10-Q, Member Exclusive

Everyone’s using AI. So where does the advantage come from?

  • Whether it's banks or fintechs, a consensus is taking shape: AI's biggest advantage comes from the data behind it.
  • As AI expands across customer experiences and internal operations, messy enterprise data is becoming the biggest barrier to better outcomes.
close

Email a Friend

Everyone’s using AI. So where does the advantage come from?


    Weekly 10-Q

    The weekly 10-Q newsletter is part of the Tearsheet Pro subscription, where I unpack the recent moves and strategies of leading banks and fintechs in the public space, coupled with stock market analysis.ย In your inbox every Friday!

    Message Sara


    Everyone’s using AI. So where does the advantage come from?

    Why every AI strategy is becoming a data strategy.


    Two years ago, the AI race was about models. Now large language models (LLMs) are increasingly capable and widely accessible. The performance gap between them continues to narrow. As that happens, financial firms are realizing that the harder challenge now is actually giving those models something meaningful to reason over.

    Across recent conversations with executives from Intuit Credit Karma, J.P. Morgan Payments, Deloitte, and others, itโ€™s becoming clear that AI is only as valuable as the data, context, and systems surrounding it.

    Derek White, former CEO of Galileo Financial Technologies, distills that thinking into a key takeaway: “AI applications are only as good as the data that goes into them, and the human oversight and strategy used to guide and deploy them.โ€

    Data is THE product

    AI is taking different forms across the financial services landscape.

    Credit Karma is using AI-powered assistants to recommend what consumers should do with their debt, tax refunds, and paychecks. J.P. Morgan Payments is preparing for AI agents capable of shopping and transacting autonomously. Smaller banks are experimenting with Gen AI to improve fraud detection and customer service.


    subscription wall for TS Pro

    0 comments on “Everyone’s using AI. So where does the advantage come from?”

    10-Q, Member Exclusive

    Citi is done getting smaller. Now it has to get better.

    • Citi spent years simplifying the bank by shedding businesses and reducing complexity. Now comes the part of making the streamlined bank work better.
    • The pieces are largely in place. The question is whether Citi can connect them into a stronger growth engine without recreating the complexity it just spent years removing.
    Sara Khairi | August 24, 2026
    Member Exclusive, Opinion

    The new fintech moat is โ€˜boringโ€™

    • What does a fintech moat look like today?
    • The new measure of a fintech moat is the capability to handle complexity without pushing the burden onto customers or costs. It isnโ€™t only about keeping competitors out but it's also about getting better as the system gets more complicated.
    Sara Khairi | August 21, 2026
    Lending, Member Exclusive

    How Figure turned a lending business into a financial network

    • Figure reported second-quarter results, showing that its platform had reached a $1 billion weekly run rate for loan applications by early July.
    • The firm has come a long way since it was founded in 2018, building a more structured lending and capital markets system while increasingly making it intelligent and programmable.
    Sara Khairi | August 20, 2026
    10-Q, Member Exclusive

    Is it time for AI to enter the payback period and show its ROI?

    • If AI is changing the economics of how businesses operate, where do we see its payoff?
    • Blockโ€™s Q2โ€™26 results suggest AIโ€™s payoff may start showing up in familiar financial metrics. Whether the usual metrics are enough remains an open question.
    Sara Khairi | August 17, 2026
    Member Exclusive, SMB Finance

    Why banksโ€™ trusted-advisor pitch isnโ€™t landing with SMBs right now

    • For small business owners, banks still have a long way to go: just 7% view their bank as a true strategic partner, according to Grasshopper Bankโ€™s recent survey.
    • A major problem, says Grasshopper's Danielle Kane, is that many banks still see small-business banking as a product category rather than an operating environment with distinct needs.
    Sara Khairi | August 13, 2026
    More Articles