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Curiosity Code Podcast

Alex Khomyakov

Discover the fintech podcast "Curiosity Code", featuring exclusive interviews on fintech innovation and financial technology. Hosted by Alex, founder of the digital agency Productera, with a background in B2B and SaaS companies, the podcast brings together founders, CEOs, visionaries, and fintech leaders driving financial innovation, AI, open banking, and digital transformation.Each episode offers success stories, challenges, and groundbreaking ideas about the future of blockchain, AI agents, digital payments, wealth management, and other related financial technologies.

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  • 28 episodes
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  • English

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  • Friday · 9 min

    AI Coding Agents in Finance: What to Hand Over, What to Keep

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! 9 out of 10 professional developers now use AI coding agents every week. This year, the best agent in a benchmark built to look like real work passed fewer than 15% of its checks. Both are true at once. A solo episode of Curiosity Code on which engineering work a financial firm should hand to an AI-driven team and which it should keep with conventional developers. My company, Productera, sells both, so I make money whichever way you decide. My answer: writing the code got cheap, being accountable for it did not. Hand over the support work, new builds a senior engineer can read end to end, reading old code and small bounded changes. Keep long-lived core systems, regulated and security code, and anything that needs an independent sign-off. Europe's DORA already draws that line. The three questions for your backlog: Will this code still be running in three years? Does it touch a regulation, money movement or security? And is there someone senior who didn't write it, with time to read all of it? Short-lived, low stakes and reviewable goes to an AI-driven team. Long-lived, regulated, or not properly reviewable stays with conventional developers. Chapters 0:00 90% use AI agents, the best passes under 15% 0:41 Why this is a solo episode, and where I stand 2:16 Writing code got cheap, accountability didn't 2:48 What I'd hand to an AI-driven team 4:33 What I'd keep with conventional developers 6:36 The rule that already draws the line 7:35 Three questions for your backlog Sources JetBrains, AI coding agent adoption in 2026 (survey of 15,000+ developers, August 2026): https://blog.jetbrains.com/research/2026/08/ai-coding-agent-adoption-2026/ Orlanski et al., SlopCodeBench, University of Wisconsin-Madison (arXiv, May 2026): https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24755 Brett Codes, "Real risks of using AI as a dev team" (September 2026): https://youtu.be/g0jjNoR09Tc Fred Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month (1975): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month Morgan Stanley's DevGen.AI, 9 million lines and 280,000 hours (Business Insider, June 2025; first reported by the Wall Street Journal): https://www.businessinsider.nl/a-team-of-engineers-saved-morgan-stanley-more-than-280000-hours-this-year-the-bank-says-their-tool-wont-take-jobs/ Veracode, GenAI Code Security Report (July 2025): https://www.veracode.com/blog/genai-code-security-report/ Faros AI, The AI Productivity Paradox (July 2025): https://www.faros.ai/blog/ai-software-engineering DORA, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1774, Article 17 on ICT change management: https://www.springlex.eu/en/packages/dora/rts-rmf-regulation/article-17/ Federal Reserve SR 26-2, model risk management guidance (April 2026): https://www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/srletters/SR2602a1.pdf 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ePKf2qCLzcKATS7o6w2U5 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1797349967 Disclosure: Productera supplies both AI-driven teams and conventional developers to financial firms. Music: "Soundbed" by Blue Saga, via Epidemic Sound. 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E10
    October 14 · 33 min

