10 groundbreaking AI, embedded-finance, and payments solutions were all recognized at DIGITAL BANKING 2025; LLM Suite takes top honors

Charles Clark is a motivational speaker, creator of the Thrive Planner, a bestselling author, and CEO of Journey Speakers Bureau. Before becoming an international speaker, he was one of the fastest men in the world. He is a 3x NCAA National Championship and USA Track and Field Championships silver medalist. Now, as a mindset expert, Charles shows athletes, entrepreneurs, and companies how to win in life. Today, he teaches people how to use adversity to build greater strength, success, and fulfillment.

Mike Allee is the president of Universal Conversion Technology.

Lanie Raphael is president at B. F. Saul Insurance, where she leads client service, business development, financial strategy, and team growth. She brings over 30 years of experience in commercial and high-net-worth insurance, with past executive roles at Fireman's Fund, AIG, and ACE Private Risk Services. Her background spans risk management, operations, marketing, and product development. Lanie is known for her hands-on leadership and focus on building strong client relationships. 

Brooksley Born is the former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Prof. Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is also a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., a co-founder of BaselineScenario.com (a much cited website on the global economy), a member of the Congressional Budget Office's Panel of Economic Advisers, and a member of the FDIC's Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the private sector systemic risk council founded and chaired by Sheila Bair in 2012. Prof. Johnson is a weekly contributor to NYT.com's Economix, is a regular Bloomberg columnist, has a monthly article with Project Syndicate that runs in publications around the world, and has published high impact opinion pieces recently in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The New Republic, BusinessWeek and The Financial Times, among other places. In January 2010, he joined The Huffington Post as contributing business editor. Professor Johnson is the co-author, with James Kwak, of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and The Next Financial Meltdown, a bestselling assessment of the dangers now posed by the U.S. financial sector (published March 2010) and White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt and Why it Matters to You (April 2012). In his roles as a professor, research fellow and author, Professor Johnson's speaking engagements include paid appearances before various business groups, including financial institutions and other companies, as well before other groups that may have a political agenda. He is not on the board of any company, does not currently serve as a consultant to anyone, and does not work as an expert witness or conduct sponsored research. His investment portfolio comprises cash and broadly diversified mutual funds; he does not trade stocks, bonds, derivatives or other financial products actively. From March 2007 through the end of August 2008, Prof. Johnson was the International Monetary Fund's Economic Counselor (chief economist) and Director of its Research Department. He is a co-director of the NBER Africa Project, and works with nonprofits and think tanks around the world. Johnson holds a B.A. in economics and politics from the University of Oxford, an M.A. in economics from the University of Manchester, and a Ph.D. in economics from MIT. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2024.

Johnny Poulsen is the CEO of Income Lab, a company that wants to revolutionize the way retirement is planned and experienced.

With over two decades of experience in financial services, Poulsen co-founded Income Lab to equip advisors with better tools to help clients retire with clarity and confidence.

Sam Krishnamurthy is the Chief Technology Officer for Turvi.

Daniel Fagan, MSPFP, MPA, AIF, is managing partner at Radiant Wealth Management, an independent firm in Connecticut specializing in financial planning for academics, physicians and high net worth families.

He previously spent 17 years at TIAA advising faculty at top universities including Yale, UConn, Wesleyan and other leading institutions.

Russell Curzon has over 20 years of commercial experience in the payments industry. As vice president of commercial sales at Nuvei, Curzon and his team are building Nuvei's market share in the UK and Ireland and helping businesses with Nuvei's next-generation payments technology.

Sean Graham is a registered CPA, real estate investor and founder of Maven Cost Segregation. With a background in public accounting, tax strategy, and private equity, he helps real estate investors unlock major tax savings through cost segregation studies. Through Maven Cost Segregation, he brings institutional-grade strategies to everyday investors — making it simple and affordable to accelerate depreciation and reduce taxable income.

Graham Tasman is principal of advisory services at Grant Thornton Advisors LLC.

Vikrant Rai is the managing director of the risk advisory practice at Grant Thornton Advisors LLC.

As chief financial officer at Certinia, Erin Sawyer brings over 20 years of financial and operational experience with 10 years in the software industry. Most recently, she was the CFO of Wowza and deputy CFO at Vertafore. She specializes as an executive strategist focusing on financial and operational discipline through business partnership, value creation and operational excellence. She graduated from North Carolina State University with her MBA and Arizona State University with a degree in accountancy.

Keely Wilkins is the Global Program Manager for Insurance Partnerships, and an Evangelist with the Office of the CTO at Check Point Software Technologies. She has nearly 30 years of experience in technology and cybersecurity. Keely is active in global initiatives like the World Economic Forum's Partnership Against Cybercrime and frequently speaks on AI, cyber insurance, and cyber risk management. She holds a MS in Cybersecurity and an MLS in Cybersecurity Law and Policy.

Jen Cressman is the chief commercial officer at Form Health, the national leader in science-based obesity care. 

Jen is a veteran of the healthcare industry, building and leading exceptional sales teams at dynamic, innovative companies. Jen has been leading Form Health through rapid commercial growth since May 2023, focusing on leveraging the physician-led, science-based obesity care model to guide clients through the challenges and opportunities of GLP-1s. 

Nishaad Ruparel is the president of Ascend, a Top 50 Firm formed in 2023 with capital from Alpine Investors, a private equity firm based in San Francisco. Prior to joining Ascend, he was recruited by Alpine Investors to help launch a new investment strategy; prior to joining Alpine, he spent time at AEA, an upper middle market PE firm based in New York, and at JP Morgan, where he serviced private equity clients out of the firm's investment banking division. He holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Finance from New York University's Stern School of Business.

Eileen Connor is the president and executive director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending.

Reyes Florez is the CEO of Platform Accounting Group, a collective of more than 40 local accounting firms across the United States.

Joe McQuaid is chief operating officer at Concurrent. 

With over 25 years in the financial services industry, he has held leadership roles at New York Life Investment Management and Guggenheim. He also founded Ascend Consulting and helped launch and served as COO for an RIA that grew to nearly $1.5 billion in AUM. He then founded Imprint Wealth, scaling it to nearly $1 billion in assets before merging with Concurrent Investment Advisors. An avid adventurer, he is preparing to climb the Seven Summits and aims to complete the six major marathons over the next decade. ​​