speaker: Bringing the outside in: A look at today’s FinTech landscape in an ever-changing industry  
Kirsty Rutter, Strategic Investment Director (Corporate Venture Capital), Lloyds Banking Group

Kirsty Rutter, Lloyds Banking Group's Fintech Investment Director, will discuss the transformative fintech landscape and the trends we are seeing this year, which are redefining the industry’s interactions with financial services.

Kirsty will look at the opportunities and potential challenges for the sector across areas including consumertech, AgenticAI and payments innovation. The session will consider what’s next for FinTech and discuss the power of FinTech partnerships in unlocking collaboration and new opportunities.

Kirsty will also expand on how the team at Lloyds Banking Group are keeping at the forefront of these trends through their strategic investments and partnerships and how they are meeting the evolving needs of customers in a rapidly moving industry.

09.50 - 10.20: Session to be announced 

10.20 - 11.00: Panel: AI in Financial Services: Practical Implementation and Strategic Value sponsored by HCLTech

Panellists to be announced

AI has moved beyond hype to become an essential component of modern financial services. This panel will examine how leading institutions are successfully deploying AI technologies to transform operations, enhance customer relationships, and gain a competitive advantage in today's rapidly evolving marketplace.

Panelists will share real-world implementation strategies across key domains, including risk assessment, fraud detection, customer service and digital transformation. They'll analyse the organisational structures, data governance frameworks and technology partnerships that underpin successful AI adoption while highlighting approaches to overcoming common implementation challenges.

The session will also explore the regulatory landscape surrounding AI in financial services, addressing compliance requirements, explainability standards and ethical considerations for responsible deployment. Attendees will gain practical insights into measuring AI investment returns, building appropriate skills within their organisations and developing strategic roadmaps for AI integration that align with broader institutional objectives and customer expectations.

11.00 - 11.30: Coffee break

11.30 - 12.00: Session to be announced 

12.00 - 12.40:  Building Resilience: Strengthening operational frameworks in an evolving landscape, sponsored by BMC
Panellists:
Fox Ahmed, Global Head of Cybersecurity and Technology and Data Protection Regulatory Risk, BNP Paribas
Duncan Ash, Banking and Financial Services Industry GTM Lead, BMC
Ravneet Shah, Chief Technology Officer, Allica Bank

Financial institutions face unprecedented challenges in maintaining operational continuity amidst technological transformation, market volatility, and emerging threats. This panel will explore comprehensive approaches to strengthening operational resilience in today's complex financial ecosystem.

Panellists will discuss strategies for identifying vulnerabilities, implementing robust Risk management, business continuity plans, and leveraging advanced technologies to enhance system redundancy and recovery capabilities. They'll examine how cloud-based solutions, AI-driven monitoring, and distributed architectures are revolutionising resilience planning.

The session will also address the evolving regulatory expectations around operational resilience and the importance of scenario testing and simulation. Attendees will gain insights on balancing innovation with stability and discover how industry leaders are reimagining operational frameworks to thrive in an increasingly unpredictable landscape.

12.40 - 13.10: A brief history of the future: How technology is transforming financial advice
John Somerville, Director of Financial Services, LIBF

In this session, John Somerville, Director of Financial Services at LIBF, explores the evolving role of technology in the financial advice sector – from the early days of mobile hardware and printed recommendations to the rise of AI-powered advice and market intelligence. Reflecting on over three decades of change, he examines how innovation has enhanced adviser efficiency and client outcomes, while emphasising the enduring importance of human interaction. Looking ahead, the session considers how financial services must adapt to meet the expectations of digitally native Millennials and Gen Z as they approach key life stages.

Delegates will gain insight into how technology has shaped adviser-client relationships, the current and future role of AI in financial advice, and what capabilities will be needed to serve the next generation of clients.

13.10 - 14.10: Lunch Break

14.10 - 14.40: Optimising Large Language Models for Finance
Philip Treleaven, Professor of Computing & Director, UCL & UK Centre for Financial Computing

This presentation reviews LLMs and their use in Finance, such as Quant trading, fund management and advice.It introduces key LLM terminology such as GenAI, Agentic AI, chain-of-though prompting, and Retrieval Augmentation Generation (RAG).Importantly ChatGPT, Claude, Llama and DeepSeek support different techniques for optimising Prompt Engineering , which is essential for performance.

14.40 - 15.20:The future of banking: From digital transformation to next-generation financial ecosystems

Panellists:
Rashee Pandey, Associate Director of Membership and Growth, Innovate Finance
Hugo Sousa, Senior Director, OakNorth Bank

As digital transformation becomes the baseline for modern financial institutions, the question shifts from "How do we innovate?" to "What comes next?" This panel will explore the post-digital transformation landscape, where leading banks are reimagining their role in a world where digital capabilities are the norm, not the exception.

Panellists will examine how financial institutions are evolving beyond traditional banking models to become orchestrators of broader value ecosystems. These institutions are forging new business models that dissolve industry boundaries, leveraging data as a key value driver and adopting flexible, composable architectures to swiftly respond to shifting market dynamics.

The discussion will spotlight the groundbreaking innovations shaping the future of banking—from autonomous finance powered by predictive analytics to ambient banking experiences that anticipate customer needs before they arise. We will also explore how banks are preparing for the next wave of disruption – from quantum computing to decentralised finance and algorithmic regulation – and how the organisations that thrive will foster cultures of continuous innovation to stay ahead in an increasingly fluid and competitive market.

Attendees will gain valuable insights into how banking leaders are building organisations primed for perpetual reinvention—balancing legacy modernisation with future-focused innovation to thrive in an increasingly dynamic financial landscape.

15.20 - 15.50: Keynote speaker – Digital Business Banking: From neo to what’s next
Chris Waring, Head of Digital Customer Journeys, NatWest

Business banking has already seen major innovation, but a new wave is emerging — driven by AI, real-time data, and the expectation of mobile, always-on access. As universal banks look ahead, the opportunity lies in applying these advances to more complex products and larger business segments. This session explores how modern, neo bank-style approaches can be adapted to SMEs and beyond, bringing simplicity and speed to areas of business finance that have remained stubbornly manual.

15:50 - 16:10: Chairman's closing remarks, quiz and end of conference

16.10 - 17.10: Networking drinks reception