Krystelle Bilodeau is Senior Director, Banking Operations & Risk at the Bank of Canada. Krystelle has worked in the financial sector for over 20 years with 16 years at Canada’s central Bank. Throughout her career, Krystelle has established herself as a versatile professional holding leadership positions in a broad range of areas including Director of Retail and Wholesale Debt Administration responsible for large and complex outsourced operations; as Director of Awareness and Education in the Currency Department during Canada’s successful transition from paper-based to polymer-based currency; As Adviser on Third Party Risk having designed and implemented the Bank’s Third party risk management program; and as Senior Director for the Bank of Canada’s critical Banking Operations and risk during the COVID crisis. Krystelle has also served as Special Assistant to the Bank’s Chief Operating Officer advising on a wide range of corporate programs and initiatives.

Bank of Canada is the central bank of Canada.

Implementing RPA and AI in the financial sector - Eyes wide open

Implementing AI is a fairly new concept in many regulated spaces. Experimenting in this domain is necessary but comes with many things to consider. In this session, I will walk through the journey of implementing RPA and AI in the Bank of Canada's critical banking operations and share the lessons learned that will help future endeavors implement successfully and avoid un-known risks.

Massimo, a dynamic figure in the world of Artificial Intelligence and blockchain. With his extensive experience and expertise, he has gained a stellar reputation in the industry.Having served as a former UN Global Expert in Artificial Intelligence Metaverse and blockchain, Massimo brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. His contributions have been recognized on a global scale, making him a highly sought-after professional.

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42 ScopeSC 42 develops international standards for artificial intelligence.SC 42’s unique holistic approach considers the entire AI ecosystem, by looking at technology capability and non-technical requirements, such as business, regulatory and policy requirements, application domain needs, and ethical and societal concerns.Standardization in the area of Artificial Intelligence.

Panel Discussion: AI - What is next? An outlook

This panel will examine various scenarios for the future role of AI in central banking. The most important trends and possible paths to a future with AI will be highlighted. The opportunities and risks will also be discussed.

A highly regarded voice on all things fintech and CBDC, Dr. Oriol Caudevilla  founded and hosts the “A Digital Tomorrow” podcast, with over 12k followers on YouTube. He was also appointed as Member of the CBDC Committee at the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), Board Director and Secretary General at the Global Impact FinTech (GIFT) Forum, and Honorary Fellow at the University of Hong Kong’s Asian Institute of International Financial Law (AIIFL), among others.

Global Impact FinTech Forum (GIFT) is global non profit think tank whose members include ecosystem leaders from Governments, Regulators, Multilateral Agencies, Industry, Banks, Fintech and Blockchain companies, Academia and thought leaders. This forum engages with policy makers and Fintech/Blockchain/Digital leaders for knowledge and best practice sharing, community building, collaboration and ecosystem development. 

The future of AI in central banking and financial services

Over several decades, banks have continually adapted the latest technologyinnovations to redefine how customers interact with them. Banks introduced ATMs inthe 1960s and electronic, card-based payments in the ’70s. The 2000s saw broadadoption of 24/7 online banking, followed by the spread of mobile-based “banking onthe go” in the 2010s.Few would disagree that we’re now in the AI-powered digital age, facilitated by fallingcosts for data storage and processing, increasing access and connectivity for all, andrapid advances in AI technologies. These technologies can lead to higher automationand, when deployed after controlling for risks, can often improve upon human decisionmaking in terms of both speed and accuracy.In this speech, I will cover what the Future of AI in Central Banking and Financial Services is.

Chris is a technology leader with over 25 years of experience in global financial markets and central banking, and a PhD in artificial intelligence. Chris leads the technology organisation of the BIS and is responsible for the institutions's AI strategy. He organises a number of global technology leadership forums for the BIS community and is actively involved in shaping the industry's response to recent developments in AI.

The Bank for International Settlements is an international financial organisation based in Basel, Switzerland. Its mission is to support central banks' pursuit of monetary and financial stability through international cooperation, and to act as a bank for central banks. The BIS works together with central banks to explore the technological innovation that is rapidly transforming the financial landscape, to help them realise its benefits while avoiding the associated risks.

