Deploying AI Cross-Functionally in Financial Services: When the Tech Works but the Organisation Doesn’t 

Event Information

“what does it actually take to make AI deliver at enterprise scale, across functions, within a regulated environment? “

Financial Services institutions are spending heavily on AI. Many are seeing limited return. 

The diagnosis most firms reach is familiar: poor data quality, regulatory complexity, technology immaturity. These are real problems. But they are not the root cause. 

The root cause is structural. AI initiatives fail in Financial Services when they are bought and governed function by function: Compliance here, HR there, Risk and Finance somewhere else. Often the problems they are meant to solve cut across all of them. Fragmented ownership of cross-functional problems does not just limit AI return. It creates new exposure. 

SCC, in partnership with Arkana Rama, is convening a small group of senior Financial Services leaders to examine this problem directly: what does it actually take to make AI deliver at enterprise scale, across functions, within a regulated environment? 

This is not a technology briefing. It is a peer-level working session, built around the challenges of AI transformation.  

What this session delivers

1. Why AI stalls at the functional boundary – Most AI investments are scoped within a single function. The highest-cost, highest-risk problems aren’t. When AI meets a cross-functional process with no clear owner above the functions, it stalls. We examine why – and what governance has to look like to change it.
2. How fragmented AI adoption drives compounding cost and weaker controls – When each function makes its own AI decisions, costs compound and controls weaken. We quantify the pattern and introduce the cross-functional accountability model that prevents it.
3. Why AI should be treated as a control mechanism, not a compliance risk – Most regulated firms treat AI as a source of new risk, but the ones making real progress treat it as a control lever — automating governance, surfacing anomalies, and strengthening audit trails. We explore what it takes to make that shift.
4. How Enterprise Orchestration embeds AI in governed end-to-end services – Arkana Rama introduces Enterprise Orchestration: the discipline that sits above functions and platforms to embed AI in governed end-to-end services, not bolt it on. We show what this looks like in a regulated FSI context.
5. How to start with a practical, action-ready approach – Attendees leave with a structured method for identifying the cross-functional problems carrying the most cost and risk, and a practical way to sequence AI adoption with accountability built in from the start.

Who this is for

Senior leaders in Financial Services & Insurance carrying cross-functional accountability for cost and risk:

• Compliance, Risk and Audit leaders
• Technology and Data leaders driving enterprise AI programmes
• Procurement and Finance leaders with enterprise-wide visibility
• HR and people leaders managing workforce transitions at scale
• Chief Risk Officers and C-suite peers
• Global Business Services and Shared Services Leaders

Speakers

Leda Agapi Glyptis, PhD
NED | Advisor | Author | Speaker

Leda is a fintech executive, former banker, author, speaker, and advisor with more than 20 years of experience in transformation and technology across the financial services sector.

She is the author of Bankers Like Us: Dispatches from an Industry in Transition (2023) and Beyond Resilience: Patterns of Success in Fintech and Digital Transformation (2025), and writes the acclaimed #LedaWrites column for Fintech Futures.

A sought-after keynote speaker, Leda has presented at leading global events including SIBOS, Money20/20, and Finovate, as well as industry and corporate conferences worldwide. She is also a Visiting Professor of Practice at Loughborough University London, specialising in fintech and the digital economy.

Leda advises boards and executive teams across banking, financial services, and technology, supporting organisations through business, technology, and leadership transformation. She currently serves as Chair of the Board at Bourn AI and has held Non-Executive Director positions with several high-growth fintech companies.

Previously, Leda was Chief Client Officer at 10x Banking, founding CEO of 11:FS Foundry, Chief Innovation Officer at Qatar National Bank, and held senior innovation and transformation roles at BNY Mellon.

She studied at King’s College Cambridge and holds both an MSc and PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

What to expect

A focused half-day afternoon session structured as peer discussion with expert facilitation, followed by a drinks reception. Attendance is by invitation only. Facilitated by Arkana Rama and SCC.

Register