What Banking’s AI Boom Keeps Getting Wrong

What is banking’s AI boom getting wrong? Ron and Stacey debate why bankers don’t need hundreds of agents or another abstract “AI platform" and whether AI governance is necessary infrastructure or organizational overload. 

Then the gloves come off over the predicted “agentic bank run.” Stacey argues that AI could expose how much bank loyalty is really administrative exhaustion. Ron counters that more than $3 trillion has already moved since 2020 and that customers need more than a marginally better rate to switch. Their resolution? The winning institutions won’t merely restrict outside agents they’ll build agents that deliver real, demonstrable financial value. 

It’s a candid, sharp and occasionally spicy conversation about AI hype, banking bureaucracy, customer loyalty and what financial institutions should actually be building next.

Show Notes: 

• Knicks championship inspires unforgettable baby name
• FDIC’s Hill mulls agentic AI deposit impact
• Ron's Substack

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Download the 2026 What's Going on in Banking Report here: 

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Chapters
[00:00] Conference Stories and the Future of Banking
[07:28] Why Bankers Are Overwhelmed by AI
[11:49] What Banks Actually Need From AI
[13:38] The Great AI Governance Debate
[21:09] Could AI Agents Trigger a Bank Run?
[26:41] Why Customers Really Move Their Money
[30:41] The Checking Account Becomes an AI Agent
[34:29] Money20/20 Stories and Closing

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Subscribe to the What's Going On In Banking podcast here:
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