Recent developments in AI and the central banking response

Recent developments in AI technology have captured the world's attention, including in the central banking community. While the long term potential of AI remains to be seen, the rapid pace of innovation in AI technology and the new capabilities this has introduced are genuinely remarkable. These developments present exciting opportunities for central banks but also new types of risk that need to be managed, both in their own operations and in the financial sector more generally. This talk will provide a broad overview of the latest developments in generative AI, the key opportunities and risks these present for central banks, and how the industry is responding.

Nathan Hamiel is Senior Director of Research at Kudelski Security, leading the fundamental and applied research team. He and his team focus on the security of emerging technologies with a focus on artificial intelligence, privacy technologies, quantum security, and advanced cryptography.

Kudelski Security is an innovative and independent provider of cybersecurity solutions, with offices in Switzerland and across the United States. Our mission is to help enterprise and public-sector clients build, deploy, and manage effective security programs that reduce risk and build resilience.

Panel Discussion: AI - Friend or Foe?

This panel discussion will explore the question of whether AI is friend or foe - or both? What does one mean and what does the other mean, and what needs to be done to use AI sensibly or to protect against it?

Dr. Ritesh Jain, a top 10 Global Fintech Leader, founder, tech enthusiast, and seasoned board advisor, has over two decades of experience in global Digital Technology, Business Transformation, and Operations. As a regular speaker at global conferences on Fintechs, Emerging Tech, Banks, and Payments, he has made a lasting impact on the industry. Formerly the COO and Global Head of Digital Tech at HSBC, he led the future of Payments at VISA and introduced Apple Pay. At Maersk, he spearheaded technology and innovation, establishing Digital Centers of Excellence and robust high-availability platforms. His contributions earned him a PhD in Payments Innovation, Open Banking, and Financial Inclusion. Dr. Jain is a founding member of the World Metaverse Council, Blockchain Associations, IBM/Informa’s AI Community, and a visiting faculty member at leading business schools. He also serves as a member advisor of the G20 GPFI and offers guidance to major payment programs and banks worldwide while advising banks and central banks on emerging tech and the future of banking and payments.

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42 ScopeSC 42 develops international standards for artificial intelligence.SC 42’s unique holistic approach considers the entire AI ecosystem, by looking at technology capability and non-technical requirements, such as business, regulatory and policy requirements, application domain needs, and ethical and societal concerns.Standardization in the area of Artificial Intelligence.

Panel Discussion: AI - What is next? An outlook

This panel will examine various scenarios for the future role of AI in central banking. The most important trends and possible paths to a future with AI will be highlighted. The opportunities and risks will also be discussed.

Dr. Kombe Kaponda is the leading researcher on the effects of financial technologies and the feasibility of CBDC in developing economies and the immediate past chairperson for the Central Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Finacial Technologies Working Group. He is a certified Digital Finance Practitioner (CDFP), an active contributor to the global fintech and digital innovations agenda, participating in the IMF-World Bank Technology Community of Practice (CoP), a CBDC technology CoP in the Digital Advisory Unit focusing on R&D and research about CBDC technology for mutual global learning. He is also a founding trustee of the Association for Digital Finance Practitioners (ADFP) in Zambia and the Global Alliance of Digital Finance Associations. He is currently participating in the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) Architecture Interoperability Committee, Taxonomy & CBDC, and Digital Currency Ecosystem Global Initiative WG. Dr. Kombe Kaponda holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), with a research thesis, focused on the feasibility and possible use cases, interoperability of FMI on CBDC implementation, Master’s Degree in ICT Regulation, Policy and Management (MEng.), certifications from the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School, Executive Education on Cambridge FinTech & Regulatory Innovation Programme, Data Science, machine learning and R programming from HarvardX University, FinTech Professional certification from the University of Hong Kong and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSc.). He is a thought leader, published author and a public speaker on financial technologies developments in SSA and has facilitated several Digital Financial Services (DFS), Artificial intelligence (AI) in Finance, Cybersecurity training workshops and seminars around the world.

