the c-suite podcast

the c-suite podcast

the c-suite podcast covers topics such as Sustainability, Diversity, Employee Engagement, Financial Inclusion, HR, Innovation, Marketing Communications, Mental Health & Wellbeing and Social Mobility. Featuring senior executives discussing latest trends, campaigns and issues, sharing best practice case studies. If you'd like to get involved, please get in touch using the contact form at http://www.csuitepodcast.com

  1. Show 305 - Money20/20 Asia Part 1 of 2 - From Infrastructure to Impact: How Asia’s Banks Are Evolving at Speed

    1 DAY AGO

    Show 305 - Money20/20 Asia Part 1 of 2 - From Infrastructure to Impact: How Asia’s Banks Are Evolving at Speed

    Recorded live at Money20/20 Asia in Bangkok, this first of two special episodes, produced in partnership with audax, where we dive into the real-world impact of digital banking transformation across Southeast Asia. Host Debbie West was joined by: 1/ Mike Breen, Chief Commercial officer, audax 2/ Danielle Szetho, Head of Digital Assets Portfolio & Governance, Standard Chartered Bank 3/ Sajal Bhatnagar, Chief Digital Officer, Allo Bank 4/ Moritz Gastl, General Manager, Tala Financing Mike Breen, Chief Commercial Officer at audax, explores why the industry has finally moved beyond the endless transformation narrative and into a phase where banks are being judged on outcomes, not intentions. He unpacks the shifting dynamics of customer loyalty, why five‑year transformation plans are already obsolete, and how banks can stay relevant to a generation that no longer comes to the bank, the bank must go to them. We also hear from Danielle Szetho, Head of Digital Assets, Portfolio & Governance at Standard Chartered, who explains why Asia has reached an inflection point in digital assets adoption. She breaks down the rapid rise of local‑currency stablecoins, the real use cases emerging across supply chains and cross‑border commerce, and how AI‑driven agentic technologies are reshaping treasury operations inside major institutions. Sajal Bhatnagar, Chief Digital Officer at Allo Bank, shares why Indonesia’s young, connected but underbanked population creates one of the world’s most compelling environments for digital banking. He discusses what truly determines whether a digital bank can scale sustainably, why embedded finance is central to Allo Bank’s strategy, and how partnerships unlock cost‑efficient access to millions of customers. Finally, Moritz Gastl, General Manager at Tala Financing shares how Tala is expanding access to credit for underserved customers, the realities of risk, pricing and repayment in emerging markets, and what sustainable digital lending looks like when you design around everyday financial lives rather than idealised models. A fast‑paced, insight‑rich episode capturing the energy, innovation and competitive urgency defining financial services across Asia today.

    42 min
  2. Show 304 - Smarter Faster Payments Part 3 of 3: Fraud, Stablecoins & the Future of Trust in Real‑Time Money Movement

    1 DAY AGO

    Show 304 - Smarter Faster Payments Part 3 of 3: Fraud, Stablecoins & the Future of Trust in Real‑Time Money Movement

