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Tokenization isn't about crypto hype—and it’s definitely not just digitizing assets. In this episode, strategic catalyst Karl Schlegel unpacks what real tokenization means when applied to gold, infrastructure, energy, and other real-world assets.

Karl has advised billion-dollar ventures, led M&A across borders, and shaped policy conversations with the Federal Reserve. His take? Most projects fail because they ignore the fundamentals: dirty data, fragile trust models, and siloed blockchains.

👇 Timestamps
00:03 – Welcome & Intro: Who is Karl Schlegel and why tokenization is failing today
01:56 – What tokenization really means
04:20 – Tokenizing in-ground gold: real case study and lessons from commodities
07:50 – Has tokenization actually been implemented in production?
12:10 – What’s stopping tokenization from scaling? (Mindset, silos, and standards)
16:50– How close are we to full digitization of real-world assets?
19:10 – Confidence and regulation: what needs to shift to unlock mass adoption
22:20 – Does blockchain really create trust? (Spoiler: it preserves it)
23:28 – Technical layer: Proof of Reserve vs. Proof of Verification
31:00 – Who loses power and who gains trust in a blockchain-first economy?
35:42 – The biggest misconceptions in tokenization pitch decks
40:12 – Looking ahead: Where will real innovation happen in the next 24 months?

💥 If you're involved in fintech, GRC, or innovation teams, this episode is a must-watch. Understand how financial fraud, security fraud, and AI-powered deception are forcing firms to rethink their compliance strategies.

Our guest:
Karl G. Schlegel
Strategic Advisor in Asset Tokenization, Emerging Tech, and Digital Infrastructure
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlschlegel/

Thank you for listening!

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Most fintech startups don’t die from competition. They die from inside—when strategy drifts, teams misalign, and founders lose grip on execution without realizing it.

#financialcrime #fintechpodcast #MVPfeature

👇 Chapters & Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: Bridging Vision and Execution in Fintech
01:26 – Where Fintechs Lose the Thread: Vision vs. Roadmap
03:16 – Why AI Won’t Fix Your Alignment Problems
04:35 – Culture Shift: Getting Teams on the Same Page
05:39 – People & Communication: The Real Product Challenge
08:10 – Roadmap Audits: Tying Work to Business Outcomes
11:00 – How to Stop Founders from Overcontrolling Without Losing Strategy
15:00 – Agile on Paper vs. Agile in Practice
17:25 – Learning: The Secret Ingredient of Real Agile Teams
18:40 – Beyond Scrum: Why Agile Is Really a Cultural Shift
21:10 – The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Data as a Product
24:50 – Where the Data + AI + UX Formula Breaks Down
28:00 – Early-Stage Dilemma: Invest in Data or UX?
30:00 – The Most Underrated Metric in Product Strategy
31:40 – When Feedback Misleads: The Risk in User Insights
37:48 – Enterprise Talks vs. Startup Sales Pressure

Our guest:
Maribeth Martorana
Founder & CEO, Sapient Advisors
Strategic Adviso

Thank you for listening!

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AI risks, artificial intelligence threats, and risks of AI in finance are evolving faster than regulation can catch up. In this episode of The Curiosity Code, we explore the hidden flaws in AI monitoring, the systemic cracks in artificial intelligence risk & governance, and the fast-rising use of AI in financial crime networks.

Joining us are Dr. Edgar Lopez Rojas, founder of Revizor, and Valery Chua, an advocate of ethical AI, who expose the blind trust placed in AI systems and the invisible biases shaping critical decisions in fraud detection, KYC, and AML.

