AI在转折点

Alex Miller00:00:00,240- Do we entirely re-engineer for an AI eraor is it more about usingwhat we have and optimizing? Ranjeet Kapur00:00:06,960- And the investment horizon is from nowto less than two years. James Simcox00:00:09,233- And so it's really importantto focus your investmentson the areas that actually move the needlefor your customers, eitheron cost or on functionality,and not just build whatever you can. Ranjeet Kapur00:00:18,420- Typically, what we’veseen is that five to 10%of tech budget is beingdeployed towards AI. James Simcox00:00:23,130- If it does something wrong,who's at fault, is it the agent?How do I sue an agent, you know?Like,no one's thought thesekind of journeys through yet. Ranjeet Kapur00:00:29,370- AI is a tool, period.And it's not going to replace people.It's a tool at the end of the dayHumans have AI as well,actual intelligence, 00:00:36,720and it's very difficult to replace that. Alex Miller00:00:38,737(dramatic music)- Hi, I'm Alex Miller.I'm delighted to be joined todayby two distinguished guests.First, we haveJames Simcox,Chief Operations andProduct Officer at Equals,known for his deep expertisein AI-driven payments,stable coins, and thearchitecture of embedded finance.00:00:54,150And second, we welcome Ranjeet Kapur,Global Head of fintechat Citi Commercial Bank,whoworks on the front line,helping corporate clientsnavigating the digital transitionand makingcriticaltechnology investment choices.00:01:05,362In today's episode, we're going to explorehow AI has reached acritical inflection point,movingfrom a backoffice productivity toolto a core catalyst forbusiness model evolution.00:01:16,800We'll discuss where AI isdelivering real impact,the strategic choices facing businesses,and whatthe futureholds as this technologybecomes more powerful and autonomous.00:01:26,670 So without further ado,let's jump right in.James, maybe I could askyou to introduce yourself,your journey today, andof course your company. James Simcox 00:01:34,734- Absolutely, yes, so I'm James.I'm the Chief Product Officer for Equals.Equals has been aroundfor almost 20 years now.We started out as a retailtravel card business backwhen everyone wasstill using cashandtraveler'schecks and everything.00:01:46,956But we've evolved a long way since then.So we're now a Europeanfinancial technology provider.So we provide ourcustomers with the abilityto send payments, use cards, do FX,but moreimportantly, embed those productsinside their own platforms.00:02:01,260So our customers arenot just the customersthat we speak to, it's thecustomers of ourcustomers.So we have a really wide rangeof use cases to deal with.And yeah, we operate acrossUK and thewhole of Europe. Alex Miller 00:02:11,850- And your own journey to date,have you always been in the fintech space,the entrepreneurialspace, or? James Simcox00:02:18,570 - No, actually, I approachedfintech eight years ago.Before that, I used towork in consumer goods.So my whole past before thatwas manufacturing automation,which was a very different space,but actually, weirdlysimilar to fintech, right?It's very complicated problemsto solve in thebackground,just to get products tocustomers as quick as you can,soap and payments aresurprisingly similar. Alex Miller 00:02:35,850- So infrastructure iscritical, thank you.Well, it's great to haveyou on the podcast today.Ranjeet,perhaps you couldjust explain your roleat the firm and where you fit in, please. Ranjeet Kapur00:02:45,180 - Sure, so I'm Ranjeet Kapur.I head the fintech segmentfor Commercial Bank,as Alex pointed out,as you pointed out.So my role really isat the end of the day,all fintechs need, and all clients,all entities need abanking service provider.00:02:57,390So this is where I and my team come in,that we liaise with fintechssuch as Equals, for example,tosee how we can deploy our networkand our products and processesto help our clients deliverservicesto their clients faster, quicker,and a more efficient manner.00:03:12,529So that's the emballage of my team,to ensure that we're making the powerof Citi available to allour clients. Alex Miller 00:03:18,210 - That's fantastic, well, it’sgreat to have you both on.Thank you very much for your time.James,so let's kind of dive in.So there's a strong view emerging,I think out there in policy in the marketthat AI is reaching somesort of inflection point.You've obviously gota unique vantage pointtohaving senior oversightof products and operations.Does that ring true to you?Are you seeing areal shift herein terms of how eitherEquals or indeed someof your customers are deploying AI? James Simcox00:03:41,160 - Absolutely, I think in the last year,we've really seen that change kindof come to fruition, right?We've had AI around for a long time.People always go, "Oh, AI is brand new."00:03:49,500Well, we've been usingmachine learning modelsfor a very long time and, you know,10 years ago, there was AIin the marketplace, right?But I think we're now at the pointwher