Plugged In - A Banking Podcast

We’re at a wake-up moment. In ten years, banking has changed more than it did in the century before.  So, Al and Steve pose a question: If you created a bank from scratch in 2026, how would you build it? Their answer: cleaner data models, AI agents embedded from day one and a workforce already fluent in the tools.  Plus, Al and Steve highlight what established banks can embrace right now to stay c...

Banking keeps getting easier and faster. But according to Stock Yards Bank & Trust Chairman and CEO Ja Hillebrand, none of these technology upgrades can replace relationships. As he says: “You still have to wear out the shoe leather.”   On the show, Ja joins Al and Steve to discuss why the fundamentals of banking haven’t changed and how his bank continues to deliver consistent earnings growth....

They’re back. Al and Steve kick off the year by discussing the biggest forces shaping banking right now, including something particularly challenging: growth. From how banks are allocating capital to how leaders ought to measure results, they unpack what’s working, what isn’t, and preview themes from Ron Shevlin’s upcoming 2026 What’s Going On In Banking report.   Subscribe to the Plugged In podca...

What inspires a seasoned bank CEO to come out of retirement? As Jim Reuter, CEO and president of First Interstate Bank, tells Al and Steve on the show: “There’s a saying . …that musicians don’t retire until there’s no music left in them. There was still some music left in me.” They discuss his career, succession best practices and some of the biggest forces reshaping regional banking. Plus, they o...

Regional banks don’t often get compared to pop music, but maybe they should. On the show today, First Financial Bank President and CEO Archie Brown explains why great banks survive turbulence by evolving with the times, just like great pop artists. He talks with Al and Steve about what credit risk actually looks like today and how midsize banks can hold their own against the industry’s giants. Plu...

Today on the show, Al and Steve reunite in the Arizona desert to unpack the themes they have been hearing at banking conferences and boardroom meetings nationwide. Two big standouts: the practical use cases of A.I. (yes, there are some) and the surge in M&A activity. Plus, they dig into the generational shift in banking where younger consumers play the field in which financial providers they u...

Deal-making is heating up. On the show today: Al and Steve sit down with Mike Maddox, CEO and president of the newly expanded $20B-asset Busey Bank, which merged with CrossFirst Bank earlier this year. They dig into scale, succession and strategy. They also discuss what stablecoins mean for banking, Busey’s $14B wealth management platform and why Mike thinks that regional banks should act more lik...

Banking is only getting hotter. On the show today, Al and Steve break down midyear trends, from GenAI's impact on creativity (it isn’t good) to stablecoins and a potential surprising M&A rebound. Plus, they explore one of the biggest industry questions right now: In a deregulatory environment, where can banks win and lose? TBD. But as Al says: “Fundamentals never go out of style.” Subscri...

Today on the show, Al and Steve catch up with Chip Reeves, CEO of MidWestOne Bank, to get the inside story into how the Midwestern bank managed to not lose a single top client when it overhauled its balance sheet in a short amount of time.  Chip also shares how the institution recruits top talent and its approach to competing with the likes of Chase, the banking giant that’s been plopping down bra...

On the show today: Al and Steve speak with Brad Elliott, founder, chairman and CEO of Equity Bank, about building a $5.5 billion institution through an aggressive M&A strategy. Brad shares how the bank attracts and develops talent as well as offers his take on GenAI and how to cultivate trust in digital and physical channels.

Generative A.I. is an intervention moment for the financial services industry. Today on the show, Al and Steve chat about A.I. playbooks and what banks are doing with GenAI right now (namely tepid things, like testing Microsoft Copilot with their employees). They present a bigger question: should banks pursue A.I. strategies right now?  Al and Steve also explore the other timely hot word in financ...

Malcolm Holland, Chariman of the Board, CEO and President of Veritex Community Bank, sees himself as a banker who embraces opportunities. On today's show, Al and Steve chat with Malcolm about how he started a bank as a 25-year-old in the 1980s – a turbulent period for banking – and how his experience of bad times helped shape his career in making big leaps; arguably, none bigger than founding...

