Speakers

Allison Netzer is an internationally recognized marketer, Forbes contributor, and avid explorer of human potential. With a deep passion for empowering individuals and organizations, Allison has spent decades navigating various professional landscapes.

She has worked with giants like Dell, Aetna, Southwest Airlines, and the Dallas Cowboys, as well as 75+ FIs and fintechs, including Bank of America, Synovus, Locality Bank, Citizens Bank of Edmond, Kony and Nymbus.

Her best-selling book Think Like a Brand, Not a Bank has been praised for its no-nonsense deep dive into the emerging landscape of financial technology. Allison has also been recently recognized as a Top 30 Fintech Marketer and a Top 25 Global Woman in Fintech.

She currently runs two companies, BrandThnk.co and PersonaSync.ai

Byron Reese delights audiences around the world, and has been invited to share his reasoned optimism and vivid and energetic presentations on the future with audiences on every continent but Antartica (coming January 2024). Known as the “Future of” guy, Byron has spoken on the future of A.I., the future of work, the future of banking, the future of education, the future of the planet, the future of agriculture, the future of finance, and the list goes on. When not speaking, he writes books that explore the intersection of technology and humanity, and covers topics such as robotics, consciousness, progress, natural resources, and superorganisms.

Bloomberg Businessweek credits Byron with having “quietly pioneered a new breed of media company.” The Financial Times of London reported that he “is typical of the new wave of internet entrepreneurs out to turn the economics of the media industry on its head.” Byron and his work have been featured in hundreds of news outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, NPR, and the LA Times Magazine. Byron holds numerous patents and has started and sold multiple companies, including two NASDAQ IPOs. 

David Culbertson serves as vice chairman of the CSI Board of Directors, working closely with the board and leadership to guide our strategic direction. Prior to this role, David served as president and chief executive officer, spearheading the company’s rise as one of the nation’s top core technology providers for financial institutions.

Throughout his more than 35-year journey at CSI, David has driven the company’s strategic evolution across multiple executive roles, including vice president of research and business development, group president of technology services and chief operating officer. This extensive leadership experience has shaped his distinct approach: combining technological expertise with empathetic leadership that prioritizes both customer success and employee growth.

As past president of the Association for Financial Technology (AFT), David has also been instrumental in developing industry standards that have strengthened the fintech ecosystem. Beyond CSI, David serves as vice chair of the Kentucky Market Board at Bon Secours Mercy Health and is a member of the Carson Center for the Performing Arts board. David earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Virginia and is a graduate of the prestigious Executive Education program at the Wharton School.

Dave DeFazio is Chief Strategy Officer at StrategyCorps. He’s armed with a passion for banking strategy, and always exploring the intersection of data, marketing, and technology. He downloads banking apps for fun.

Dave enjoys helping clients evolve their products for improved productivity, engagement, and growth. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics.

Derik Sutton is a product and marketing executive with a track record of helping to build, market and sell products in the financial industry. He joined Autobooks in 2018 as the VP of Product and Experience and became Chief Marketing Officer in 2022.

During his career, Derik has helped bring two digital banking platforms to market that are now leveraged by over 2,000 financial institutions.  He founded Become Labs, a product and design company that focused on fintech companies and financial institutions. During his time there, Derik helped companies launch new brands and digital products, consulted with financial institutions on their digital strategy, and helped financial institutions build new custom online and mobile banking experiences.

Mary Wisniewski has covered fintech and digital banking for more than 12 years. Her bylines have appeared in GonzoBanker, American Banker, Bankrate, the Associated Press and more.

She is an editor-at-large at Cornerstone Advisors where she helps shape content strategy and hosts Money isn’t Everything, a biweekly podcast that explores early-stage fintech ideas. She also writes a monthly editor’s note, Finteching with Mary, on LinkedIn.

Mary is a frequent speaker at a variety of leading digital banking events and guest on money-related podcasts, including: the Money Experience Summit, Finovate, Fintech Meetup, Breaking Banks, NPR’s The Indicator from Planet Money and more.

In addition to her banking reporting, she has served as a fashion editor for National Jeweler, where she reported on fashion shows and jewelry news. She has also penned personal essays for the L.A. Times.

Mary grew up in the Michigan suburbs and now lives in Los Angeles with a maltipoo, a record player and roller skates. Banking had her at “we’re in an existential crisis."

Megan Caywood Cooper is Founder and CEO of Caywood, a new WealthTech startup based in London. She moved to the UK from San Francisco in 2016 when she was awarded an Exceptional Talent Visa for her work in fintech to move to the UK to help start Starling Bank as Chief Platform Officer, where she was subsequently awarded Forbes 30 under 30 in recognition of her work. She was  headhunted to Barclays in 2019 to serve as Head of Digital Strategy, and then was promoted to Chief Product Officer for Barclays UK. She also served as chairman of the Digital, Tech, and Cyber Board at UK Finance, before now starting her newest venture.

Robert Strong has been voted San Francisco’s “Best Comedian” twice and “Best Magician” three times by the Bay Guardian. He is Google’s unofficial Chief Magic Officer, performing and teaching magic there since 2014. He sparks creativity and improves executive presence for Bay Area tech companies, including Meta, Apple, AWS, Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Lenovo, Samsung, HPE, & Dell EMC, but he also travels and performs for companies and organizations of all sizes.

He is proudly a performing member at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, and often invents magic tricks that are performed by other professional magicians.