    Who's Liable When AI Agents Make Payments? | Abril Benhumea

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! An AI agent books your flight, stays inside the budget you gave it, and pays for the wrong date. Who is responsible? Abril Benhumea, fintech and payments executive and co-founder of Passport, walks through what has to happen between an agent deciding to buy and the money actually moving. In this episode, Abril explains how Passport worked as an interoperability and orchestration layer on top of a bank's own infrastructure, and how real-time payment systems settle and reconcile differently from batch systems like ACH. She splits an agent payment into three layers (decisioning, trust and execution) and argues that execution already exists while trust is still being built: how a bank knows who an agent represents and what it was allowed to do. She also covers know your agent (KYA), the competing protocols from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic, and who stands to earn from agentic commerce as it grows. The market figures Abril mentions come from Bain & Company's research on agentic commerce: AI is under 1% of retailers' total traffic today, and Bain forecasts agentic commerce at 15 to 25% of US e-commerce sales by 2030. Key topics discussed: 0:00 Introduction 1:23 Passport as a payments orchestration layer 3:25 Real-time vs batch payment reconciliation 6:23 Why trust is missing in agentic commerce 13:24 Decisioning, trust and execution explained 19:38 What breaks first when agents are the payer 22:25 Google, OpenAI and the orchestration opportunity 25:10 How soon agentic payments go mainstream 27:56 Market size and where the revenue flows 32:38 Closing thoughts and open questions Abril Benhumea is a fintech and payments executive and co-founder of Passport, where she helped build open banking and real-time payments infrastructure connecting financial institutions and fintechs across the Americas. Her career spans payments infrastructure, banking-as-a-service, cross-border payments and financial partnerships, including roles at Synapse and Veem, and today her focus is the infrastructure behind agentic commerce. Connect with Abril Benhumea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abril-benhumea 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ePKf2qCLzcKATS7o6w2U5 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1797349967 This conversation explores agentic commerce, open banking, real-time payments infrastructure and the future of payments orchestration as AI agents begin transacting on behalf of people. If you're building in fintech, banking-as-a-service or payments infrastructure, this episode maps out where the agentic payments market is heading and what institutions need to prepare for. 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • October 9 · 8 min

    Your Team Doesn't Need to Understand RAG. It Needs These 3 Things

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Prudential in Singapore built an AI assistant for its insurance representatives. Six of its own experts graded the answers, and 59% failed. Four months later 99% passed. Nobody on that team had to learn how the model works. A solo episode of Curiosity Code on what people in a financial firm actually need to know about RAG and AI agents. Most need to know how to use it and where it goes wrong. The firm needs three things: an owner who decides what a correct answer is, a set of graded questions it reruns whenever something changes, and a register of which model wrote which answer. I show the three ways an answer goes wrong on a small mock-up (a made-up travel insurer, a real model), then what OpenAI, Anthropic and Singapore's regulator have published about it. Three questions for your team: Which model produced the last AI answer that someone here relied on? If that model changed tomorrow, how would we find out? And who decides what a correct answer is? Chapters 0:00 An AI assistant that failed 59% of the time 0:24 What most people need to know, and what they don't 1:20 Why Prudential's assistant scored 41% 2:35 Three ways an answer goes wrong 6:27 Who does the work 7:28 Three questions for Monday Episodes mentioned Stéphane Malrait, "Burning Cash Too Fast? Why Most Fintechs Collapse Within 3 Years": https://youtu.be/iXeaZOwQ9SU Daniel Flowe, "The DARK Side of AI in Finance, Can We Trust It?": https://youtu.be/dUBv8jMKlSY Sources Project MindForge, AI Risk Management Implementation Examples (the Prudential case): https://www.mas.gov.sg/-/media/mas-media-library/schemes-and-initiatives/ftig/project-mindforge/mindforge-ai-risk-management-implementation-examples.pdf Jeff McMillan of Morgan Stanley on the RegulatingAI podcast (write-up, January 2026): https://americanbazaaronline.com/2026/01/26/jeff-mcmillan-on-morgan-stanleys-human-first-ai-governance-473926/ OpenAI, API deprecations page (read 9 October 2026): https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations Anthropic, "A postmortem of three recent issues" (17 September 2025): https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/a-postmortem-of-three-recent-issues Monetary Authority of Singapore, Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence Risk Management (October 2026): https://www.mas.gov.sg/-/media/mas-media-library/regulation/guidelines/bd/guidelines-on-artificial-intelligence-risk-management-for-financial-institutions/guidelines-on-artificial-intelligence-risk-management.pdf 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ePKf2qCLzcKATS7o6w2U5 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1797349967 The mock-up in this video is an illustration: the insurer and its policy wording are made up, the model output is real (Claude Opus 5.5, 9 October 2026). Music: "Soundbed" by Blue Saga, via Epidemic Sound. 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E9
    October 6 · 26 min

