What Happens in Vegas...is All About Human X Machine

Matt Lucas

Nov 5, 2024, 5 minute read

As a recent arrival to the Stardog team - I moved over from Morgan Stanley in March - I’ve been making a quick and exciting transition to executing our mission: delivering the benefits of AI to the financial industry, safely and effectively. My first Money 20/20 Conference, which took place October 26-29, in Las Vegas, was a fantastic opportunity to connect with what’s happening in the industry, right now, and share how Stardog can help organizations optimize efficiencies and maximize the benefits of AI safely and securely. I’m excited to tell you what I learned, experienced, and enjoyed about this important (and fun) event.

About the conference.

Money 20/20 USA is the largest, most influential gathering of what they call the “global money ecosystem.” That includes everything from the biggest international banks to the newest fintech startups – and all points in between. There were thousands of attendees. And the expansive speakers list encompassed everyone from the president of the New York Stock Exchange to the CFO of OpenAI. Everyone’s there to make connections, be inspired by impressive speakers, and catch up on the innovations that are transforming the industry.

This year, the event was focused on the intersection of people and technology. Considering that our mission at Stardog is to deliver the benefits of AI to the knowledge worker safely and securely, and empower them to optimize at work, we were clearly in our sweet spot.

Stardog, on the ground, drawing a crowd.

The Stardog booth was a hit. We talked to more people than we could count, and it turns out that the ability to get fast, accurate, traceable, secure, and hallucination-free answers to business critical questions is pretty appealing.

As we’ve discussed in a previous post, GenAI is leading to a revolution in productivity. In fact, according to a study by APQC, the average knowledge worker spends a whopping 8.2 hours a week on tasks that can be automated. (Specifically, that means looking for information, recreating stuff that already exists, and even finding the right person to answer a question.) We talked to lots of people about how implementing GenAI-powered automation can shrink that wasted time, and increase productivity by at least 20%. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that many attendees – particularly representatives from larger institutions - found that type of ROI extremely interesting.

A quick side note: I have to mention our secret weapon, Carlos the Popcorn Man, part of the event catering team. Carlos’ charm and wit helped generate traffic to our booth. He quietly told us his secret to making the best popcorn is his commitment to hard work. Just another reminder that Money 20/20 is all about the determination of people like Carlos, and an important reminder of the vital importance of always keeping the focus on helping humans (like Carlos) and machines (like Carlos’ popcorn cart) work together efficiently and securely.

So, what was everyone talking about?

While the conference as a whole was an amazing experience, there were a few observations on what I saw, heard, and learned at Money 20/20, from a few different perspectives.

What’s happening in the financial industry.

Business leaders were highly engaged at the conference. Through countless conversations about where financial organizations are focused, right now, the following points stood out most.

Reducing financial and regulatory risk is critical. Businesses are particularly focused on reducing fraud and money laundering, as well as protecting payment processing. Doing so efficiently and leveraging emerging technologies was a consistent theme.
Using technology to drive revenue is a rising interest. Firms are using a wide range of approaches to try to leverage GenAI to boost the bottom line, and by enabling analysts to access accurate insights quickly.
Making it easier for analysts and advisors to access information is a key focus. Firms are looking to optimize performance and reduce their dependence on gatekeepers – like IT departments. They’re seeing that democratizing data – by delivering important information directly to people who need it – can really improve outcomes.

What’s happening with technology in finance.

When it comes to technological innovation, a few common themes emerged at booths and from tech firm attendees.

GenAI is clearly a primary focus for financial technology products. Even well-established systems and platforms are looking to augment their offerings with AI.
With the rise of GenAI, smaller tech players are starting to have an impact. The big names are pushing hard to include the technology, but their size and complexity makes it a slower process. Newer, nimbler organizations are bringing interesting, unique approaches quickly, and attracting plenty of well-earned attention.
Traditional tools – like report generation and platform systems - are still important. But they’re giving way to approaches like chat interfaces, either embedded into systems or as stand-alone technology.

A few final observations.

Clearly, AI is here to stay. And data will be critical to success. Businesses have a mandate, and tech companies are working hard to deliver.
Stardog Voicebox is positioned to fill a real need. I talked to so many people who were visibly excited about its ability to simplify their data challenges, easily deliver information to everyone who needs it, and improve outcomes.
You can’t have an AI strategy without also having a data strategy. Businesses may not yet have the capabilities they need to get quality data to fuel AI, but they definitely know they want the results to be faster, secure, compliant, scalable, and 100% accurate.

The future of the Human X Machine dynamic is about helping people use technology like AI to optimize the way they work together. Success depends on the ability to make that technology secure, transparent, and easy to use. That’s exactly what we’re focused on, and we’re excited about the many ways we can help the financial industry going forward. At Stardog, we’re looking ahead, and planning to deliver measurable impact and increased safety for more people and organizations in 2025 - in finance, and beyond.