#airisks #DangerOfAI #financialcrime #fintechpodcast #AIMonitoring #FinCrime #AICompliance #RiskArtificialIntelligence #FinancialFraud #aiinfinance


👇 Chapters & Timestamps

00:00 – Intro: The Real Risk of AI
01:33 – Meet Edgar & Valery: Fighting Fin Crime with AI
03:42 – The Invisible Bias Threat in Financial Data
05:37 – Trusting AI Without Context: A Dangerous Game
08:38 – Ethical Shortcuts in AI POCs
11:06 – Compliance vs Innovation in Financial AI
15:39 – What's Missing in Today’s AI Monitoring Tech
17:46 – FCA, EU AI Act & The Compliance Wave
20:41 – Proactive vs Reactive AI Governance
24:30 – Cultural Resistance to Real-Time AI Monitoring
27:21 – AI Misuse and Reputational Risk in Banking
29:26 – Can Anyone Keep Up with AI Speed?
34:56 – AI & Synthetic Identity Fraud: New Frontlines
36:26 – Cracks in AI Model Validation
40:00 – Data Entropy, Quality & Model Hallucinations
43:18 – Solving Bias Requires a Community Effort
47:13 – Join the Ethical AI Movement

💥 If you're involved in fintech, GRC, or innovation teams, this episode is a must-watch. Understand how financial fraud, security fraud, and AI-powered deception are forcing firms to rethink their compliance strategies.

Our guests:
Edgar Lopez-Rojas, CEO & Founder at RevAIsor
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edgar-lopez-rojas/

Valerie Chua, Head of Business Development at RevAIsor
https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriechuauk/

Thank you for listening!

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Burning cash, poor risk management, and weak strategies around enterprise risk management - they're the real reasons why so many promising startups fail quietly. In the NEW season of The Curiosity Code from London, we speak with fintech board advisor Stephane Malrait (ex-JPMorgan, ING, SocGen) to expose overconfidence, cash burn, and poor risk handling.

You'll hear hard-earned lessons from inside the boardrooms and trenches on how calculating cash burn wrong can destroy momentum, why risk mgmt is more than compliance, and how to scale fintech without losing your edge. Stephane shares thoughtful stories of costly product failures, misaligned teams, and how founders underestimate the complexity of risk and management in scaling environments.

#BurningCash #riskmanagement #RiskMgmt #RiskAndRiskManagement #RiskAndManagement #RiskHandling #StartupRiskMgmt #fintechpodcast

00:00 – Intro
02:11 – Meet Stephane: Fintech Insider & Risk Expert
03:33 – Why Great Ideas Fail Without Execution
05:56 – Risk Management Starts with Execution
11:06 – Burning Cash Too Fast? Here’s What Happens Next
13:28 – Scaling Chaos: Risk Handling Mistakes That Break Startups
17:25 – The Lonely CEO: When Risk Becomes Personal
23:22 – A $2M Mistake in Enterprise Risk Management
29:52 – Failing Fast vs Failing Late: The Real Startup Choice
34:00 – Why Digital Transformations Really Fail (and How to Fix Them)
42:42 –Why Nimble Fintechs Beat Slow Giants
51:08 – GenAI Blind Spots in Enterprise Risk Management
54:40 – Data Overload = Risk? The Fintech Data Trap
56:47 – Wrap-up: Key Lessons in Risk, Scale & Strategy

What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken in your startup — and did it pay off or burn out?
Drop your story in the comments!

Thank you for listening!

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Is UK fintech in decline, or is this just the beginning of a new wave of innovation? In this episode of The Curiosity Code, we’re joined by Veronica Maria Glab, a fintech strategist and former Head of Partnerships at Innovate Finance, to uncover the real story behind the recent drop in VC investment in UK fintech and what’s next for the ecosystem.

👉 If you're interested in UK fintech trends 2025, global fintech investment, or the impact of AI and crypto in finance, this episode is for you. Veronica shares exclusive insights from her time producing the UK’s most trusted fintech investment report—a report that’s even made it to 10 Downing Street.

We talk about:
• What caused the UK fintech funding drop in 2022 and 2023
• How Fintech 3.0 is reshaping the financial services world
• The role of regulation vs innovation in the UK, US, and Middle East
• Why wealthtech and embedded finance are quietly booming
• What VCs really look for in 2024-2025
• How the UK compares globally in fintech performance

Whether you're a founder, investor, policymaker, or fintech fan, this deep dive into the UK fintech landscape will help you understand where the market is heading and how to stay ahead of the curve.

