Beware of industry surveys.
Welcome to another AI & Finance, where we have a lot happening at the intersection of artificial intelligence and financial services, but first, we’re going to talk about a bit of research out of the banking and wealth management industry from Northern Trust.
Before we further prime you to think critically about the results, readers should know that in its latest Planning & Progress Study, Northern Trust found that consumers as a whole greatly prefer human beings over technology when it comes to creating retirement plans, answering financial questions, developing a financial plan and making asset allocation decisions—with trust in human beings to complete such tasks rating somewhere between 53% and 56%, and trust in AI rating somewhere between 13% and 15%.
Northern Trust’s results carry over to non-financial matters such as refereeing professional sports, where 41% of respondents said they would trust AI versus 59% who said they would not; driving cars, 34% trust versus 66% not trust; and nurse triage at healthcare facilities, 37% trust versus 63% not trust. Other areas where AI significantly lags human providers in public trust include teaching, parenting assistance and artistic content creation.
The conclusion Northern Trust draws is that U.S. adults, by and large, do not yet trust AI. Fair enough. We, too, have trouble trusting technology that thinks Dave Barry is dead when he claims—consistently—that he is not.
But consider that AI is already ubiquitous, whether consumers are aware of it or not. AI is helping us pick our online purchases—including our wardrobe. AI is taking our orders at eateries. AI is taking medical notes and entering doctors’ orders. Many young people are trusting AI to assist them in writing their term papers and help them pass their exams. Other young people are using AI to cheat in school and the workplace. AI artists are already making buzzworthy music and visual art.
We’re already trusting AI with an awful lot—in fact, I would posit that a majority of the respondents in Northern Trust’s survey are already using AI for some of the tasks they do not trust AI to complete, often unwittingly.
Furthermore, when people get an answers to a highly technical or crucial question from a human being, they’re largely now using AI to verify those answers. They’re using AI search engines to interpret lab test results posted automatically to their online chart by an artificial intelligence, and an artificial intelligence is sifting through those results to alert healthcare providers to irregularities and the signs and symptoms of maladies.
Yes, consumers and institutions are doing the same verification work in finance and wealth management: where we once sought second opinions mostly from another professional, or at least from trusted family and friends, we’re now more likely to ask ChatGPT or Google Gemini what they think, and that connotes a level of trust between human and technology, doesn’t it?
To a certain extent, it doesn’t matter whether people say they trust AI or not, they’re using it anyway and they’ll continue to use it more as the technology is deployed, and thus, AI is going to be normalized eventually—possibly very quickly—and trust will grow.
But back to our main point. Any industry study, when published, usually either finds exactly what the sponsor of the survey or study was looking for, or will be spun to support the narrative of said sponsor.
So, if Northern Trust wanted to find results that support the traditional financial services industry and human-delivered financial planning, that’s exactly what they were most likely to find in their survey—or, at least, those were the results they were most likely to emphasize when the results of the survey were made public.
In other words, if we were to accept the results of this study as gospel truth and avoid or ignore the AI revolution taking place, in a few years we might be stuck without a chair when the music stops, technologically speaking. The survey offers some good info, but we’ll take it all with a grain of salt.
Let’s get to our headlines.
1. AI Squared
AI Squared, a leading provider of AI integration solutions, today announced Sparx, a Data-Science-In-A-Box solution that brings production-ready AI to small businesses, mid-market enterprises and non-profits.
Sparx integrates AI into existing business workflows with no coding, infrastructure setup or data scientists needed. This platform unifies sales, finance and operations data into a real-time AI-powered view and deploys it in under an hour, saving teams time and money.
Through 2026, 60 percent of AI projects are expected to fail due to a lack of AI ready data, often caused by fragmented systems like finance tools, CRMs and HR platforms. For mid-market teams without technical resources, most AI solutions remain out of reach, leaving them reliant on slow, manual reporting that hinders timely decision-making.
