How FinTech Govern AI — Mounika Paruchuri, Best Egg (now part of Barclays)

"People assume any AI launch is a rocket. It looks more like a kitchen remodel, with inspectors watching behind you." Mounika Paruchuri sets AI strategy inside a regulated US bank, so she has a very grounded view of what enterprise AI actually takes. On The AI Floor, Shamil Malachiyev sits down with Mounika Paruchuri, Senior Director of AI and Emerging Technology Transformations at Best Egg (now Barclays Bank US), for a hype-free look at how AI actually gets built and governed inside a heavily regulated bank. Mounika has spent about 24 years in engineering leadership across fintech, e-commerce and payments, and now sets enterprise AI strategy with the executive board. In this conversation she breaks down why the model is only 20% of the work, how governance and guardrails let people move fast instead of tiptoeing, and why most AI ROI fails before it starts. Expect to learn: \- Why an AI launch is a "kitchen remodel," not a rocket, and why the model is only 20% of the job \- The real difference between governance and guardrails, and why guardrails set people free \- Her "secure the whole building, not floor by floor" approach to paved paths for AI \- How to choose models by use case: when open-source is fine, and when underwriting demands a locked-down private model \- Why switching AI models should be "just a refactor," not a panic \- How Databricks cut her prototypes from 2 weeks to 2 days and projects from 3 months to 1 month \- Why most AI ROI fails: people insert AI where it doesn't belong, instead of rethinking the process \- Why cybersecurity is the easiest AI ROI to sell any CEO, and why "this is not RPA, this is an intelligence" If you lead AI strategy, work in a regulated industry, or are trying to move fast without breaking compliance, this is the from-the-trenches version. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: setting AI strategy inside a regulated bank 2:07 AI in a heavily regulated industry 2:56 "Kitchen remodel, not a rocket" and the 20% model 3:40 Governance vs guardrails, and why guardrails set people free 5:13 What a "harness" actually is 7:20 One front desk, not security floor by floor 11:00 Choosing models by use case: open source vs locked-down 14:00 Why switching models is "just a refactor" 17:13 Do we even need more powerful models? 20:37 Which work to give AI: the power of concrete data 26:49 Databricks: prototypes from 2 weeks to 2 days 31:46 Human quality gates and feedback loops 35:48 Acceleration, burnout, and the human story of AI 39:54 The future of work: utopia vs dystopia 44:52 Why AI ROI fails, and the Steve Jobs "rethink the box" lesson 47:53 Cybersecurity: the easiest AI ROI to sell 52:04 The return to on-prem and private hosting 56:05 Closing: evolve, don't resist, be smarter than the system 👇 CONNECT WITH MOUNIKA PARUCHURI Mounika Paruchuri ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/mounika-n-paruchuri/ Best Egg ► https://www.bestegg.com 👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL Shamil Malachiyev ►https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev/ FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/ 🎙 LISTEN to The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/sa/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered, ground-level conversations with the people building AI inside the world's biggest companies. ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The AI Floor (The Founder's Code, Season 2) - honest, ground-level conversations with the people actually building AI inside the world's biggest companies. No hype, just what's real. #AI #EnterpriseAI #AIGovernance #Fintech #Banking #AIStrategy #MounikaParuchuri #TheAIFloor #Podcast