    Programmable Self-Custody for Crypto | Frank Hepworth

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Frank Hepworth breaks down programmable self-custody, an onchain model where clients own their crypto accounts and a manager can trade in them but never withdraw from them. Self-custody crypto, onchain asset management, and why most crypto still sits with exchanges and custodians. 🔑 Key Topics & Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 1:12 What holding crypto on an exchange really costs you 4:49 Why banks entering crypto won't offer liquidity pools 6:32 Programmable self-custody explained with one key vs two 9:09 How the three-key system protects client withdrawals 11:56 Who decides the whitelisted protocols clients can trade 13:33 Why withdrawals are capped and reviewed carefully 16:33 Who the clients are and why trust comes first 20:14 Why the customer relationship matters more than the rails Frank Hepworth is the Founder and CEO of New Market Trading, an onchain asset manager built on self-custody. Each client owns their own account, and New Market Trading can trade in it but cannot withdraw from it. Before founding the company, Frank was a securities regulatory attorney working in digital assets, and later spent three years building Yieldschool, a crypto education company. Connect with Frank: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankhep X: https://x.com/frank_hep New Market Trading: https://newmarkettrading.com/ 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ePKf2qCLzcKATS7o6w2U5 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1797349967 This episode covers crypto asset management, self-custody, and what it takes to run client money onchain without holding it. For fintech founders, wealth and asset managers, family offices, and anyone building in digital assets who wants to understand programmable self-custody and onchain crypto trading. 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • October 2 · 9 min

    Wise Owns Its Rails. Remitly Rents Them. Who's Winning?

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! One remittance company owns its payment rails and keeps 52 cents of every $100. Another rents them, keeps about $2, and grew faster last year. So does owning the pipes decide who wins? A solo episode of Curiosity Code. I work through a question I've already answered twice on LinkedIn, in two different ways: crypto as the experiment where the rails couldn't be owned, what my guests Colin Butler and Elena Shiltseva said, Wise vs Remitly by the numbers, and what it means if you're building or backing a payments business in emerging markets. Plus the question I can't answer yet: in much of Africa, neither owns the last mile. The telco does. Chapters 0:00 Owning the rails vs renting them 0:44 Why remittances are worth fighting for 1:48 Crypto already ran this experiment 2:46 What my guests said 4:03 Where I land 4:38 Nuvei, Payoneer and distribution 5:29 The case for owning the rails: Wise 6:23 The case for renting them: Remitly 7:25 What it means if you're building 8:26 Who owns the last mile? 8:46 The question I can't answer yet Episodes mentioned - Colin Butler, "Crypto Won. So Where Did the Money Go?": https://youtu.be/VSVZj-sTb04 - Elena Shiltseva, "Stablecoins & DeFi: Banking's Future": https://youtu.be/9fIgozO80fY My LinkedIn posts - July 2026, on Nuvei and Payoneer: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alexkhomyakov_fintech-paymentsindustry-mergersandacquisitions-activity-7489026193694961664-YjWN - September 2026, on build vs buy: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alexkhomyakov_every-fintech-founder-asks-should-we-build-activity-7502697981754707968-73d6 Sources - Wise Group plc, FY2026 results (25 June 2026): https://owners.wise.com/news-releases/news-release-details/wise-group-plc-reports-full-year-2026-financial-results - Remitly Global, Form 10-K for FY2025: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1782170/000162828026009038/rely-20251231.htm - Nuvei to acquire Payoneer for $2.75 billion (15 June 2026): https://www.nuvei.com/posts/nuvei-to-acquire-payoneer-for-2-75-billion-creating-a-leading-global-platform-for-local-and-cross-border-commerce - World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, Issue 54 (Q3 2025): https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/2026-04/RPW_main_report_and_annex_Q325.pdf - Benji Fernandes (NALA) on Money Code: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/money-code/id1837743368 - NALA, "Why are payments in Africa still 1% built?" (22 March 2024): https://www.nala.com/blog/why-are-payments-in-africa-still-1-built-introducing-rafiki-api - Safaricom PLC, 2026 Annual Report (M-Pesa active customers): https://africanfinancials.com/document/ke-scom-2026-ar-00/ 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ePKf2qCLzcKATS7o6w2U5 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1797349967 Every payments company decides what to own and what to rent. In cross-border payments that choice shapes margins, speed and growth, and in emerging markets the last mile may belong to neither side. Music: "Radar Focus" by Blue Saga, via Epidemic Sound. 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E8
    September 29 · 38 min

