Agenda

08.30 - 09.25: Registration and refreshments

09.25 - 09.30: Chairman’s welcome
Jonathan Easton, Editor, FStech

09.30 - 10.00: Keynote session: Building the AI Native Bank
Jeff Valane, Group Head of AI Management and Strategy, HSBC

In this session, Jeff Valane, Group Head of AI Management and Strategy, HSBC will explore the transformative power of artificial intelligence in the banking sector. The focus will be on three main areas: the challenges of scaling AI, the design principles necessary for building an AI native bank, and the role of governance in enabling transformation. The goal is to provide attendees with insights and strategies to effectively integrate AI into their operations.

10.00 - 10.30:  Isambard-AI, the UK’s most powerful supercomputer: A transformational opportunity for the financial industry
Dr. Richard Gilham, AI Supercomputing Infrastructure Specialist, Bristol Centre for Supercomputing at the University of Bristol

Isambard-AI is the UK’s most powerful supercomputer and a key part of the UK’s AI Research Resource. From the ground up it has been designed to allow rapid exploitation of the opportunities offered by AI. The hardware, user experience and access model are all geared towards empowering researchers from academia, government and industry move at pace. This talk will give a tour of Isambard-AI from bottom to top and contextualise its capabilities alongside other classes of compute such as cloud and traditional HPC. This will be followed by an overview of the kinds of projects already running on Isambard-AI and their potential for impact in the financial services sector.

10.30 - 11.15:  Panel - The next level: How agentic AI could redefine financial services, sponsored by Moterra

Panellists:

Ramona Fuchs, Chief Executive and Co-Founder, Moterra
Saira Khan, Head of Innovation and Partnerships, First Direct Bank
Chris Waring, Head of Digital, Business Banking, NatWest
Cali Wood, Head of Data and AI Strategy and Culture, AXA UK & Ireland

Agentic AI is poised to move financial services into a new era, offering capabilities that go beyond generative AI by enabling autonomous decision-making and multi-step processes. This technology could transform core areas of the sector—streamlining operations, enhancing fraud detection, improving risk management, and delivering hyper-personalised customer experiences through intelligent agents. However, these opportunities come with challenges unique to financial services, including heightened regulatory scrutiny, the need for robust governance, and potential disruption to legacy systems.

This session will explore the practical applications of Agentic AI and its potential to address sector-specific challenges such as balancing innovation with compliance, mitigating risks in autonomous systems, and safeguarding against ethical pitfalls. Panellists will also examine the workforce implications and strategies for implementing the technology while maintaining trust, security, and operational resilience.

11.15 - 11.50: Coffee break

11.50 - 12.35:   Panel - The AI-ready workforce: Reskilling and upskilling for the future of finance, sponsored by Smarsh  

Panellists:

Oksana Dovorecka, Executive Director, Lending Products & Platforms, UBS Wealth Management
Christos Kondylis, Executive Director – Data Science & Innovation, Standard Chartered Bank
Rashee Pandey, Associate Director of Membership and Growth, Innovate Finance
Paul Taylor, Vice President, Product Management, Smarsh

 AI is transforming financial services, creating new opportunities and altering traditional roles. This session will delve into the workforce implications of AI adoption, focusing on reskilling and upskilling strategies to equip employees for an AI-driven financial sector. Panellists will discuss how organisations can foster a culture of continuous learning, the roles most impacted by AI, and the importance of collaboration between academia and industry.  

12.35 - 13.05:  Agents, multi-agents, humans and responsibility in financial services

Professor Karen Elliott, Chair/Full Professor in Finance and FinTech, University of Birmingham

Agentic AI is revolutionising financial services by enabling autonomous agents to perform high-assurance tasks such as compliance monitoring, risk analysis, onboarding, and fraud detection. As companies evolve from isolated agents to orchestrated multi-agent teams, operational complexity demands a shift in how human-agent relationships are managed. Grounded in Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR), six pillars are essential: trust (governance), control (oversight), quality (performance monitoring), training (adaptability), infrastructure (secure tech), and commercial sustainability (cost and carbon awareness). Quality assurance is critical—requiring tailored benchmarks, real-time audits, and feedback loops to ensure agents' accuracy and meeting regulatory standards. Human oversight remains vital to validate agent outputs, as multi-agent coordination must be robust in critical domains like trading, credit scoring, and AML. Looking ahead, agents will act as collaborators within hybrid teams, not as decision-makers. This shift demands new norms of transparency, accountability, and inclusion—anchored in critical thinking about the problems AI is solving.

13.05 - 14.05: Lunch Break

14.05 - 14.50: Panel - Balancing innovation and compliance: Operational resilience in the age of AI

Panellists:

Zahra Gill, Financial Crime Advisory, Strategy & Framework
Sofia Ihsen, AI lead, Forvis Mazars 
Dizem Ozalp-Sari, Head of Data Services, BNP Paribas
Dr Nikiforos Panourgias, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Fintech, Queen Mary University of London

As financial institutions increasingly adopt AI-driven solutions, the challenge lies in maintaining operational resilience while navigating evolving regulatory landscapes. This panel will explore the critical balance between innovation and compliance, examining how financial organisations can deploy AI to enhance efficiency and mitigate risks without compromising regulatory requirements. Panellists will discuss the implications of AI for operational continuity, cybersecurity, and stress testing, as well as strategies for integrating robust governance frameworks. This session aims to provide actionable insights for decision-makers striving to future-proof their institutions.

14.50 - 15.20: Keynote session: AI in action: Inside Starling Bank’s journey to smarter banking and empowered teams
Oscar Barlow, Head of AI advocacy, Starling Bank

Join FStech for a fireside chat with Oscar Barlow, Head of AI Advocacy at Starling Bank, as he lifts the lid on AI’s rapid evolution in banking. This lively session promises a behind-the-scenes look at Starling’s partnership with Google Gemini and the launch of its industry-first Spending Intelligence tool, offering customers new ways to take charge of their finances. Oscar will share candid insights on building an AI-first culture, from upskilling teams to driving collaboration across departments. Expect practical stories about tackling resistance, embedding ethical governance, and balancing automation with human expertise. With a forward-thinking eye on regulation and future innovation, Oscar will reveal what’s next for AI at Starling – and what lessons other financial institutions can take away. 

15:20 - 15:50:  Chairman's closing remarks, quiz and end of conference

15.50 - 17.00: Networking drinks reception