2. Algebrik AI
Algebrik AI Inc., a Delaware-incorporated company headquartered in New York City and pioneering the world’s first cloud-native, AI-powered, digital-era Loan Origination Platform (LOS), today announced an integration with Open Lending Corporation, an industry trailblazer in automotive lending enablement and risk analytics solutions for financial institutions.
This collaboration aims to strengthen auto loan decisioning capabilities within Algebrik’s cloud-native, AI-powered LOS—part of the Algebrik One lending suite—enabling credit unions and community lenders to confidently extend credit to near- and non-prime borrowers while minimizing risk and streamlining workflows.
Open Lending’s Lenders Protection™ platform empowers financial institutions to safely approve near- and non-prime auto loans by combining real-time risk modeling, pricing optimization, and insurance-backed loan protection.
3. Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader, today announced a new strategic partnership and minority investment in Uptiq, an AI platform for financial services. Integrating Uptiq’s technology into Broadridge’s Wealth Lending Network (WLN) provides financial advisors and banks access to turnkey, agentic AI applications that automate securities-based lending (SBL) workflows, deliver detailed insights, and enhance outcomes for clients.
The Broadridge Wealth Lending Network is a digital platform that connects wealth managers, financial advisors, and their clients with a network of lenders that extend securities-based lines of credit. It streamlines the process of accessing SBL solutions, particularly for financial advisors and wealth management firms that are not affiliated with banks. Through the integration with Uptiq, financial advisors can more easily source and compare loan options tailored to their clients’ needs, while automating manual tasks such as referral submission, loan processing, and covenant tracking. The combined solution expands financial advisors’ access to credit solutions for their clients, improves client service, strengthens compliance, and reduces the typical friction and complexity in providing lending solutions to wealth clients.
Broadridge’s investment supports Uptiq’s growth and reinforces a shared vision for transforming wealth lending. By harnessing AI to simplify complex lending processes and deliver smarter, more scalable solutions, Broadridge and Uptiq are helping financial institutions adapt, grow, and drive better outcomes across the financial ecosystem.
4. Casap
Casap, the leader in intelligent automation for dispute and fraud operations, has raised $25 million in Series A funding led by Emergence Capital, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Primary Venture Partners, SoFi and others. This brings Casap’s total funding to $33.5 million and sets a new record for venture investment in the payment disputes category. The raise signals a surge in demand from financial institutions looking to streamline dispute resolution and reduce fraud losses while building consumer loyalty.
Disputes are one of the most outdated, slow and expensive workflows in financial services. As fraud tactics evolve, teams can’t keep up, leaving institutions vulnerable and consumers frustrated. First-party fraud now accounts for 30-50% of total fraud losses and is especially challenging for financial institutions to identify.
Casap is the first company to systematically solve first-party fraud. Casap’s AI-powered platform is already in use by a fast-growing base of credit unions, banks and fintechs seeking to modernize their dispute process and lower fraud. Chartway FCU and MidSouth Community FCU are among the many institutions seeing real impact: over 51% reduction in fraud losses, positive ROI in weeks and scaled case volume without additional headcount. By replacing fragmented tools with a unified intelligent system, Casap helps teams resolve cases faster and build consumer trust.
5. Datasite
Datasite, the global SaaS provider of Al-powered workflow collaboration and automation solutions for M&A, investment and strategic projects, today announced its acquisition of Sourcescrub, a California-based provider of deal-sourcing data and workflows, from Francisco Partners.
This is the latest milestone in a broader Datasite strategy that includes a $500 million investment commitment by CapVest Partners, the controlling shareholder of Datasite, to further expand Datasite’s intelligence solutions and enhance the M&A technology landscape by connecting data, automation, and execution in one seamless offering.
The acquisition supports Datasite’s mission to help M&A professionals work smarter and faster using technology, including Blueflame AI solutions, to change the way deals are sourced, evaluated, and executed across the globe.