    AI Agents: Who's Accountable for Mistakes? | Erich Barlow

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! AI governance for AI agents in financial services: when an agent makes a mistake at computer speed, who is accountable? Erich Barlow says the organization that deployed it, not the system and not the vendor. "Regulators and customers will not accept that the AI did it." In this episode he walks through where agents are already acting on their own in financial services, how much harm a simple chatbot can really do, whether a permission written into a system prompt counts as an access control, what AI certifications like ISO 42001 actually tell you, what auditors see that engineers miss, and his research into what he calls synthetic intelligence. 📌 Key Topics & Timestamps: 0:00 Cold open 0:29 Introduction 1:42 Are AI agents already acting on their own? 3:42 Who is responsible when AI makes a mistake? 6:03 Does it change if the agent came from a vendor? 6:37 Running agents week to week 7:56 Managing an agent like an employee 9:34 When an agent hits its goal and still causes harm 13:15 How much harm can a chatbot really do? 15:12 The governance layer for customer-facing AI 16:45 Third-party AI: blame the cook, not the cow 18:44 Assistant vs autonomous agent in payments 20:04 What an agent should never decide 21:28 Are system prompts access controls? 23:16 Prompt governance and data loss prevention 25:46 AI certifications: tick box or trust? 29:07 What auditors see that engineers don't 31:42 Synthetic intelligence vs artificial intelligence 35:46 Is synthetic intelligence already here? 37:26 Where to find Erich About the Guest: Erich Barlow (MIS, CITP, FBCS) is a Chartered Fellow of the BCS working in cybersecurity and AI governance, and a doctoral researcher studying how AI standardization should be built for South Africa. He writes about synthetic intelligence: machine intelligence as its own real thing, arrived at by a different route, the way a synthetic diamond is still a diamond. Connect with Erich Barlow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erichbarlow/ On X: https://x.com/erichbarlowllc Website: https://www.erichbarlowllc.com 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ePKf2qCLzcKATS7o6w2U5 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1797349967 A practical conversation on AI governance for anyone deploying AI agents in banks, payments and fintech: who carries the risk, what controls survive an audit, and where the accountability sits when something goes wrong. 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E7
    September 22 · 26 min

    Crypto-Backed Lending Explained | Himanshu Sahay

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Himanshu Sahay, Co-Founder of Arch Lending and a former engineering leader at Snapchat, Tinder, and Bird, breaks down how crypto-backed lending works, from bitcoin-collateralized loans to no-liquidation borrowing, currently available to institutional borrowers and rolling out soon for retail clients. This episode dives deep into the mechanics of institutional and retail crypto lending, cost of capital, and the future of bitcoin-backed finance. 📌 Key Topics & Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 8:33 Why people still aren't educated on how to use bitcoin 11:47 No-liquidation loans: available to institutions now, rolling out soon for retail 15:02 Lending mechanics: where Arch's cost of capital comes from 19:37 What happens to Arch if Bitcoin drops 50% 22:09 Why rates have dropped significantly for retail and institutional borrowers Himanshu Sahay is Arch Lending’s Co-Founder. Before Arch, he led engineering at Snapchat, Tinder, and Bird. At Arch, he leads Arch’s institutional lending and structured-products business, helping companies and funds access tailored Bitcoin-backed financing. Connect with Himanshu Sahay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/himanshusahay/ 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ePKf2qCLzcKATS7o6w2U5 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1797349967 This conversation is essential viewing for fintech founders, crypto investors, and banking innovators looking to understand how bitcoin-backed lending is reshaping consumer and institutional finance. Learn how Arch structures crypto collateral, manages risk during market volatility, and builds compliant infrastructure for the next generation of digital asset lending. Whether you're exploring bitcoin loans, DeFi-adjacent lending models, or crypto compliance strategy, this episode of The Curiosity Code Podcast delivers actionable insight. 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • September 18 · 9 min

    AI Agents in Fintech: Are They Out of Control?

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Are AI agents out of control, or are most companies just governing them with suggestions? A solo episode on agentic AI in banking and fintech: who is in control, and who is accountable when an agent gets it wrong. In July, hundreds of AI agents inside an OpenAI test broke into Hugging Face. Meanwhile TD Bank cut a mortgage step from fifteen hours to under three minutes with an agent. Same technology, opposite outcomes. This episode looks at why, what my podcast guests disagree on, and why US bank model-risk guidance still excludes agentic AI by name. Chapters 0:00 Hundreds of AI agents broke into Hugging Face 0:50 Risk or productivity tool? 2:15 What my guests said 3:42 My take: prompts are suggestions, not controls 5:36 The evidence on both sides 7:52 What it means for banks and fintechs Episodes mentioned Parul Kaul-Green on AI in insurance claims: https://youtu.be/foiPOGZbqMA Krista Griggs on trust and technology in digital banking: https://youtu.be/BNuzc0k-5SA Christie Kristensen on open banking APIs: https://youtu.be/X-ELxbqyN78 Sources Hugging Face technical timeline: https://huggingface.co/blog/agent-intrusion-technical-timeline OCC Bulletin 2026-13, model risk management: https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/bulletins/2026/bulletin-2026-13.html METR study on AI tools and developer speed: https://metr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-study/ 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ePKf2qCLzcKATS7o6w2U5 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1797349967 Agentic AI is moving into lending, fraud and payments faster than the rules that govern it. For anyone running technology at a bank or fintech, the question is where your agents' limits actually live, and who owns them. 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E6
    September 16 · 38 min

