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Hey, fintech fam! 💜

And just like that… I’m back in New York — working from a rainy, gray Fintech Is Femme HQ in Brooklyn. I lucked out in San Francisco: pure sunshine, good energy, and an incredible AI Summit that exceeded every expectation.

Since I’ve been home, I’ve been doing what every founder forgets to do after a big high — resting. Letting it all sink in. Paying myself first — not just in the business sense, but in the human one.

Because we spend so much time chasing what’s next that we forget to honor what we just did.

And honestly? I’m so proud of the tactical, innovative, diabolical (IYKYK 😉) insights and companies you’re building alongside Fintech Is Femme.

For today, let’s get back into it with a look at the opening session from the AI Summit — the fireside chat keynote that set the tone for the day.

Then, over the next few weeks, I’ll be breaking down each session with tactical takeaways and action items — woven with the inspiration that gets you moving.

Oh, and next up — we’re heading to Money20/20 with multiple events where you can catch us IRL (or join if you missed us in SF!).

✨ Check out our event calendar and sign up here.

Ready? Let’s get into it.

INNOVATION

AI Won’t Replace Us — Unless We Let It

Last week in San Francisco, I opened the Fintech Is Femme AI Summit with a fireside chat featuring one of fintech’s most influential voices: Asya Bradley, VC Partnerships Lead at Stripe, co-founder of Kinly, and one of the early architects of Banking-as-a-Service.

For a decade, Bradley has operated at the front lines of fintech’s biggest shifts — from building infrastructure to backing founders. So when she says, “We need to take a really strong leading role in AI,” it’s not hype. It’s a warning.

Bradley’s warning lands because it’s true: AI isn’t just another wave of innovation. It’s a reset button — one that could either correct old patterns or repeat them.

“If we don’t,” she told me, “we’ll end up seeing the same thing that happened in fintech — building things we didn’t necessarily need, and once again, trying to catch up.”

We’ve Seen This Movie Before

When fintech first took off, much of the early innovation was built by and for a narrow demographic.

Only later did we realize what had been left behind — the communities, customers, and creators who needed access most.

It wasn’t malicious; it was systemic.

Now, as AI reshapes every corner of the financial system, the same dynamic is at play. The tools are powerful — but power without perspective replicates bias faster.

“We need to lean in now,” Bradley said. “We need to make sure everyone who’s interested has the right people around them to build. Because if we don’t — we’ll be back in the same position, trying to catch up again.”

Fintech gave us access.

AI will test whether we know how to use it with agency.

AI Isn’t Here to Replace Humans — It’s Here to Augment Us

One of the most tactical moments in our conversation came when Bradley addressed: How do you know who’s actually building with AI versus just branding with it?

“If you can’t explain what AI does in your product in one sentence,” she said, “you’re probably not using it.”

That’s the new litmus test — clarity over complexity.

AI isn’t a press release term. It’s infrastructure.

It either improves efficiency, risk assessment, and customer experience — or it’s just noise.

At Stripe, where Bradley works with hundreds of founders and venture partners, she sees a clear dividing line between those who experiment with AI and those who operationalize it.

The difference?

Operationalizing means integrating AI across systems: onboarding, fraud prevention, underwriting, and customer support — not as a feature, but as a function.

That’s where the real leverage is: invisible AI that amplifies human intelligence rather than replacing it.

AI as Infrastructure, Not Buzzword

“I don’t believe in using AI to replace humans,” Bradley said. “AI is here to augment humanity.”

She uses it herself — not to automate her work, but to accelerate it.

“When I’m preparing lecture notes for the University of Chicago,” she said, “I’ll ask AI to summarize research papers. But I still verify everything. The empathy, the judgment — that has to come from us.”

That’s the future of work in one sentence.

AI doesn’t make you redundant. It reveals where you add value.

The skill now is discernment — knowing when to delegate to machines and when to lead with human intelligence.

Because automation without empathy isn’t innovation; it’s just speed.

The Next Real Opportunities in AI

When I asked Bradley where she’d build next if she were launching a startup today, she didn’t pause.

“Health and AI,” she said. “We could use anonymized data to help doctors detect illness faster, especially for women and underrepresented patients.”

It was a tactical example that made her broader point clear: AI’s biggest opportunities lie in augmenting human expertise, not replacing it.

Think about the ripple effects:

• AI in healthcare improves diagnosis.

• AI in fintech improves underwriting.

• AI in compliance improves access.

Each of those use cases does what fintech originally promised: make systems more fair, faster, and personal — but only if we build them with inclusion in mind.

“Do I need an AI to read bedtime stories to my kids?” Bradley asked. “Or do we need AI that helps save lives?”

The answer, of course, isn’t technical — it’s intentional.

It’s a powerful lens: using tech infrastructure to power impact — not indulgence.