Central Bank of Zambia.

The promise of Artificial Intelligence in Finance: Case for developing Economies

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the financial industry, especially in developing economies. AI-powered financial services can help to improve financial inclusion, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. AI can also help to reduce the costs of financial services through AI-powered chatbots can automate customer service tasks, and AI-powered fraud detection systems can help to reduce fraud losses. Developing economies like Zambia is well-positioned to benefit from the promise of AI in finance because of the increasing populations of underserved individuals and businesses, and they are also often early adopters of new technologies

Sri Krishnamurthy, CFA, is the founder of QuantUniversity, a data and quantitative analysis company. He has more than 20 years of experience in analytics, quantitative analysis, statistical modeling, and designing large – scale applications. Previously, Mr. Krishnamurthy has worked for Citigroup, Endeca, and MathWorks and has consulted with more than 25 customers in the financial services and energy industries . He has trained more than 1,000 students in quantitative methods, analytics, and big data in the industry and at Babson College, Northeastern University, and Hult International Business School, many of whom work in data science roles at financial services firms. Mr. Krishnamurthy earned an MS in computer systems engineering and an MS in computer science from Northeastern University and an MBA with a focus on investments from Babson College.

QuantUniversity is a quantitative analytics advisory focusing on the intersection of Data science, Machine learning and Quantitative Finance. We take a practitioner’s approach to working with pragmatic applications of frontier topics to real-world financial and energy problems. QuantUniversity advises various companies in Quant Finance application development, validation and in algorithmic auditing. We also run data science and machine learning workshops in the United States and online in its Explore-Experience-Excel series through QuAcademy.

Risks, Opportunities with ChatGPT & Large Language Models

The last few months has increased awareness of the advances in Large Language Models with the release of ChatGPT. This talk will discuss the potential risks and opportunities of using large language models like ChatGPT in financial services. These models have the potential to revolutionize the industry by processing vast amounts of data and providing sophisticated insights. However, the risks associated with these models include bias, lack of transparency, and overreliance on the technology. The talk will explore ways to mitigate these risks and maximize the opportunities presented by ChatGPT and other large language models.

Rakiya is a seasoned Director of Information Technology (CIO) at the Central Bank of Nigeria, leads pioneering efforts in deploying Africa's first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the 'eNaira.' With over 25 years' expertise and a wealth of certifications, her visionary leadership shapes digital finance innovation.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), established in 1958, serves as the country's apex monetary authority, regulating and overseeing financial institutions, formulating monetary policies, and fostering stable economic growth while maintaining price stability within Nigeria's financial ecosystem.

The AI Journey at the Central Bank of Nigeria - Progress, Prospects and Challenges

This presentation showcases the Central Bank of Nigeria's venture into AI, spotlighting the progress made, promising prospects, potential gains, and obstacles faced. It uncovers the impact of AI applications, emphasizing achievements and outlining future opportunities. Also, it addresses challenges, including regulatory and ethical considerations, while underscoring the Bank's dedication to responsible AI integration. The presentation concludes with a forward-looking perspective on how AI can enhance the Bank's operations and contribute to economic development.

Lívia is head of the Digitalisation Technology Department of the Central Bank of Hungary. She holds a M.S. in Data Science Methodology from University Pompeu Fabra, and a B.S. and M.S. in Economic Analysis from Corvinus University of Budapest. She is currently a PhD candidate in AI at the Computer Science Doctoral School at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

Central Bank of Hungary

AI-Driven Initiatives at the Central Bank of Hungary (MNB)

The presentation explores the opportunities and research areas in AI for enhancing central bank operations, from economic analysis to real-time data insight, with a focus on the innovative solutions implemented by the MNB. There will be 2 projects presented: the first part delves into NLP-driven sentiment analysis of the Hungarian economy, showcasing a method to extract timely signals from online news text and to use them for macroeconomic nowcasting. The second part discusses and analysis of the online cash register data using NLP and deep learning techniques.