    Crypto Won. So Where Did the Money Go? | Colin Butler

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Colin Butler spent 2022 to 2025 as Global Head of Institutional Capital at Polygon Labs, where his team ran every major institutional launch on the chain. In this episode he goes back through four years of his own calls and says where he was wrong: why stablecoins were crypto's first product-market fit but not its only one, why the value never accrued to the infrastructure layer he was building, and why it went to the firms that already had the customers. 📌 Key Topics & Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 0:40 Where crypto actually found product-market fit 4:29 Why value didn't accrue to the infrastructure layer 10:32 Securitize and the economics of the application layer 19:22 Why blockchains are rethinking their business models 20:43 Are digital asset treasuries dead? 26:07 Why stablecoin growth stalled, and where it goes next 32:35 Leaving crypto for AI, and the problem of governing agents Correction at 22:21, from Colin after recording: when mNAV is below 1, a digital asset treasury sells tokens and buys back its own stock. About the Guest: Colin Butler was Global Head of Institutional Capital at Polygon Labs from 2022 to 2025, and most recently EVP of Capital Markets at Mega Matrix. He is now leaving crypto to build in AI, at a company currently in stealth. Connect with Colin Butler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-p-butler 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ePKf2qCLzcKATS7o6w2U5 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1797349967 A candid look at tokenization, stablecoins and institutional crypto from someone who helped build the infrastructure, for fintech founders, investors and anyone in capital markets working out where the value in digital assets actually sits. 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E5
    August 21 · 28 min

    Will Open Finance Democratize Banking? | Jose Luis Navarro

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Open banking is evolving faster than most traditional banks can keep up with — so where should they even start? In this episode, Jose Luis Navarro Llorens, Strategy lead for Open Banking at BBVA, breaks down what open banking, open finance, and embedded finance really mean for the future of the financial industry. ⏱️ Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 9:13 Why open banking is more than just screen scraping 14:35 Where traditional banks should begin amid rapid open banking evolution 18:19 How embedded finance and open banking are redefining entire industries 21:46 Will open finance be remembered as what democratized financial services? 24:19 Open banking and open finance exist to serve the customer About the guest: Jose Luis Navarro Llorens leads Open Banking Strategy at BBVA, one of the world's most innovative global banks. With deep expertise in open finance and embedded finance, he shares an insider's perspective on how traditional banks can adapt and thrive in an API-driven financial ecosystem. Connect with Jose Luis Navarro Llorens on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-luis-navarro-llorens/ This conversation dives deep into open banking, open finance, and embedded finance trends shaping the future of banking innovation. Whether you're a fintech founder, banking executive, or PE/VC professional tracking payments and financial technology disruption, this episode offers a first-hand look at how BBVA is navigating the shift toward customer-centric open finance. #OpenBanking #OpenFinance #EmbeddedFinance #Fintech #BankingInnovation 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E4
    July 20 · 34 min

    Tokenization in Banking: Stablecoins & Digital Assets | Parag Monteiro

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Tokenization is transforming banking. Parag Monteiro, Global Head of Digital Asset Platforms at Standard Chartered, reveals how major banks are building tokenization platforms, why stablecoins have achieved product-market fit, and how the UAE is leading crypto-friendly regulation. Discover how a 170-year-old bank is embracing digital assets, blockchain technology, and on-chain finance to solve real problems in the financial value chain. ⏱️ KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 4:33 How Standard Chartered is transforming towards tokenization 8:16 Does regulation block banks from adopting digital assets? 10:45 Crypto ETFs, the Genius Act, and regulatory evolution 13:11 Why stablecoins are the first product-market fit for tokenization 19:39 How tokenization solves problems across the financial value chain 24:41 Every major bank is now building tokenization platforms 27:46 Why the UAE is the most crypto-friendly jurisdiction globally 30:54 What percentage of global financial assets are tokenized today? 👤 ABOUT THE GUEST Parag Monteiro is Global Head of Digital Asset Platforms at Standard Chartered, where he leads the bank's blockchain and tokenization initiatives across global markets. With deep expertise in institutional digital assets, Parag is at the forefront of how traditional banking is integrating on-chain finance and cryptocurrency infrastructure. Connect with Parag on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parag-monteiro-72bb871/ This episode covers institutional adoption of blockchain technology, digital asset regulation, stablecoin payments, tokenization platforms, and how crypto-friendly jurisdictions like the UAE are accelerating on-chain finance for global banks. Essential viewing for fintech founders, banking executives, and anyone interested in the future of digital assets in traditional finance. #Tokenization #DigitalAssets #Stablecoins #BankingInnovation #Fintech 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E3
    June 30 · 32 min