6. FINNY AI
FINNY AI Inc. (“FINNY”), the AI-powered prospecting and marketing platform built specifically for financial advisors, today announced the launch of Multi-Channel Campaigns, a powerful new capability that allows advisors to build fully automated, multi-channel outreach sequences in minutes. This prospecting feature combines LinkedIn Actions, AI-generated voicemails, personalized emails and handwritten direct mail into a single, fully personalized outreach campaign designed for effective lead conversion.
Within Multi-Channel Campaigns, FINNY is introducing LinkedIn Actions, a new capability that enables advisors to schedule LinkedIn tasks such as connection requests and direct messages directly within the FINNY platform. These actions are fully automated and can be customized to reflect the advisor’s tone and messaging. Advisors may also integrate LinkedIn Actions with other outreach formats – including AI-powered voicemails, emails and handwritten mail – to execute a cohesive, end-to-end prospecting campaign.
Powered by FINNY’s advanced data intelligence and automation, Multi-Channel Campaigns and LinkedIn Actions enable advisors to engage with the right prospects across multiple channels without the friction of managing each step manually. By automating a previously fragmented and time-intensive process, FINNY allows advisors to significantly reduce the time spent on prospecting each week. In turn, they benefit from greater visibility through consistent outreach, stronger engagement as familiarity builds across multiple touchpoints and more effective communication by reaching prospects through their preferred channels — whether LinkedIn, email or direct mail.
7. Growfin
Growfin, the leading AI-native accounts receivable automation platform, today announced the launch of its 2025 Receivables Benchmark Dashboards and Interactive Day Sales Outstanding (DSO) Calculator. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative to empower finance leaders with the data intelligence needed to transform working capital into a growth catalyst; across multiple industries.
At a time when global markets remain volatile and liquidity management is under intense scrutiny, Growfin’s category-defining benchmarks deliver clarity, precision, and actionable insights.
Paired with the interactive Cash Release Calculator, the immersive experience allows companies to simulate the impact of reaching median or top-quartile performance – or even an ambitious 33% DSO reduction – on cash flow, working capital gains, interest savings, and growth reinvestment potential.
8. Income Laboratory
Income Laboratory, Inc. (Income Lab), maker of award-winning retirement planning software, today announced a strategic partnership with Independent Advisor Alliance (IAA), one of the nation’s leading hybrid RIAs. This collaboration brings Income Lab’s dynamic retirement planning platform to IAA’s network of over 142 partner firms, offering powerful tools to support personalized retirement planning at scale.
As the demand for more personalized financial planning grows, advisors are turning to Income Lab’s modern platform, built to help guide clients toward retirement and address the complexities of retirement planning.
Advisors can also take advantage of features like plan scenario comparisons, tax-smart withdrawal strategies, Roth conversion modeling, and Social Security optimization, all within an easy-to-use interface that enhances both the planning process and client experience.
9. Intention.ly
Intention.ly, the growth engine for financial services companies, announced today the official launch of its AI service line, bringing fully vetted, high-impact AI marketing and sales tools directly to clients.
Financial services are at a critical impasse with AI: lead the market with proven solutions or watch rivals capture market share with superior efficiency and client engagement.
Intention.ly specializes in connecting disparate tech and AI platforms into unified systems that amplify each tool’s effectiveness while maintaining cost efficiency, an orchestration that requires technical expertise and deep industry knowledge that few firms possess internally.
10. InvestCloud
InvestCloud, a global leader in wealth technology, today announced the first of a new generation of AI-enabled solutions to help advisors increase productivity and deliver greater value to clients. The new solutions, Intelligent Screening and Intelligent Meeting, are enhanced by technologies from smartKYC, the leading provider of AI-driven know your customer (KYC) risk screening and monitoring solutions, and Zocks, a privacy-first AI assistant for financial advisors.
Intelligent Screening from InvestCloud automates in-depth due diligence during client onboarding and performs ongoing risk monitoring. It enables private banks and wealth managers to perform faster, more accurate and cost-effective due diligence across every stage of the client relationship, freeing advisors, relationship managers and compliance officers to focus on decision-making rather than manual research.