    In this third and final episode from Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments in San Diego, produced in partnership with LSEG Risk Intelligence, we bring together leaders from banking, fintech, compliance, and digital assets to unpack the most urgent challenges and biggest opportunities shaping the future of payments. Host Graham Barrett speaks with six more guests: 1/ Brian Holbrook, Director of Product Strategy and Integrated Services, LSEG Risk Intelligence 2/ Nanci McKenzie, Director, Treasury Management Payments Expert, Capital One 3/ Kevin Donoughe, Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel, Regions Bank 4/ Alex Treece, Co-Founder & CEO, Stablecore 5/ Brian Weide, Director of Treasury Management, DeNovo Treasury, LLC 6/ Marsha Jones, President, Third Party Payment Processors Association Together they explore how fraud is evolving, how regulation is catching up, and how financial institutions can build trust in a world of instant, irreversible money movement. Brian Holbrook, Director of Product Strategy & Integrated Services, LSEG Risk Intelligence on why Nacha’s new fraud‑monitoring rules demand a shift from box‑ticking to true lifecycle risk management, and why impersonation fraud starts long before a payment is sent. Nanci McKenzie, Director & Treasury Management Payments Expert, Capital One on what it really takes to scale agentic AI in faster payments, the overlooked threat of pig‑butchering scams, and why policy and compliance must evolve before the technology does. Kevin Donoughe, SVP & Assistant General Counsel, Regions Bank on the legal and regulatory landscape for stablecoins, the impact of the GENIUS Act, and why banks must rethink governance, controls, and customer education in a 24/7 real‑time environment. Alex Treece, Co‑Founder & CEO, Stablecore on why stablecoins are at a crossroads, how banks are entering the space for the first time, and why trillions of dollars in future volume will depend on integrating digital assets into the traditional banking stack. Brian Weide, Director of Treasury Management, DeNovo Treasury on whether banks should charge for access to open‑banking data, the economics facing community banks, and why AI‑driven fraud detection is becoming essential for smaller institutions. Marsha Jones, President, Third Party Payment Processors Association (TPPPA) on the role of third‑party processors in securing the ACH ecosystem, the compliance pressures facing the industry, and how processors can strengthen trust across the payments value chain. From fraud escalation to regulatory clarity, from agentic AI to stablecoin adoption, this episode captures the most important conversations happening in U.S. payments today and what they mean for banks, corporates, processors, and consumers navigating an increasingly complex landscape.

    41 min
  3. Show 303 - Smarter Faster Payments Part 2 of 3: Fighting Fraud, Securing Identity & Optimising Payments

    2 DAYS AGO

    Show 303 - Smarter Faster Payments Part 2 of 3: Fighting Fraud, Securing Identity & Optimising Payments

    In the second of three special episodes recorded at Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments in San Diego, produced in partnership with LSEG Risk Intelligence, we explore the industry’s most urgent challenges: rising fraud, the evolution of digital identity, real‑time payments, and the future of embedded banking. Host Graham Barrett speaks with six more leaders shaping the next chapter of secure, intelligent, customer‑centric payments. His guests were: 1/ Robert Unger, Managing Director, ACH Network Development, Nacha 2/ Aravind Narayan, Global Head of Proposition, Digital Identity and Fraud, LSEG Risk Intelligence 3/ Andrew Stache, SVP, Global Treasury Management, Wells Fargo 4/ Lisa Shields, Founder & CEO, FISPAN 5/ Jaime Zetterstrom, VP of Product and Innovation, Somos Inc. 6/ Steve Kramer, VP of Product, Paynearme Robert Unger, Managing Director of ACH Network Development at Nacha, sets the scene for this year’s event, the largest in its history, and explains why fraud, AI and ecosystem‑wide collaboration dominate the conversation. Robert outlines Nacha’s new mandatory rules designed to combat ACH fraud, the need for unified data‑sharing frameworks, and why the industry must move from siloed protection to collective intelligence. Aravind Narayan, Global Head of Proposition for Digital Identity & Fraud at LSEG Risk Intelligence, discusses the explosion of attack vectors, the industrialisation of fraud, and the psychological toll on victims. Aravind explains why identity verification must shift from “verify once” to continuous, multimodal trust, and how deepfakes and AI‑driven scams demand richer risk signals, stronger collaboration and embedded identity layers for future agentic systems. Andrew Stache, SSVP, Global Treasury Management at Wells Fargo, explores why payment choice has become a strategic priority for CFOs, treasurers and product leaders alike. He discusses the rise of instant payments, the growing threat of social‑engineering‑driven push‑payment fraud, and how Wells Fargo is shifting fraud controls “left” using real‑time intelligence, behavioural analytics and bank‑to‑bank collaboration to protect customers. Lisa Shields, Founder & CEO of FISPAN, explains how embedded intelligence is transforming the bank–corporate relationship. She shares how embedding treasury services directly into ERP workflows unlocks richer data, smarter decisioning and more seamless experiences, and why AI has the potential to reshape bank–fintech collaboration once it moves beyond hype to real use cases. Jaime Zetterstrom, VP of Product and Innovation at Somos Inc. brings a practitioner’s view on modernising payment operations, improving customer experience, and navigating the shift toward real‑time rails and intelligent automation. Finally Steve Kramer, VP of Product at Paynearme, closes the episode with insights on fraud prevention, operational resilience and the evolving expectations of both consumers and corporates in a faster‑payments world. A wide‑ranging, insight‑rich episode capturing the realities of modern payments, where identity, intelligence, collaboration and customer‑centric design must all work together to keep pace with innovation.

