Banking’s AI adoption isn’t frozen. It’s early, uneven, and a lot more complicated than handing everyone a ChatGPT license and calling it transformation.

Ron Shevlin and Stacey Bryant take apart the “frozen middle” narrative, explain why banks need to fund the less flashy stuff like APIs, data access, infrastructure, and process redesign, and warn that giving 500 employees AI tools could create 500 undocumented ways of working. Because apparently “let everyone run amok” is not an AI strategy.

Then they dig into the SoFi playbook credit unions keep overlooking, the student-lending ROI trap, and a 225-mile car-loan story that proves “apply online” does not always mean digital. Candid, sharp, and occasionally spicy, as always.

Show Notes:

• Banking Is Very Wrong About the AI Timeline
• The Most Important Job Announcement in Banking
• SoFi Gives Checking Away Too, It Just Sells Something Afterward
• Ron's Substack

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Chapters
[00:00] AI Isn’t Frozen
[00:23] The “Frozen Middle” Claim
[02:56] Why AI Adoption Is Just Early
[07:45] AI Is Not One Technology
[09:24] The Bigger Risk: Banks Standing Still
[12:16] 500 Employees, 500 AI Workflows
[14:40] Why One Person Can’t Own AI
[16:10] Banking’s Most Important AI Hire
[18:26] The Two AI Budget Buckets
[22:17] Why Community Banks Can’t Wait
[23:52] Party Like It’s 1993
[28:12] The SoFi Playbook Credit Unions Can Steal
[29:59] The Student-Loan ROI Trap
[31:22] Engagement Beats Rewards
[34:04] The 225-Mile Car Loan Wake-Up Call

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Subscribe to the What's Going On In Banking podcast here:
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