Intelligent Meeting from InvestCloud transforms the way advisors prepare for, track and follow-through on discussions with clients. Meeting preparation, note-taking, action-item tracking and post-meeting workflows are automated and infused with intelligence from disparate systems to enable advisors to focus on meaningful client interactions and reduce time-consuming administrative and manual tasks.
11. K1x
K1x, the fintech company behind the industry-leading K1 Aggregator®, has appointed Sunil Bheda as Chief Product Officer (CPO) and expanded its team with 11 strategic hires across product, engineering, and client success. Together, these new hires add over 100 years of combined tax experience, underscoring K1x’s commitment to domain-specific innovation and client-focused product development.
Bheda brings more than two decades of experience leading SaaS, compliance, and data platforms. As CPO, he will drive product strategy and innovation as K1x continues scaling its AI-powered tax automation suite, which serves over 40,000 organizations, including institutional investors, fund administrators, private foundations, and top accounting firms.
Bheda most recently served as Chief Data Officer at Alpine Software Group and has held executive roles at Predictis, ComplySci, LRN, and McGraw-Hill. His background blends technical expertise with strategic vision, consistently delivering high-impact results across product and data initiatives.
12. Lendflow
Lendflow, a leader in embedded lending infrastructure, announced the official launch of Lendflow Automate, a suite of AI-powered agents designed to optimize workforce efficiency and transform how lending operations are executed.
The announcement was made at Ai4, America’s largest AI event. Lendflow founder and CEO, Jon Fry, will join leaders from Chime, Mastercard, and Deloitte for a live panel, “Leveraging AI to Drive Value,” on August 12 at the event.
By combining automation with advanced AI, Lendflow Automate provides partners with an always-on, digital workforce to streamline operations, lower costs, and accelerate decision-making, helping them “do more with less.”
13. Menos AI
Menos AI, an AI-native fintech built by and for investment professionals, today announced its public launch. Its flagship product, Sonαr, is an intelligent research agent that helps hedge funds and institutional investors uncover timely, differentiated ideas amid information overload. Sonαr is currently rolling out to select partner funds ahead of a broader release.
Founded by investment veterans and AI experts, Menos AI is backed by a $5.2 million oversubscribed seed round led by prominent Silicon Valley family offices and venture capital firms.
Portfolio managers and analysts navigate a constant flood of market updates, sell-side content, third-party research reports, and internal memos. Sonαr cuts through the noise and surfaces alpha-generating insights that might otherwise be overlooked. Developed with leading global macro and multi-strategy hedge funds, Sonαr uses proprietary Alpha Signal Extraction to identify ideas with novelty, timeliness, and market relevance. Its forthcoming Voice Scoring capability can spotlight contributors who are consistently early and accurate — amplifying insights backed by proven track records and exposing areas where further due diligence can lead to an edge.
14. Nadcab Labs
In a bold leap toward the future of decentralized finance and user autonomy, the next generation of crypto wallet development is being revolutionized by Artificial Intelligence (AI). As Web3 continues to reshape the internet, and with the emergence of Web5 on the horizon, the demand for smarter, more secure, and intuitive wallets has skyrocketed.
Nadcab Labs, a leading innovator in blockchain and Web3 solutions, is at the forefront of this transformation. By integrating advanced AI capabilities into crypto wallet development, Nadcab Labs is helping redefine what wallets can do, elevating them from simple digital storage tools to intelligent financial assistants that understand user behaviour, predict needs, and enhance security in real time.
With a commitment to user autonomy, seamless UX, and future-ready technology, Nadcab Labs is not just keeping pace with the evolution of the decentralized internet; they’re shaping it.