    52 min
  4. Show 302 - Smarter Faster Payments Part 1 of 3: Fraud, Faster Payments & the New Risk Landscape

    5 DAYS AGO

    Show 302 - Smarter Faster Payments Part 1 of 3: Fraud, Faster Payments & the New Risk Landscape

    In the first of three special episodes recorded at Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments in San Diego, produced in partnership with LSEG Risk Intelligence, we explore the human, operational and technological forces reshaping payments in 2026. Host Graham Barrett speaks with six leaders across fraud prevention, real‑time payments, digital assets, B2B innovation and treasury to understand how the industry is adapting to rising threats, shifting customer expectations and the acceleration of new rails. His guests were: 1/ Dal Sahota, Global Director, Trusted Payments, LSEG Risk Intelligence 2/ Kevin Olsen, Senior Vice President, Payments Solutions, Pidgin 3/ Jessica Cheney, VP of Banking Solutions and Growth, Bottomline 4/ Lee-Ann Perkins, Assistant Treasurer, Senior Director, Ankura Consulting Group 5/ Nick Stanescu, Executive Vice President and Chief FedNow Executive, Federal Reserve Financial Services 6/ Alan Ng, Managing Director, Payments Accenture Dal Sahota, Global Director of Trusted Payments at LSEG Risk Intelligence, opens the episode with insights from LSEG’s new global fraud survey, revealing that 97% of victims change their behaviour after being defrauded, and over half report lasting emotional impact. Dal discusses why fraud must be tackled as a network problem, not in organisational silos, and how LSEG’s Global Account Verification is evolving to meet cross‑border risk and customer demand. Kevin Olsen, Senior Vice President of Payments Solutions at Pidgin breaks down what agentic AI really means in payments, how autonomous agents could initiate purchases or negotiate on a consumer’s behalf, and why education and “crawl‑walk‑run” adoption are essential to avoid eroding trust. Kevin also highlights the growing intersection between AI agents, smart contracts and stablecoin risk. Jessica Cheney, VP of Banking Solutions and Growth, Bottomline, explains how digital natives are rewriting B2B payment expectations, prioritising visibility, confirmation and experience over raw speed. She discusses the GENIUS Act’s impact on digital assets, the slow but steady legitimisation of blockchain‑based rails, and why layered fraud defences must move earlier in the payment lifecycle. Lee‑Ann Perkins, Assistant Treasurer and Senior Director at Ankura Consulting Group, brings a corporate treasury perspective, exploring how FIs and corporates are more aligned than ever on real‑time visibility, operational resilience and fraud prevention. She highlights the cultural and process shifts required to modernise treasury in a faster‑payments world. Nick Stanescu, Executive Vice President and Chief FedNow Executive at Federal Reserve Financial Services, shares a real‑time payments view from the Fed, discussing adoption trends, industry readiness, and how FedNow is shaping the future of instant settlement, liquidity management and fraud controls across the U.S. ecosystem. Alan Ng, Managing Director of Payments at Accenture, closes the episode with a strategic lens on the global payments landscape, from the rise of alternative rails and tokenised value to the operational realities of scaling AI responsibly. Alan outlines where banks and corporates should focus next to stay competitive amid rapid change. A wide‑ranging, insight‑rich episode that captures the urgency, complexity and opportunity defining the next chapter of smarter, faster and safer payments.