Nicholas Schmidt is an expert in algorithmic fairness and explainable AI. He leverages his background in statistics and economics to address legal, compliance, and model governance challenges. As a founder of SolasAI, he develops bias mitigation tools that empower lenders, fintechs, and insurers to achieve equitable and transparent outcomes in algorithmic decision-making.

SolasAI, a pioneer in Responsible AI Software, accelerates the deployment of unbiased and scalable AI. It measures bias, explains opaque machine learning models, and generates models that maximize fairness and model quality. SolasAI was developed by experts with decades of industry experience who have been trusted by over half of Fortune 50 companies.

Balancing Machine Learning's Promise and Peril: Critical Insights from Consumer Financial Services

Drawing from nearly a quarter-century of collaboration with global lending, fintech, and insurance leaders, this presentation illuminates the art and science of building machine learning and AI models. It showcases successful applications and cautionary tales, revealing the keys to effective algorithmic implementations. By exploring the realms of promise and peril, the talk offers valuable insights into understanding algorithms while simultaneously ensuring they are fair, robust, and successfully implemented.

Having served as the Group CIO at Novartis and ArcelorMittal, Leon transitioned to entrepreneurship, founding multiple pioneering firms in the realms of cybersecurity, privacy, tokenization, and CBDCs. He holds also the position of co-founder & chairman at Taler Systems (a privacy-preserving CDBC solution), and has written a book on CBDCs & Digital Assets, set to be published in the first quarter of 2024.

Ekho is a global consultancy specializing in digitization, privacy, security, tokenization, and the implementation of cutting-edge technologies, from cloud, IoT to key-your-own key self-custody and privacy preserving CBDCs. It has devised a framework instrumental in crafting three distinct CBDC solutions (1 wholesale/2 retail).

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

This presentation will provide a technical basis for what AI is and situate many of the terms that can be associated with artificial intelligence for a better understanding of the following program.

Cornelia Stengel is an expert for financial market and data protection law. She supports banks and insurance companies in connection with digitisation, FinTech, Blockchain/Distributed Ledger Technology and data policy. She combines her practical experience with scientific research and has also published on CBDC. As an expert, she supports the Federal Administration in connection with the DLT bill and is elected permanent guest of the Bankers Association's Commission for Digitisation.

Kellerhals Carrard is one of the leading Swiss commercial law firms with an international network and strong local roots.

AI-supported transaction monitoring

Every bank in Switzerland must operate an IT-based transaction monitoring system that enables it to identify conspicuous transactions. This is the only way that the due diligence obligations under money laundering law in connection with transactions with increased risks, such as clarification or reporting obligations, can be fulfilled at all. Based on a sound risk analysis, transaction monitoring systems must be tailored to the specific business model and customer structure of the bank in question and vary accordingly from bank to bank. In order to reduce the manual effort involved in transaction monitoring and to focus the resources of compliance staff as far as possible on relevant problem cases, banks are examining the use of systems based on so-called "artificial intelligence" (AI applications).

Greg's role is to help global Governments to work with Microsoft technologies to achieve more by empowering growth, innovation, and digital/AI transformation.  He oversees support around the globe to Government Public Finance, Public Safety and Justice, Government Operations, Critical Infrastructure and Public Health and Social Services Partners and Customers. 

Microsoft Corporation develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.

Panel Discussion: AI - Friend or Foe?

This panel discussion will explore the question of whether AI is friend or foe - or both? What does one mean and what does the other mean, and what needs to be done to use AI sensibly or to protect against it?

Xiaochen is the CEO of FinTech4Good, co-chair of AI 2030, former Global Head of Innovation & GTM, AWS. In the past 20 years, he worked with many portfolio companies in launching new offers, entering into new markets and building transformative collaborative initiatives with the most reputable organizations from all over the world to reshape the future of finance with emerging technologies.

FinTech4Good is a venture building firm to empower financial services through emerging technologies. AI 2030 is an initiative aimed at harnessing the transformative power of AI to benefit humanity while minimizing its potential negative impact.

Panel Discussion: AI - Friend or Foe?

This panel discussion will explore the question of whether AI is friend or foe - or both? What does one mean and what does the other mean, and what needs to be done to use AI sensibly or to protect against it?