    Open Banking APIs Transform Fintech | Christie Kristensen

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Open banking APIs revolutionized how banks and fintechs collaborate. Christie H. Kristensen from Danske Bank shares insider strategies on API infrastructure, real-time settlement, and the data governance decisions that make or break fintech startups. Discover why smaller fintechs must build for real-time settlement, when to build vs. buy third-party solutions, and how APIs transformed consumer behavior in banking. ⏱️ KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 5:45 When banks realized they could become consumers of APIs, fintech movement thrived 10:46 Smaller fintechs have to build infrastructure supporting real-time settlement 14:09 Why infrastructure and data governance are crucial for fintech startups 17:34 Build vs. buy: One critical question when starting a fintech startup 21:42 Change management sits at the essence of digital transformation today 23:56 Examples of how APIs have fundamentally changed consumer behavior 29:45 Will real-time settlement become table stakes like mobile apps in five years 👤 ABOUT THE GUEST Christie H. Kristensen serves as Advisory Board Member at Nordic Fintech Week & NOLO collective, and Partnership Manager for Open Banking Premium & ERP Integration at Danske Bank. She brings deep expertise in API strategy, banking infrastructure, and fintech ecosystem development. Connect with Christie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chkristensen/ This episode of Curiosity Code explores open banking transformation, API-first infrastructure strategies, and real-time payment systems reshaping fintech. Perfect for fintech founders evaluating build vs. buy decisions, banking executives implementing API strategies, and investors tracking payments innovation. #OpenBanking #Fintech #APIs #RealtimePayments #BankingInnovation 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E2
    June 19 · 34 min

    AI Fraud Detection in Payments | Srishti Andreasen

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! AI-powered fraud is reshaping payment security. Srishti Jain Andreasen, Global Business Development Executive at RS Software, reveals why synthetic identity fraud is the fastest-growing financial crime and what consumers and regulators must do to fight back. Discover how the globalization of online commerce has turned payments into the primary attack vector for fraudsters, whether banks should share fraud intelligence, and how women in fintech are approaching fraud prevention differently than traditional security teams. 📖 KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 4:59 How online commerce turned payments into the primary fraud vector 11:13 Synthetic identity: The fastest growing financial crime today 18:06 Should banks share fraud intelligence or protect competitive advantage? 23:59 What consumers must stop doing to avoid AI-powered fraud 29:07 Why regulators need to focus on interoperability to fight fraud 31:27 How women in fintech approach fraud differently than traditional teams 34:14 Final thoughts on fraud and technology 👤 ABOUT THE GUEST Srishti Jain Andreasen is Executive Global Business Development at RS Software, specializing in payment security and fraud prevention solutions for financial institutions worldwide. Connect with Srishti on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srishti-jain-andreasen-b339175/ This episode explores critical payment fraud prevention strategies, synthetic identity detection techniques, and the role of AI in modern financial crime. Learn how fintech leaders and banking innovators are collaborating to build more secure payment ecosystems while balancing fraud prevention with competitive intelligence. #FintechSecurity #PaymentFraud #AIFraud #SyntheticIdentity #FinancialCrime 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S4 · E1
    June 4 · 39 min