15. NiCE
NiCE (Nasdaq: NICE) today announced an expanded strategic partnership with Salesforce to deliver seamless, AI-driven customer experiences through a deeper integration between NiCE CXone Mpower and Salesforce Service Cloud. After launching Bring Your Own Telephony with Salesforce Service Cloud Voice in 2022, the companies will further invest in enabling Bring Your Own Contact Center, inclusive of customer managed channels and NiCE’s leading WEM capabilities in the Service Cloud unified desktop. NiCE and Salesforce support a shared customer base of hundreds of thousands of users. This expanded partnership adds powerful new capabilities while laying the foundation for continued innovation and joint growth.
NiCE further intends to join the Salesforce Zero Copy Partner Network as the first in the Contact Center ecosystem to enable the unification of contact center interaction insights with CRM data through a new bidirectional Zero Copy integration with Salesforce Data Cloud. This will provide customers with a shared data foundation between NiCE CXone Mpower and Salesforce Data Cloud that eliminates silos and unlocks data to accelerate AI-driven experiences across both platforms. Shared customers can use this integration to enable real-time AI-driven orchestration using complete experience context. AI agents can operate with a complete, stateful understanding of the entire journey across self-service, live support, and fulfillment, including awareness of past actions, intent, and outcomes.
Through this collaboration, organizations can leverage CXone Mpower’s real-time orchestration engine, industry-leading workforce augmentation solutions and purpose-built AI for CX seamlessly within Salesforce Service Cloud’s unified desktop for Service Reps. This integration extends NiCE’s industry-leading connected intelligence across Salesforce digital channels, cases, and interactions, delivering a streamlined, AI-first service experience.
16. OneShield
OneShield, a leading provider of core insurance technology solutions for property and casualty insurers and MGAs, today announced the launch of the OneShield AI Hub, the industry’s first centralized environment for the secure development, deployment, and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions within the insurance software ecosystem.
The AI Hub will serve as a centralized, secure environment where OneShield team members, clients, and partners come to learn, build, and deploy AI solutions tailored to the OneShield ecosystem. At launch, it will provide internal teams with a foundational set of AI agents and tools powered by large language models (LLMs), enabling the safe, secure, and accelerated delivery of high-impact use cases. Doug Moore, Chief Innovation Officer, described the AI Hub as a breakthrough in how AI solutions are being designed with industry-standard interoperability.
The OneShield AI Hub will house use cases currently in development across the company’s core product lines: OneShield Enterprise (OSE) and OneShield Market Solutions (OMS).
17. Presight
Presight, a leading global AI and big data analytics company, today announced that it has signed an MoU with Dow Jones Factiva, a trusted source of regulatory-grade risk intelligence. Together, the two industry leaders will explore the co-development of a new class of AI-native risk and compliance solutions designed for financial institutions, regulators, and sovereign entities navigating an era of unprecedented complexity.
By fusing Dow Jones Factiva’s unparalleled risk, regulatory, legal, and sustainability intelligence with Presight’s sovereign AI infrastructure and cutting-edge agentic AI capabilities, the collaboration could unlock a new generation of intelligent systems purpose-built for the most sensitive corners of the global financial ecosystem.
The joint offering would harness generative AI, explainable models, and real-time contextual reasoning to empower compliance, legal, and risk teams to preempt threats rather than react to them. These capabilities would be deployed within sovereign-grade environments that ensure full adherence to national data residency and security requirements – meeting the rising expectations of both regulators and regulated entities.
18. S&P Global Market Intelligence
S&P Global Market Intelligence, a provider of information services and solutions to global markets, today announced the launch of iLEVEL Document Search, a new AI-powered search capability that enables private market investment professionals to extract intelligence from investment documents using natural language queries. This innovative tool transforms asset managers’ ability to explore and understand the factors that shape portfolio performance, facilitating faster, more informed decisions.
With private equity firms holding record levels of dry powder while existing portfolios remain in a prolonged holding pattern, iLEVEL Document Search addresses the critical need for deeper portfolio intelligence. Users can now query all documents stored in iLEVEL’s Document Library, including board decks, quarterly financials, annual financials and fund financials. The tool leverages advanced AI-driven data extraction technology to democratize data by unlocking previously hidden insights and breaking down information silos.
