AI may be everywhere in banking conversations, but at JAM Fintop 2025 the real message was clear: without clean, unified data, AI is just noise.In Nashville, close to 30 sponsor banks, over 100 community banks, and dozens of fintech leaders sat down to talk about what it really takes to turn hype into value. The answer kept coming back to data.
I just got back from Nashville after spending a few days at JAM Fintop 2025, and I have to say, it was one of the best-run conferences I’ve been to. About 300–350 people were in attendance, with nearly 30 sponsor banks represented. Even the banks that weren’t sponsors tended to be larger institutions, and many already had some hands-on experience with Snowflake and data lakes. In short, it was exactly the right audience for the conversations happening there.
This wasn’t just any industry meetup. JAM Fintop is a closed, invitation-only summit for members of the FINTOP Capital & JAM FINTOP Network. Their mission is “advancing the mission of community banking through technology”. The exclusivity showed in the caliber of the conversations, bankers, fintechs, and investors who are actively shaping what community banking will look like in 2026.
The Energy at JAM Fintop
The format was highly interactive, with bankers and fintechs sitting side by side. The whole event felt less like a conference and more like a working session on the future of banking. I was part of a panel for AI & Data Strategies to Drive Growth, and while the conversation quickly centered on AI, the deeper question was what it takes for AI to actually succeed inside a bank.
I asked the room: What does success look like when 100% of your data is structured, cleaned, and unified?
The answers were telling. Most people didn’t talk about automating support desks or cutting costs. They talked about knowing the customer better, meeting them where they are, offering more relevant products, and staying top-of-mind with personalized service.
A few mentioned operational efficiency, with some estimating that AI could reallocate 20–30% of workforce tasks. But the dominant theme was customer understanding. That’s worth noting: banks see AI less as a cost-cutting tool and more as a customer-personalization tool.
Key Takeaways for 2026
Here are a few trends I saw that will matter as banks prepare for 2026:
- AI is everywhere, the next frontier unlocking what is possible, but it’s only as good as the data feeding it.
- Stablecoins and tokenized deposits are moving from theory into real projects, and the exciting use cases are all in international business.
- Operational maturity is a differentiator. Banks that have already invested in compliance and infrastructure are ready to scale partnerships with confidence, and are onboarding partners that are creating the products that consumers want.
- Regulators want more than tools. Regulators are still in the back of every bank's mind. They are asking for clear plans, documentation, and monitoring that prove banks are in control, especially with AI on the horizon.
Why Data Quality Is the Enabler
The throughline across JAM Fintop 2025 was simple: if banks want AI to serve their customers, they first need quality data. Clean, unified data makes it possible to trust the insights, power automation, and stay exam-ready. Without it, AI is just another buzzword.
It’s like a lending team trying to qualify a borrower. Every piece of information, credit score, deposit history, payment patterns, is a puzzle piece. On their own, the pieces don’t show the full picture. But when you connect them, you can clearly see if the customer is a safe bet or if there are risks to watch.
AI is like having the box lid with the finished picture on it. It helps connect the scattered pieces and even points out patterns you might have missed. But if the pieces are messy, missing, or locked in silos, the picture never comes together.
That’s why data quality is the real enabler. Once the puzzle pieces are clean and connected, AI can turn them into insight bankers can actually use.
Final Thought
Community banks aren’t waiting until 2026 to figure this out. They’re building now, and the ones who get their data house in order will be the ones who win with AI.
The way I’ve been thinking about it is this: AI isn’t going to replace human creativity, ingenuity, or authenticity. That’s not the point. But AI can act like a coworker, taking on the heavy lifting if you give it the right inputs. For that to work, it needs context and accuracy, and that only comes from clean, unified data.
If your data is fragmented or messy, AI will just give you more noise. If your data is structured and reliable, AI becomes an extra set of hands that helps you know your customers better, serve them faster, and stay one step ahead.
At the end of the day, data is the key to the future. And the banks that treat it that way will be ready to unlock what’s next.
