Curiosity Code Podcast

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 so...

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 v...

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 ve...

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...

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 &am...

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 instit...

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" ra...

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 infrastr...

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...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Hanif Nezhad, Co-Founder of Neco Solutions, reveals why EU fintech regulation kills innovation, how US markets differ, and what it really takes to sell banking software to enterprises. From building robo-advisors acquired by ING to launching automated trading platforms, this is fintech product development unfiltered. In this episode, Alex Khomyakov and...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! How brokers are using stablecoin payments and blockchain infrastructure to solve liquidity management, instant settlement, and margin call challenges in 2025. Jonathan Cumberlidge, Co-Founder & CEO of Sintvia, reveals how blockchain technology is transforming broker payments, treasury management, and institutional asset movement. Discover how CFD b...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! João Andrade, Head of Cybersecurity at Hacken, reveals the costly smart contract vulnerabilities and blockchain security mistakes that have drained millions from Web3 projects. Learn how MiCA and DORA regulations are reshaping crypto compliance and why prevention-first security frameworks matter more than ever. João shares his 12-year blockchain journe...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! DeFi is reshaping how money moves across borders — without banks. Elena Shiltseva, Web3 & Fintech CPO who raised $9M+ in token sales, explains how decentralized finance, stablecoins, and blockchain will transform banking in the next decade. Discover why DeFi is more than crypto speculation, how stablecoins drive real-world adoption for freelancers...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! AI is transforming fintech hiring—but not in the way you think. Owen Dearn, founder of Find and fintech talent strategist, reveals why compliance and risk roles are the biggest bottleneck for startups, how AI is eliminating junior positions, and why human trust still matters more than automation. Discover the hidden talent crisis facing fintech compani...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! AI adoption fails when companies focus only on technology. Manuj Aggarwal shares his 5-pillar framework for aligning AI with human potential, enterprise adoption strategies, and the skills that will matter most in an AI-first world. From earning $2 a day in India to advising Fortune 500 companies, Manuj Aggarwal (AI Pioneer & Founder of TetraNoodle...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! AI is transforming expert networks—but the human element still defines success. Daniel Entrup, expert network veteran and strategist, reveals what technology can't replace and how to build trust-driven marketplaces that blend automation with relationship management. From fraud prevention to AI coaching for analysts, this episode explores the invis...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! AI in financial services isn't failing because of the technology—it's failing because of integration, data challenges, and legacy infrastructure that nobody wants to replace. Matt Gosden reveals what truly blocks AI adoption in pensions and wealth management. Matt Gosden—strategist, enterprise architect, and advisor on AI in highly regulated...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Digital identity will matter more than money itself. David Birch, author and fintech futurist, explains why reputation economies, AI-to-AI payments, and smart wallets controlled by bots are reshaping the financial infrastructure—and why most people are looking at the wrong signals. In this episode of Curiosity Code, host Alex Khomyakov sits down with D...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! AI in banking is reshaping everything from customer experience to compliance. Fintech leader Krista Griggs reveals why the future isn't about neobanks vs legacy banks—it's about convergence, distributed trust, and building innovation cultures that scale. Krista has guided top banks, fintechs, and global technology teams through complex digita...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Tokenization isn't just digitizing assets—and most projects fail because they ignore the fundamentals. Karl Schlegel, strategic advisor in asset tokenization and digital infrastructure, reveals why dirty data, fragile trust models, and siloed blockchains are killing real-world asset projects before they scale. Learn the difference between tokeniza...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Most fintech startups fail from internal misalignment—not competition. Former fintech product leader Maribeth Martorana reveals the hidden patterns that kill good ideas: strategy drift, misaligned teams, bloated MVPs, and data ignored as an asset. Discover why fintechs burn capital solving the wrong problems, how AI hype masks alignment issues, and the...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! AI risks, artificial intelligence threats, and risks of AI in finance are evolving faster than regulation can catch up. In this episode of The Curiosity Code, we explore the hidden flaws in AI monitoring, the systemic cracks in artificial intelligence risk & governance, and the fast-rising use of AI in financial crime networks. Joining us are Dr. E...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Burning cash, poor risk management, and weak strategies around enterprise risk management - they're the real reasons why so many promising startups fail quietly. In the NEW season of The Curiosity Code from London, we speak with fintech board advisor Stephane Malrait (ex-JPMorgan, ING, SocGen) to expose overconfidence, cash burn, and poor risk han...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Is UK fintech in decline, or is this just the beginning of a new wave of innovation? In this episode of The Curiosity Code, we’re joined by Veronica Maria Glab, a fintech strategist and former Head of Partnerships at Innovate Finance, to uncover the real story behind the recent drop in VC investment in UK fintech and what’s next for the ecosystem. 👉 I...

Lovely listener, share with us your thoughts! Ready to scale your fintech globally? Avoid costly mistakes! Discover the critical red flags fintechs overlook when expanding into new markets. Elif Kocaoglu Ulbrich , Founder of Contextual Solutions, Author,  reveals the hidden pitfalls and critical red flags that can derail international expansion. Discover why localization and understanding local cu...