    Blockchain Bonds & On-Chain Assets | Steve Wallace

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Which asset class gets fully tokenized first? Steve Wallace breaks down blockchain tokenization, on-chain bonds, regulatory gaps, crypto vaults, and why distribution remains traditional finance's biggest competitive advantage. Discover how real-world asset tokenization is reshaping institutional investing, which tokenization use cases are smart versus questionable, and how cryptonative firms can compete with traditional asset management distribution power. 📍 KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 5:55 Issuing bonds on-chain: emerging blockchain use cases 17:05 Regulatory harmonization gaps for blockchain tokenization 22:21 Smart vs. questionable tokenization use cases analyzed 25:10 Which asset class gets fully tokenized first? 31:07 Distribution advantages: can cryptonative firms compete with traditional finance? 33:47 Crypto vaults as potential disruptors in asset management 36:49 Final thoughts on the future of tokenization 👤 ABOUT THE GUEST Steve Wallace is an Advisor at Alpine Capital Advisors and Blocklogica, and Co-Founder at Monolythic, bringing deep expertise in blockchain tokenization, regulatory frameworks, and institutional digital asset adoption. Connect with Steve Wallace on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-wallace/ This episode explores institutional tokenization strategies, blockchain bond issuance, DeFi regulatory challenges, and how real-world asset tokenization is transforming banking and asset management. Learn why distribution remains the ultimate competitive moat and which asset classes are positioned for full tokenization adoption first. #Tokenization #BlockchainBonds #RWA #DeFi #AssetManagement 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S3 · E20
    March 16 · 19 min

    Blockchain in Banking: Threat or Opportunity | Artur Kartshikyan

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Digital banking transformation in Armenia and Central Asia: ACBA Bank's Head of Digital Banking reveals how banks are navigating blockchain adoption, payment infrastructure gaps, and compliance challenges in emerging markets. Artur Kartshikyan, Head of Digital Banking at ACBA Bank, discusses the future of banking in Armenia, blockchain's role in financial institutions, and why Central Asia's payment corridor lacks modern infrastructure. This episode explores digital banking strategy, regulatory compliance, and innovation opportunities in emerging fintech markets. ⏱️ KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 5:21 Central Asia Corridor Payment Infrastructure Challenges 7:32 Blockchain as Banking Threat or Collaboration Opportunity 12:44 ACBA Bank Balances Innovation and Compliance in Digital Infrastructure 16:06 The Future of Banking: Digital Transformation Ahead 19:16 Armenian Banking Outlook and Digital Payment Evolution 👤 ABOUT THE GUEST Artur Kartshikyan is the Head of Digital Banking Department at ACBA Bank OJSC, where he leads digital transformation initiatives and modern banking infrastructure development in Armenia. Connect with Artur on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arturkartshikyan/ #DigitalBanking #Blockchain #FintechPodcast #BankingInnovation #Armenia 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S3 · E19
    March 9 · 20 min

    Fintech M&A Strategy: Exit Timing | Mayerlin Garcia

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Investment banking expert Mayerlin Garcia reveals when fintech founders should pursue M&A, why scaling companies need external advisors, and the critical mistakes that cause fintech deals to fail post-acquisition. Learn fintech M&A strategy, exit timing, and how to navigate investment banking for high-growth fintech companies. ⏱️ KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 2:31 Why External Advisors Are Crucial for Fintech Success 8:05 Funding Challenges Companies Face When Scaling 13:26 When Founders Should Start Thinking About M&A or Exit 17:06 Why Many Fintech Deals Fail to Deliver Promised Outcomes 👤 ABOUT MAYERLIN GARCIA Mayerlin Garcia is Managing Director at Senahill Advisors, specializing in fintech mergers, acquisitions, and strategic exits for high-growth technology companies. Connect with Mayerlin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayerlingarcia/ #FintechMA #InvestmentBanking #FintechFounders #MergersAndAcquisitions #FintechStrategy 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S3 · E18
    February 27 · 21 min

    UX Design in Fintech: Banking Innovation | Patrik Borgatai

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Discover the major differences between investment banking and consumer fintech UX design, and why legacy financial systems make digital transformation so challenging. Learn strategies for aligning UX across distributed financial organizations. Patrik Borgatai discusses the unique challenges of designing user experiences for traditional financial institutions versus modern fintech companies, exploring how legacy systems create barriers to innovation and what it takes to measure good UX in complex financial environments. ⏱️ KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 2:23 Designers discuss major differences between investment banking and consumer fintech 5:31 How do you define and measure good UX in financial environments? 8:41 Biggest challenges in aligning UX strategy across distributed financial organizations 11:55 Legacy financial systems make redesigning difficult 16:58 Main barriers for digital transformation in traditional financial institutions 👤 ABOUT PATRIK BORGATAI Patrik is a Product & UX Strategy Consultant at Lab49, designing tools for traders and investment bankers at some of the world's largest financial institutions. He's spent years in the trenches of enterprise fintech. Connect with Patrik on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrikborgatai/ 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S3 · E16
    February 10 · 28 min