The launch of iLEVEL Document Search builds on recent enhancements to the platform, including Automated Data Ingestion and Capital Structure Analysis. Launched in 2010, iLEVEL is a leading private markets portfolio management solution that helps General Partners and Limited Partners streamline data collection, valuation and reporting workflows, and is leveraged by more than 700 investors to manage their portfolios.
19. Smart Communications
Smart Communications, a leading technology company focused on helping highly-regulated organizations engage in more meaningful customer conversations, today announced its acquisition of Pendula, a trusted provider of intelligent orchestration and digital delivery technology. Pendula’s customer engagement solution is renowned for helping enterprises complete their most critical customer interactions through personalized, intelligent, cross-channel engagement.
Today’s customers expect interactions that are faster and smarter than ever across an ever-expanding range of channels. Enterprises are under increasing pressure to meet these expectations by automating conversations and interactions that are not only timely and personalized but also orchestrated across multiple channels. Smart Communications’ latest State of Customer Conversations report found that only 54% of customers are satisfied with the omnichannel experiences provided by their financial services, insurance, and healthcare providers – a number that has declined year over year.
This growing dissatisfaction highlights a critical gap between customer expectations and what organizations can deliver. Many still rely on fragmented systems and manual follow-ups, resulting in incomplete transactions, missed outcomes, and lost trust.
20. Soraban
Soraban, the Intelligent Admin Copilot for accounting firms, today announced the close of its Series A funding round led by Altos Ventures. The accounting industry isn’t just short on talent — it’s drowning in unbillable tasks. While most automation tools focus on the tax work itself, Soraban targets the 40-60% of the workweek that firms can’t bill.
Soraban is an Admin System built specifically for accounting firms — automating the task execution between your tax software and your clients. From client intake and document collection to workflow coordination and final delivery, Soraban streamlines the entire admin execution layer so firms can scale without chaos.
Soraban handles the manual work firms usually give to admins — or outsource altogether — and then goes a step further: it deskills work that once required accounting staff. It truly unlocks your admin staff so they can focus on creating a better client experience. Capacity increases without headcount, and the team spends more time doing work that actually drives revenue.
21. SUPERAGENT AI
In a provocative step that signals a seismic shift in the insurance landscape, SUPERAGENT AI, the San Francisco–based InsurTech innovator, today announced its ambitious goal to launch the first fully autonomous AI Insurance Agent by the end of 2025. This groundbreaking AI promises to handle every aspect of insurance advisory, sales, and customer service, around the clock, and more efficiently than traditional agents.
SUPERAGENT AI’s bold claim sets the stage for intense industry debate, asserting that AI-driven insurance agents will outperform human counterparts in accuracy, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction. The company predicts that within the next year, traditional insurance agent roles will drastically evolve or risk obsolescence.
While this radical transformation unfolds, SUPERAGENT AI is rolling out powerful interim solutions designed to prepare insurance agents for seamless AI integration while delivering measurable gains today. The first flagship offerings, BOOT|camp and LIVE|assist, will debut publicly in September 2025. Together they cut new-hire ramp-up time by up to 50 percent, boost close rates by double digits, and reduce average call-handle time through AI-driven training, real-time call assistance, automated objection handling, compliance alerts, and intelligent client-engagement prompts.
22. Upstart
ABNB Federal Credit Union (ABNB), a member-owned financial institution serving over 76,000 members nationwide, has announced its partnership with Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST), the leading artificial intelligence (AI) lending marketplace, to offer personal loans to more consumers.
ABNB Federal Credit Union began lending as a partner on the Upstart Referral Network in May 2025. As part of the Upstart Referral Network, individuals who qualify through Upstart.com and align with the credit union’s credit criteria are guided into a smooth, ABNB-branded experience; making it easy to become a member and complete their loan process online.