00:00 - Intro: live from Lisbon
02:00 - UK Fintech history: From 1800s to Fintech 3.0
06:30 - Fintech investment peak in 2021: $106B globally
09:45 - Why VC funding in UK fintech dropped post-2022
13:30 - How UK regulation is impacting fintech startups
17:15 - Malta, crypto, and the new fintech hubs
19:30 - Global fintech: US, EU, and Middle East comparison
21:20 - Crypto, AI, and quantum: Hype vs substance
26:00 - The rise of wealth tech and new investment tools
28:50 - Founders’ guide: Surviving the 2024 fintech climate
31:10 - Breaking into fintech: events, VCs, and ecosystems
34:15 - Top fintech conferences in Europe and MENA

#UKFintech2025 #UKFintechInvestment #FintechFundingUK #FintechInvestmentTrends #VCFundingUK #CryptoRegulationUK #WealthTechInnovation #FintechRegulation2025 #FintechVCInsights #QuantumFinance

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Ready to scale your fintech globally? Avoid costly mistakes! Discover the critical red flags fintechs overlook when expanding into new markets.

Elif Kocaoglu Ulbrich, Founder of Contextual Solutions, Author, reveals the hidden pitfalls and critical red flags that can derail international expansion. Discover why localization and understanding local culture are paramount, and learn about the regulatory hurdles in key markets like Germany and the EU. Gain insights on optimal timing for scaling, avoiding the trap of overestimating new regions, and the surprising differences between startup and corporate approaches. Plus, explore the evolving role of AI in global fintech compliance and uncover underrated factors essential for successful market entry.

00:02 - Introduction to the conversation on global fintech expansion with Elif Kocaoglu Ulbrich.
03:52 - Identifying the most overlooked factors when fintechs expand internationally.
06:03 - The discussion on balancing product localization with a global strategy.
07:57 - Insights into the most challenging and underestimated markets for fintechs.
10:44 - Determining the optimal timing for international scaling and key red flags.
13:05 - Comparing global expansion approaches of startups and established financial institutions.
15:28 - Uncovering potentially overlooked markets for fintech growth.
18:26 - Exploring underrated factors that can significantly impact market entry.
21:49 - Examining the role of AI-driven compliance tools in international fintech expansion.

Check out this comprehensive guide to navigating the complexities of global fintech expansion!

Elif has kindly offered free resources on the European and German markets, including studies and checklists, to assist companies with their expansion plans. You can find the links below:

https://www.contextualsolutions.de/german-market-checklist

https://www.contextualsolutions.de/fintech-publications-legaltech/the-german-banking-and-fintech-market-2025

#FintechGlobalExpansion #FintechExpansion #GermanyFintechEntry #LessonsonMarketEntry #GlobalScaling #FintechMista

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Can you believe insurance could be fast? Discover how AI in insurance, insurance automation, and digital transformation in insurance are changing the industry! Join us as we speak with Parul Kaul Green, a leading expert in the field, about the future of insurance, including AI underwriting and faster insurance claims. Learn how efficient insurance powered by AI is becoming a reality.

Discover the advancements in AI underwriting, the potential for faster insurance claims, and the overall future of insurance with insights from a leading expert!

#AIinInsurance #AIUnderwriting #InsuranceAutomation #ClaimsAutomation #InsureTech #FutureofInsurance #EfficientInsurance #InsuranceTrends #AIInsurance #FastInsurance #InsureTech

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The Future of 401k, Retirement Saving Trends, Retirement Tech, Next Gen 401k, Secure Act, PEPs, AI in Retirement Planning are all converging to reshape how we save for our future, as explored in this insightful discussion with retirement innovation experts Will Prest and Lisa Kottler

Interested in the future of your 401k? Tap to listen about the key retirement savings trends driving change in retirement tech, including the emergence of next-gen 401k solutions and the impact of fintech retirement innovations. Understand how the Secure Act has paved the way for developments like PEPs explained in detail by Lisa Kottler. Discover the crucial role of AI in retirement planning, offering personalized strategies and efficiencies for the future.

Will Prest https://www.linkedin.com/in/willprest/
Lisa Kottler https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-kottler/
RetireTech Map https://www.kwpworks.com/map

#RetirementTech #FutureofRetirement #Futureof401k #RetirementPlanning #RetirementStrategy #AIinRetirement #PEPs #SecureAct #RetirementIncome #FinancialWellness

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