Paying Women Starts With Women

One of my favorite moments came at the end of our chat.

Bradley looked out at the audience — 200 fintech leaders from startup founders to bank executives — and said:

“Paying women starts with women. It looks like this.”

She gestured toward the Summit stage — a space funded, produced, and led by women and allies.

“If I want to see more women-led media, I have to put my money where my mouth is,” she said. “Last year, I helped bring Fintech Is Femme to San Francisco. This year, Stripe is sponsoring it.”

It’s a reminder that influence compounds through action.

Hire women. Fund women. Partner with women-owned businesses.

It’s good economics.

If Fintech Became the Infrastructure of the Internet…

AI is becoming the conscience of it.

It’s on all of us — founders, investors, and storytellers — to make sure that conscience reflects integrity, inclusion, and imagination.

Bradley and I both believe this: the future won’t belong to the fastest builders, or even the most funded.

It will belong to the most thoughtful.

And that’s why this next chapter of fintech isn’t about fear.

It’s about collaboration — women and allies, technologists and regulators, dreamers and doers — working together to make sure innovation stays human.

Because when we build together, everyone gets access.

And that’s how the future gets funded. 

Your Move

Here’s your takeaway for this week:

Ask yourself — Is the AI you’re building (or buying, or backing) replacing people, or augmenting them?

If it’s the latter, you’re on the right side of fintech’s next evolution.

🥂 From Conversation to Celebration: A Toast to Women in Fintech

As the Summit wrapped, one thought stayed with me:

AI and fintech may shape the systems of the future — but it’s people who shape their purpose.

That’s why, later this month, we’re bringing that same energy to Money20/20 for our Toast to Women in Fintech — a gathering that celebrates building more inclusive financial systems every day.

We couldn’t do it without our partners — Wysh, Casap, Stripe, Goodfin, Consumer Reports, and NAFLI — who are proving what happens when values and execution actually align.

They don’t just talk about inclusion.

They fund it.

They build it.

So when we raise a glass later this month, it’s not just a toast to progress — it’s a reminder that this industry runs on relationships, trust, and belief in something bigger than ourselves.

See you at the penthouse. 💜

Join us for the Toast to Women in Fintech at the Bellagio Penthouse.

🌍 Growing Global: Breakfast & LIVE Podcast at Money20/20

And after we toast to women in fintech… we go global.

Because the future of fintech isn’t local — it’s global.

We’re hosting Global Growth, an exclusive breakfast and live podcast taping from the Lakeview Penthouse at the Bellagio during Money20/20 — created to connect the founders, operators, and investors driving innovation across borders.

This morning gathering will dive into how fintech is scaling internationally — not just through technology, but through people.

Join me and two incredible leaders for a live recording of the Humans of Fintech podcast:

🎙️ Jessica Johnson, cross-border founder and CEO of Rosy Finch, a marketing automation platform helping fintechs grow smarter across LATAM, the EU, and the U.S.

🎙️ Remy Sirls, Executive Director at Joblio Foundation, scaling solutions for equitable hiring and migration in a new era of work.

Together, we’ll unpack the human stories, bold strategies, and global playbooks shaping fintech’s next chapter — live from one of the most iconic backdrops in Vegas.

This isn’t just another breakfast. It’s where ecosystems connect, cultures cross, and big ideas go global.

_{I WANT IT, I GOT IT}

• 🎧 Today’s Listen: If you’re new here or just need a little inspiration boost, I’m resurfacing one of my favorite Fintech Mavericks episodes — my conversation with Stefany Bello, Senior Vice President of Digital Partnerships, Fintechs & Enablers at Mastercard. We got into the real stuff: how founders navigate the chaos of building, the future of fintech through a human lens, and why authenticity still converts better than any algorithm. It’s a good one for your commute, your walk, or that post-event recovery moment when you just need to hear another founder say, “Same.”

• 🚀 Today’s Watch: Anton and I are deep in the new season of Love Is Blind right now, which is always a fascinating unofficial market research on human behavior, commitment issues, and the psychology of big reveals.

• 🧘‍♀️Today’s Self-Care: After pulling off a whole Summit (and surviving on caffeine and adrenaline), my self-care this week is simple: rest — and reward. We talk a lot about reinvesting in our companies, our teams, our communities.

  But sometimes the smartest investment is paying yourself first — whatever that looks like.

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_FINTUNES

🎶 Amber Mark - Don’t Remind Me feat. Anderson .Paak

New music alert! Loving this entire album from Amber Mark.

_{LET’S CONNECT}

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📚 The holidays are coming, in charge of purchasing office gifts? Grab my book, Fintech Feminists! It looks nice on the coffee table 😉

That wraps up today’s edition—thanks as always for reading! Until next time, keep innovating and challenging the status quo. 

See you Thursday!

Love,

Nicole 💜