    51 min
  5. Show 301 - Retail Technology Show Part 4 of 4 - Real‑Time Retail, Intelligent Stores & Agentic Commerce

    5 DAYS AGO

    Show 301 - Retail Technology Show Part 4 of 4 - Real‑Time Retail, Intelligent Stores & Agentic Commerce

    In the final episode recorded at the Retail Technology Show, and the second produced in partnership with TNS, we explore the technologies, operational models and customer‑centric strategies shaping the next era of connected retail. Host Graham Barrett speaks with leaders from payments, grocery, beauty, fashion and retail innovation to understand how real‑time data, automation and agentic AI are transforming store operations and customer experience. His guests were: 1/ Jon Cole, Director of Product and Technical Solutions, TNS 2/ Rob Smith, Technology Officer, East of England Co‑op 3/ Sarah Boyd, Managing Director, Sephora UK 4/ Jeannette Copeland, Board Member & Technology & Supply Chain Director, Ann Summers 5/ Simon Spencelayh, Managing Director eCommerce, Robert Dyas 6/ Mitchell Vergeer, Head of Retail, Axel Arigato Jon Cole, Director of Product & Technical Solutions at TNS, returns to discuss why real‑time visibility across payments, devices and acquirer performance is now mission‑critical. Jon explains how TNS’ single‑pane‑of‑glass monitoring helps retailers avoid outages, protect revenue and maintain customer trust, and why agentic commerce will soon reshape how consumers shop, negotiate and transact across categories from golf clubs to airline tickets. Rob Smith, Technology Officer at East of England Co‑op, shares how digitising the shelf edge and applying intelligent markdowns has boosted sell‑through, reduced waste and protected margin. Rob highlights how freeing colleagues from manual tasks creates more meaningful customer interactions, and why connected retail depends on accurate, real‑time data to build trust, consistency and better availability. Sarah Boyd, Managing Director of Sephora UK, reflects on why a hyper‑local, community‑driven approach has been central to its success. Sarah discusses Sephora’s unique store openings, the balance between global brands and emerging labels, and how the business blends personalisation, social listening and human connection. Jeannette Copeland, Board Member & Technology and Supply Chain Director at Ann Summers, explores how the retailer is moving from complexity to composability. She explains why simplifying architecture, modernising legacy systems and adopting modular platforms is essential for agility, innovation and delivering consistent omnichannel experiences. Simon Spencelayh, Managing Diretor, ecommerce at Robert Dyas, brings a data‑science perspective, discussing how retailers can use AI‑driven decisioning to optimise availability, reduce waste and improve store execution. Simon highlights the shift from reactive processes to predictive, insight‑led retailing. Mitchell Vergeer, Headof Retail at Axel Arigato, closes the episode with a view on the future store, from real‑time analytics and intelligent shelves to AI‑powered forecasting and agentic workflows. Mitchell outlines how retailers can build the foundations for connected retail and why the next wave of innovation will blend automation with human‑centric design. A wide‑ranging, insight‑packed finale capturing the realities of modern retail, where resilience, transparency, personalisation and intelligent automation must all work together to deliver the connected store of the future.

    57 min
  6. Show 300 - Google Cloud NEXT, Part 3 of 3 - AI at Scale: Reliability, Migration Factories & the Next Wave of Agentic Systems

    6 DAYS AGO

    Show 300 - Google Cloud NEXT, Part 3 of 3 - AI at Scale: Reliability, Migration Factories & the Next Wave of Agentic Systems

