This past weekend, I had the privilege of speaking at the AI, FinTech & Financial Crime...

This past weekend, I had the privilege of speaking at the AI, FinTech & Financial Crime event hosted by ComUnity Canada. It was inspiring to share the stage with great leaders and engage with a room full of passionate professionals, students, and technology enthusiasts dedicated to growth and mentorship.

In my session, "AI in AML & Fintech: Insights into Success and Failure" we dove deep into why 82% of financial AI projects stall or fail to reach production; and what it actually takes to build production-grade, AI-driven solutions:

Key Takeaways We Explored:
- Successful AI isn't just about raw algorithms—over 75% of production failures stem from data governance, regulatory compliance, and data readiness, not the algorithm itself.
- Moving from sandbox experimentation to live banking operations requires strong MLOps, explainable AI (XAI/SHAP), and unified data pipelines.
- Overcoming data silos, black-box opacity, and legacy infrastructure to turn AI into actionable business value.
- Empowering Careers: How data analysts and risk specialists can build high-impact skills in the intersecting worlds of AI, AML, and financial crime prevention.

A special shoutout to my co-speaker Girish Mallya - great session. Your chess analogy was a personal highlight—brilliantly showing how every compliance and audit function plays a strategic role toward a unified goal.

A heartfelt thank you to Sameer Lal, CA, CMA, PMP, Akash Bekal, Sachin Kodate, Damanpreet Kaur, Nipun Sharma, Devika Padam, Shashank Sharma MBA, and the entire ComUnity Canada team for putting together such a warm, impactful event.

Grateful to everyone who joined the conversation and shared their perspectives. Looking forward to keeping the momentum going! 🙌🌿

Great meeting you Marian A., Sandeepkaur Randhawa, Yeshaswi Srinivasa, MBA, BCOMM, Jodie Siu, Hema Nathan PMP® PSM® Snigdha Dutta, CFE, CAMS, CFCS, Aizaz Shaikh, Pramila Choubey, Allisha Saini, Jayami Alwis, Gavan Kailayanathan, Khoi Lam, Basira Zaki, Vivek Verma, Ronak Pandya, Tulika Ganguly