He was the co-producer and host of Comedy Talks: Conversations with the Legends of Comedy and has performed for countless celebrities, including Neil Patrick Harris, Weird Al Yankovic, Robin Williams and many more here.

He has performed in 50 countries, all 50 states, and twice at the White House. He was a 10-year artist-in-residence at the Smithsonian, resident magician at TEDx San Francisco, resident magician at Singularity University, resident magician at SF Sketchfest, and he sits on the board of the non-profit Wonderfest.

In addition to keynote speaking, Robert is a world-renowned magician, trade show presenter, master of ceremonies, and bestselling author of Amaze & Delight: Secrets to Creating Magic in Business. Robert is also the founder and CEO of Speak About AI, a speakers bureau that represents some of the biggest names in AI/ML. See his TED Talk on magic and AI.

He speaks on the neuroscience of magic at The Commonwealth Club, at Stanford University, and more.

Roger Amador is the Vice President, Strategic Alliances at Q2eBanking, Inc.  Roger's role involves forging and strengthening partnerships that enhance Q2's offerings to banks and credit unions. He plays a key role in Q2's partnership ecosystem and has been involved in expanding partnerships to make solutions available directly to clients through Q2's sales organization. His work helps Q2 facilitate a diverse range of integrated fintech solutions for their customers.  

Roger holds a Bachelor of Arts in International from Texas Christian University. He has held the role of Vice President, Strategic Alliances at Q2 since 2012, and before that, he served as Vice President, Channel Management at Q2 from 2007 to 2012. 

Tara Schultz is a passionate collaborator, a dynamic strategist, and an energetic Executive for CSI. She holds 19 years of experience in the fintech and financial services industry through her time at Wells Fargo and CSI, with 17 years serving CSI through various leadership positions in Customer Experience, Product Management, Open Banking, Strategy & Industry Relations. With a proven track record of driving revenue growth and executing strategic partnerships, Tara is a results-driven leader who is passionate about customer choice, user experience and helping financial institutions differentiate, diversify and compete through fintech. Tara is also passionate about awareness, support and creating future growth opportunities for Women in Fintech and was the co-creator of Strong Women & Allies at CSI, as well as a member of the M2020 2024 RiseUp cohort.

Tom T. Shen was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the United States as  a teenager. In 1978, he was employed as a programmer trainee by Space Utilization Analysis, Incorporated. He then moved to Compata, a small  consulting firm specializing in computer software services to the  financial industry, in 1980. 

Tom utilized the skills and contacts obtained through these early  experiences to form Software Dynamics, Incorporated in 1982. As  Chairman, CEO and President, he was responsible for guiding SDI’s  technical staff, human resources, and administration. He collaborated on  the direction and architecture of SDI’s very successful suite of products. By 2001, SDI was profitably delivering front office value—teller,  platform, call center, and CRM—to over 1,200 financial institutions worldwide, from multi-billion multi-nationals to local community banks,  generating revenues in excess of $20MM.

In 2001, Tom sold his West Hills, California company to S1 Corporation (NASDAQ: SONE), a leading global provider to more than 4,000 banks, credit unions, and insurance providers of enterprise software solutions.  

In late 2005, Tom joined Digital Insight (NASDAQ: DGIN)—a foremost  Internet banking and payments provider of on-demand services—as  Executive Vice President of Product, Engineering, and Operations. He oversaw operations that supported over 8MM consumer end-users and  over 200K businesses. In February 2007, Intuit Corporation (NASDAQ:  INTU) acquired Digital Insight for $1.35B. Tom stayed on to ensure the smooth transition, leaving in November 2007 to focus on board work and high-tech start-ups.

In early 2010, sensing the need for better digital—led by mobile, in the  community banking and credit union marketplace—Tom co-founded Malauzai Software, Inc., to build an industry-leading mobile first customer engagement platform. Malauzai delivered innovative Digital Banking SmartApps, easily managed and measured to over 400 financial institutions, serving over 3.2MM delighted consumer and business banking end-users. A key component of Malauzai’s rapid success in the marketplace was its ability to quickly innovate, construct industry firsts, and maintain long-lasting business partnerships. In mid-2018, Malauzai  was acquired by Finastra, the third largest financial services technology company in the world, powered by Vista Equity. Tom served as an advisor to Finastra’s North American business through 2019.

Tom is active within his local church, where he contributes through teaching and mentoring. Tom is also involved with his high school’s— The King’s Academy—Capital Campaign to build a new STEM facility. Tom currently serves on the Boards of two Private Equity backed companies: CSI (Paducah, KY) and Tyfone, Inc. (Portland, OR); and two Venture backed companies: Shastic, Inc. (Berkeley, CA) and ZSuite Tech (Arlington, MA).

Trisha Price is chief product officer at Pendo, the all-in-one product experience platform. Trisha oversees Pendo’s product management, design and product ops teams and sets the product strategy for the company.

Prior to joining Pendo, Trisha spent more than 20 years as a technology leader in financial services companies including nCino, Primatics Financial, and Fannie Mae. She most recently served as chief innovation officer and chief product officer at nCino, a leading cloud banking provider, where she oversaw both core and new product development, and ensured the alignment of nCino’s technology vision and business strategy. In addition to her role at Pendo, Trisha serves as a member of the board of directors for Docebo.

Trisha holds a bachelor of science in mathematics and mathematics education from North Carolina State University and a master of liberal arts in extension studies, software engineering from Harvard University. Trisha lives in Wilmington, NC, where she enjoys spending time on the water, playing contentious games of Catan with her boys, and watching them enjoy their favorite activities.