Breaking Banks

Can a not-for-profit, member-owned credit union genuinely out-innovate a bank with a multi-billion-dollar AI budget by being more disciplined and mission-anchored?

In this episode of Breaking Banks, Bev Anderson (President and CEO of BECU) and Nadim Homsany (SVP, Head of AI at BECU) join host Jason Henrichs to unpack the strategy behind the credit union’s AI decisions. They discuss where to focus, the choice between buying and building, and whether traditional ROI even applies.

Discover how BECU is getting serious about AI and whether this marks an opportunity for credit unions to reshape financial services in the U.S.

Interested in hearing more? You can catch Nadim on stage at MoneyLive North America with Samer Saab (SVP of Product and Partnerships at Alloy Labs) in Chicago on September 14–15. Find out more at moneylive-insights.com/breakingbanks

In this episode host Brett King and Paolo Sironi, host of Breaking Banks’ sister podcast The Bankers’ Bookshelf, speak with Pal Krogdahl, author of Rip Out the Core—an essential guide for anyone wrestling with the stubborn realities of banking core modernization. Despite massive investments, many institutions still face overruns, delays, and outcomes that leave them no stronger than before.

Sparked by a flooded kitchen that perfectly mirrored the chaos of real-world banking transformation programs, Pal’s book shifts the lens from pure technology to organization, showing that lasting change is impossible without adapting how people work. Pal speaks to banking executives and transformation leaders tired of endless patching, converting hard-won industry experience into precise, actionable steps that finally deliver meaningful business value.

Join as the trio unpack why core modernization so often fails, how organizational design must evolve alongside systems, and the practical path to progress that stops the cycle of frustration once and for all.

Entrepreneurship is an odyssey with many unexpected stops on the journey. You could find yourself on a loading dock in East LA, freestyle rapping with a man known as DJ Trucker—yes, there is video proof.

In this episode of our special series, Killing It, hosts Jason Henrichs and Alex Johnson talk with Max Farrell. Max started his career in business development at Dwolla and went on to found WorkHound, which is now WorkStep. WorkHound began when Max stumbled upon a problem in an industry he didn’t come from, and he jumped right in.

The trio speaks candidly about the unpredictable nature of the founder journey and the need to deeply understand the customer. This includes Max spending 48 consecutive hours in the cab of a truck, winning a Truck Tank pitch competition, and recognizing when it is time to personally hit the road and move on.

This honest conversation shares the ups and downs of building a business. Max describes the near-failures, the acquisition, and his eventual decision to leave his founder identity behind. It’s an odyssey. 

In This Episode

For years, Banking as a Service (BaaS) was sold as a silver bullet for community banks to solve their deposit problems and grow non-interest income. Through its evolution, the industry has learned that it is not enough for BaaS to simply be programmable. For innovation in banking to flourish, without sacrificing the safety and security of the banking ecosystem, BaaS must also be governable.

With the bankruptcy of Synapse and the resulting consent orders, sponsor banks have been forced to prove their control over outsourced operations.

This week on Breaking Banks, Jason Mikula, who wrote the book on BaaS, literally!, and is publisher of FinTech Business Weekly; Ellen Linardi, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Synctera; and Reid Whiting, President of Lincoln Savings Bank join Jason Henrichs to talk about sponsor banking. Is it growing up or catching up?

Interested in learning more? Check show notes for a link to a paper, a blueprint really, for the choices a bank that wants to play in sponsorship banking will need to make.

White Paper Link: Orchestration, Control, and Observability: A New Framework for Sponsor Banking https://alloylabs.docsend.com/view/gs8925x8yeii5vxg

In This Episode

What if AI could replicate your consciousness?

Listen as Breaking Banks host Brett King connects with Paolo Sironi, host of Provoke.fm‘s The Banker’s Bookshelf about Paolo’s latest book, Quantum Sapiens.

Paolo’s foray into literary fiction explores the intersection of quantum gravity, philosophy, and the future of human consciousness in an AI-driven world, providing a unique way to explore complex topics.

Available at major bookstores and on Amazon, Quantum Sapiens is a haunting novel blending scientific speculation, the frontiers of artificial intelligence, theories of consciousness and urgent ethical questions into a compelling narrative.

Join Paolo and Brett as they dive into the “hard problem” of consciousness and how technology like AI acts as a mirror for the human experience.