    In the final episode of our three‑part series recorded at Google Cloud NEXT in Las Vegas, produced in partnership with Kyndryl, we bring together leaders from travel, QSR, retail, payments and cloud services to explore how AI is being deployed at scale inside some of the world’s most complex organisations. Host Russell Goldsmith spoke with: 1/ Alibek Datbayev, Engineering Manager AI Platforms, Booking.com 2/ David Faircloth, VP - Technology Architecture & Engineering, Wendy's 3/ Helder Ribeiro, Chief Digital Officer, Sonae MC 4/ Govindaraj Palanisamy, Principal Enterprise Architect, Data, AI & Innovation, Global Payments 5/ Jason McKay, Chief Solutions Officer, Rapidscale Alibek Datbayev, Engineering Manager for AI Platforms at Booking.com, shares how the company is building reliable agentic systems on top of Google’s ecosystem, why Gemini’s grounding in Maps and Search is uniquely powerful for travel, and how Booking.com is moving from prototypes to production with rigorous evaluation, governance and safety. He also highlights the next frontier: multi‑agent orchestration for end‑to‑end travel experiences. David Faircloth, VP of Technology Architecture & Engineering at Wendy’s, explains how the company achieved 99.95% availability by focusing first on people, trust and organisational design before technology. David discusses Conway’s Law, platform engineering, and why AI is “not the future, it’s the present,” with success defined by frictionless crew experiences, reliable systems and better customer journeys. Helder Ribeiro, Chief Digital Officer at Sonae MC, describes how the retailer is building an AI‑driven migration factory to modernise infrastructure, reduce costs and accelerate product delivery. Helder outlines how AI is used across training, refactoring, spend optimisation and productivity, and why becoming an AI‑first company requires strong foundations, intentional design and a clear focus on speed, efficiency and customer experience. Govindaraj Palanisamy, Principal Enterprise Architect for Data, AI & Innovation at Global Payments, discusses how the company manages a vast, multi‑organisation database fleet and how AI agents will transform DBA workflows. He breaks down the three biggest barriers between pilot and production: trustworthy data, grounding, and governance - and explains why regulated industries must “shift governance left” to scale AI safely. Finally, Jason McKay, Chief Solutions Officer at RapidScale, closes the episode with a candid view on enterprise AI adoption. He highlights the gap between AI ambition and data reality, why day‑zero conversations are always about AI but day‑one conversations are always about data, and how organisations can move from optimism to operational readiness. A wide‑ranging, insight‑rich finale that captures the real state of enterprise AI in 2026.

    34 min
  7. Show 299 - Retail Technology Show Part 3 of 4 - Composable Commerce, Connected Journeys & the Future Store

    6 MAY

    Show 299 - Retail Technology Show Part 3 of 4 - Composable Commerce, Connected Journeys & the Future Store

    Recorded live at the Retail Technology Show at ExCeL London, in partnership with Flooid, host Graham Barrett speaks with senior leaders shaping the future of retail. His guests were: 1/ Martyn Osborne, EMEA CEO, Flooid 2/ Ana Machado da Silva, VP Digital Product, Pentland Brands 3/ Jonathan Turton, Ecommerce Manager, TrueStart Coffee 4/ Hannah Hardy, Head of eCommerce, Rab Equipment 5/ Komal Koul, Head of Digital Performance, Currys Together, they explore how retailers are modernising store systems, rethinking digital commerce, and balancing AI‑driven innovation with the human experience. The episode opens with Martyn Osborne, EMEA CEO at Flooid, who reflects on 35 years in retail technology and how the industry has shifted from isolated point solutions to unified, composable platforms. Martyn discusses why major transformation programmes often fail, from trying to change too much at once to forcing new systems to behave like old ones, and explains how Flooid’s blueprint‑led, flexible architecture helps retailers adapt quickly while still delivering core stability. He also looks ahead to the next wave of digital transformation, from conversational analytics to AI that delivers real business value rather than “just a badge.” Next, Ana Machado da Silva, VP of Digital Product at Pentland Brands, shares lessons from implementing Shopify at scale across a multi‑brand portfolio including Speedo, Berghaus, Ellesse and Canterbury. Ana explains why Shopify’s pace of innovation is both a strength and a challenge, how integration complexity is often underestimated, and why brands must maintain consistent storytelling across wholesale partners and DTC channels. She also explores the evolving expectations around personalisation, and how AI may finally make true one‑to‑one experiences achievable. We then hear from Jonathan Turton, E‑commerce Manager at TrueStart Coffee, who discusses the company’s shift to a subscription‑first model following rapid growth and new investment. Jonathan explains how subscriptions support loyalty, community and predictable revenue, why Shopify store credit beats traditional points‑based loyalty, and how unified promotion planning across grocery, Amazon and DTC channels prevents customer frustration. He also offers a grounded view on AI in commerce — optimistic about agentic AI for customer value, but sceptical of tools that claim more than they deliver. Hannah Hardy, Head of E‑commerce at Rab Equipment, brings an outdoor performance perspective, discussing how Rab balances technical product storytelling with frictionless digital journeys, and how the brand is thinking about personalisation, seasonality and channel mix in a sector where authenticity and trust are critical. Finally, Komal Koul, Head of Digital Performance at Currys, rounds out the episode with a big‑box, omnichannel view, exploring how Currys approaches digital performance marketing, connects online and in‑store journeys, and uses data and experimentation to drive both conversion and long‑term customer value in a highly competitive, promotion‑heavy category. A wide‑ranging, insight‑rich episode capturing how retailers are modernising platforms, simplifying operations, and preparing for a future where composable technology, AI‑driven intelligence and human‑centred design must all work together.