They’re back. In Arizona. In advance of the upcoming  Acquire or Be Acquired conference, Al and Steve chat about trends that will matter to the C-Suite this year, including:  M&A activity coming in hot and how to source new ideas that will yield revenue. They also explore funding competition from fintech companies and essentials required in retaining customers.

In this final episode of the Plugged In Series for 2024, Steve and Al reflect on the year's significant events and trends in the banking industry, including a resurgence in mergers and acquisitions, the challenges posed by technology and compliance, and the importance of talent management. They discuss predictions for 2025, emphasizing the need for execution and growth strategies in a competi...

Hans Morris is used to following fintech trends. He’s a managing partner at Nyca Partners, a fintech venture capital firm in New York and San Francisco, and the chairman of the board of Lending Club. In today’s Punk Rock-themed show, Hans talks to Al and Steve about some of his portfolio investments that touch on juicy industry themes, like: Generative AI (and interesting ways to use it), automate...

Citizens Business Bank has made money in every single quarter of every single year for more than 47 years. Today on the show, Al and Steve talk to Dave Brager, CEO of Citizens Business Bank and 2022 GonzoBanker of the Year Bank award winner, about the bank’s impressive growth. Among the topics they explore for the $15.4 billion asset bank that a dairy farmer founded: the ability to deliver and len...

Today on the show, Steve quizzes Al on the hottest topics discussed at the recent Association for Financial Technology Fall Summit held in Palm Springs. Among them: the Federal Reserve’s rate cut and what it could mean for regional banks, mounting regulatory fintech issues, holes in talent pipeline and whether branches are going extinct in the next two decades. Spoiler: They aren’t.

Lake City Bank has managed to grow its book value per share even amid some of the thorniest industry challenges. David Findlay, Chairman and CEO of Lake City Bank, talks to Al and Steve about why the bank is creating an innovation and tech center in Indiana, the significance of elevating the retail banker role and the importance of community outreach, including by making a move a big bank wouldn’t...

It’s action packed in banking right now as regulatory uncertainty mounts with the looming presidential election. Today on the show, Al and Steve pick the brain of Nitin Mhatre, the CEO of Berkshire Bank, on the most pressing issues in banking. They explore the tension of a bank changing for the times while preserving its relationship-driven company culture, how to recruit senior talent and the imp...

As Jeff Jackson, the CEO of WesBanco, sees it, M&A activity can only go up. In this episode, Al and Steve chat with Jeff about why that is and what is at stake for community banks across the country. They also explore other banking classics, including what the future of delivery in banking looks like, how to retain employees  and what has helped the bank grow its deposits in a competitive year...

The frequent flyer miles are overflowing for Steve and Al as they continue to visit banks across the country. In this episode, they dish on the burning C-suite issues, including: recession risks, core deposit growth challenges (and ideas to overcome them) and an area they believe bankers need to step it up on – their succession planning. Don’t worry. They talk about Snoop Dogg, too.

Mike Daniels, the chairman and CEO of Nicolet Bank and Green Bay Packers’ board member, talks to Al and Steve about what it takes for a community bank to flourish right now and the NFL offseason. They also chat about how to preserve company culture when the business is scaling and offer tips on what not to do in pursuing deposits. Also, Mike provides a peek at what it’s like banking in America’s d...

In this episode, Al and Steve discuss the mounting scrutiny on banking-as-a-service providers, the perplexities tied to a higher interest rate environment and the mounting concerns of succession planning. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Your hosts also chat about when M&A activity will pick up, how to preserve and nurture creativity while also mitigating risk and ways to become the best small...

It’s hard to stand out in banking but not impossible. In this cross-over edition of Plugged In, Al Dominick sits down with Mary Wisniewski to explore talent retention, theatrical innovation acts and the importance of the return on tech. They also get into mistakes banks make (ahem, on their social media video efforts) and introduce Mary's new show, 'Money Isn't Everything,' whi...

Tom Michaud, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, is back! This time, he joins Steve and Al to answer the question bankers across the country want to know: How to compete with big institutions and non-banks.  On the show, they get into common mistakes banks make, takeaways from KBW’s Winter Financial Services conference, and why they think the industry outlook...