SET Training - Banking and Fintech

By Stanley Epstein -  Why 2026 Is the Inflection Point for Enterprise AI Agents — and Why Governance Will Decide the Winners -  Artificial intelligence agents are moving from pilot projects to production systems at remarkable speed. In 2026, the conversation is no longer about experimentation. It is about deployment, infrastructure, and control. This shift represents more than a technology upgrade. It signals a structural change in how organizations think about automation, decision-making, and productivity. But acceleration brings new risks alongside measurable gains. The Enterprise Shift When Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, recently described enterprise adoption of AI agents as “skyrocketing,” he linked the surge directly to explosive demand for compute infrastructure. The implication is clear. Companies are not simply testing AI tools. They are building the backbone for agentic systems capable of planning, reasoning, and acting with increasing autonomy. This aligns with forwar...

By Stanley Epstein -  Introduction The U.S. economy in 2025–2026 presents a mixed picture. Growth continues, but at a slower pace. Inflation has eased from prior peaks yet remains visible in essential goods. Confidence remains fragile. At the center of the debate lies trade policy — specifically the aggressive use of tariffs as a tool of economic “punishment.” The evidence suggests a sobering conclusion: broad tariffs have not delivered their stated macroeconomic goals and have instead imposed measurable costs on U.S. consumers and firms. The Current Economic Backdrop U.S. GDP expanded by approximately 2.2 percent in 2025, below historical long-run averages and slower than earlier post-pandemic growth phases. Official data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis confirms this moderation in output growth. See https://www.bea.gov . Job creation has softened relative to prior years, with uneven sectoral performance. Consumer confidence readings published by The Conference Board remain ...

By Stanley Epstein Artificial intelligence is no longer an experimental technology confined to innovation labs. It is embedded in credit decisions, fraud monitoring, customer service workflows, supply chain optimization, and marketing engines. Yet many organizations remain stuck in pilot mode. They run proofs of concept, showcase promising demos, and celebrate incremental wins. But few succeed in turning isolated experiments into enterprise-wide capabilities that consistently improve customer outcomes and operational performance. The difference lies not in algorithms, but in integration. This article examines how institutions move beyond AI hype and embed AI into operational workflows in ways that create measurable customer value at scale. From Experiments to Enterprise Capabilities Most organizations begin with AI pilots. A chatbot here. A fraud detection model there. A predictive churn model in marketing. According to McKinsey & Company , while AI adoption has accelerated globall...

The High-Speed Illusion To the average consumer, the act of paying has reached a state of near-magic. A biometric "tap", a mobile swipe, or a background process so integrated it feels invisible—the expectation is simplicity itself. This effortless front-end experience creates a powerful "High-Speed Illusion" of industry-wide mastery. Indeed, global executives perceive payments as the second most innovative industry on the planet (81%), trailing only information technology. However, as any strategic consultant will tell you, simplicity is often the most expensive thing to build. Beneath this "tap and go" surface lies a hidden friction. The industry is currently locked in a high-stakes "push-pull" struggle: the push of real-time rails and AI-driven convenience against the pull of rigid legacy debt and sophisticated fraud. To understand the future of money, we must look past the consumer interface and confront the internal paradoxes that separate th...

Global X’s report, “Charting Disruption – Outlook for 2026 and Beyond,” outlines the major disruptive technologies and structural shifts expected to shape global growth and investment over the next several years. At the center is the rapid advance and commercialization of Artificial Intelligence, which is driving an enormous buildout of high-performance chips and energy-hungry data centers. This surge in intelligence technologies is also accelerating adoption of Robotics and Physical AI in sectors from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare, while rising geopolitical tensions fuel a sharp increase in Defense Technology spending. The massive electricity needs of AI, electric vehicles, and global manufacturing reshoring require trillions of dollars in new infrastructure, particularly modernized power grids and expanded clean, reliable generation such as nuclear power. Meanwhile, soaring demand for foundational components is tightening supply of Critical Minerals. In parallel, breakthr...

  The BCI Horizon Scan Report 2025 looks at the complexity of the operating environment, providing a well-established benchmarking tool for both expert practitioners and newcomers to the business continuity and resilience industry. The report examines threats ranging from digital challenges and the adoption of new technologies to geopolitical changes and natural hazards, trying to capture the levels of current impact and future concern for practitioners. Furthermore, the results consider the effectiveness and the evolution of the techniques and tools that practitioners use to scan the risk and threat horizon. The rise of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, is challenging traditional methodologies, but practitioner still see value in the interpersonal exchange of information.