    48 min
  8. Show 298 - Google Cloud NEXT, Part 2 of 3 - Agentic AI, Modernisation & Human‑Centred Transformation

    4 MAY

    Show 298 - Google Cloud NEXT, Part 2 of 3 - Agentic AI, Modernisation & Human‑Centred Transformation

    The second of three episodes recorded at Google Cloud NEXT, Las Vegas in partnership with Kyndryl where we explore how enterprises are moving from AI experimentation to real, scaled impact, across infrastructure, applications, customer experience and workforce transformation. Host Russell Goldsmith was joined by: 1/ Anshu Kak, Global Vice President Google Cloud, Kyndryl 2/ Rajiv Batra, Director, Head of GSI Partnerships, Google 3/ Kieren Johnson, Head of IT, Ocado Retail 4/ Kimberly Agin, Head of Business Performance and Enablement, KeyBank 5/ Mauro Flores, EVP of Data Democratisation, Virgin Media O2 6/ Ryan Henry, Director, Infrastructure and Support, Randstad US Anshu Kak, Global Vice President, Google Cloud at Kyndryl, and Rajiv Batra, Director & Head of GSI Partnerships at Google, open the episode with a deep dive into the shift from “trying AI” to building agentic operating systems. They explain how Google and Kyndryl’s joint plays, innovate, modernise, secure, help enterprises adopt agentic AI frameworks, modernise VMware and mainframe estates, and navigate sovereignty with Google Distributed Cloud. Kieren Johnson, Head of IT at Ocado Retail, reflects on his panel about hyper‑personalised CX. He shares why personalisation at scale requires sensitivity to human behaviour, including the unexpected discovery that drivers preferred speaking to human advisors over voice bots. Kimberly Agin, Head of Business Performance & Enablement at KeyBank, discusses how the bank has built the foundations for agentic CX in the contact centre. She outlines how human and non‑human agents work in tandem, how KeyBank uses data to contain 70% of digital queries, and why natural‑language routing is transforming the IVR experience. Mauro Flores, EVP of Data Democratisation at Virgin Media O2, explains how the organisation is using AI to unlock value from its vast data estate, accelerate decision‑making and empower teams with self‑serve insights. Ryan Henry, Director of Infrastructure & Support at Randstad US, brings a workforce‑technology perspective, sharing how agentic AI is reshaping talent operations, support models and employee experience. A rich, fast‑moving episode capturing how global enterprises are modernising infrastructure, rethinking customer engagement, and preparing their people and platforms for the agentic AI era.

    50 min
4.9
out of 5
36 Ratings

About

the c-suite podcast covers topics such as Sustainability, Diversity, Employee Engagement, Financial Inclusion, HR, Innovation, Marketing Communications, Mental Health & Wellbeing and Social Mobility. Featuring senior executives discussing latest trends, campaigns and issues, sharing best practice case studies. If you'd like to get involved, please get in touch using the contact form at http://www.csuitepodcast.com

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