    Digital Banking Strategy: Launching 7 Banks | Al Southall

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Learn digital banking best practices from someone who's launched 7 banks across 25 years. Al Southall shares the real playbook for building customer-centric digital banks that balance speed, compliance, and innovation — without repeating legacy mistakes. From early internet banks to cloud-native platforms, discover why "bank in a box" rarely works, how to navigate regulatory requirements while innovating, and the critical importance of customer-first product design before technology decisions. 📌 KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 4:24 Pre-built solutions and core banking platforms as enablers for digital banking 7:19 Why bank in a box fails: only few players succeed with turnkey solutions 9:49 How to start building a digital bank: customer-centric design first 13:28 Banking license requirements and regulatory expectations for new entrants 16:46 Managing vendor lock-in risk while maintaining product flexibility 18:54 Cloud resilience strategies and operational risk in digital banking 22:25 Customer-centric design and personalization in modern banking 27:16 Critical advice for fintechs moving into banking 🎙️ GUEST Al Southall is a digital transformation and bank launch specialist with 25+ years of experience leading technology and operations for seven digital banks across multiple markets. His expertise spans the full evolution of digital banking — from early internet banking platforms to today's cloud-native architectures. 🔗 Connect with Al: https://www.linkedin.com/in/al-southall-cio/ #DigitalBanking #Fintech #BankingInnovation #CoreBanking #FintechPodcast 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S3 · E17
    February 9 · 43 min

    ATM Technology & Future of Cash Payments | Paul Gardiner

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! ATM technology expert Paul Gardiner reveals why cash payments continue rising globally despite digital transformation, the hidden innovations in ATM infrastructure, and critical insights every fintech founder needs about payment systems economics. Discover the surprising data behind cash vs digital payments, the future of ATM networks, banking infrastructure evolution, and untapped fintech opportunities in cash management technology. ⏱️ KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Cash in circulation continues to arise in every major economy over the past decade 0:29 Today we're talking about ATMs and infrastructure of money from cash to AI 3:21 What people misunderstand most about how money actually moves behind the scenes with ATMs 13:57 Number of ATMs deployed globally have gone down over the last few years 17:15 How to approach security of ATM networks from physical and cyber aspects 25:17 Paul Gardiner recently led two billion dollar fintech carve outs 30:52 What problems in fintech and payments today are the most fixable 36:04 If you could design the future state from scratch: payments, ATMs, and AI 40:54 Why big payments networks still go down far too often 👤 ABOUT PAUL GARDINER: Paul Gardiner is the Founder of Marin FinTech, a leading consultancy specializing in payment systems innovation and banking technology. With deep expertise in ATM networks, cash infrastructure, and having led two billion-dollar fintech carve-outs, Paul advises fintech companies and financial institutions on navigating the evolving payments landscape. #FintechPodcast #ATMTechnology #PaymentSystems #CashPayments #BankingInnovation 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

  • S3 · E15
    Dec 23, 2025 · 21 min

    Gen Z Workplace Culture: New Leadership Rules | Akita Somani

    Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Gen Z is transforming workplace culture, leadership, and inclusion in financial services. Akita Somani, SVP of Inclusive Growth Strategy at U.S. Bank and 2024 Women in FinTech honoree, shares how digital-first communication, authenticity, and purpose-driven values are reshaping modern leadership. Discover how Gen Z's workplace expectations differ from previous generations, why values alignment matters more than compensation, and practical strategies for building inclusive cultures in multi-generational teams. Learn what fintech and banking leaders need to know as Gen Z becomes the workforce majority. 📌 KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 4:16 Gen Z values alignment with values and purposes over compensation 8:27 What inclusion looks like in a multi-generational workplace today 14:15 The struggle for companies to build a culture of inclusion 17:36 Gen Z taking leadership roles as they mature in their careers 👤 ABOUT THE GUEST Akita Somani is Senior Vice President of Inclusive Growth Strategy at U.S. Bank and a 2024 Women in FinTech honoree. She leads global, multi-generational teams and specializes in creating inclusive workplace cultures that drive business performance and innovation in financial services. #GenZWorkplace #InclusiveLeadership #WorkplaceCulture #FintechLeadership #FutureOfWork 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on fintech, AI, and innovation 🌐 Website: https://curiositycodepodcast.com/ 📱 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhomyakov/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/curiosity-code 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-curiosity-code-podcast/id1748596092

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