AI is no longer just augmenting workflows—it is beginning to make decisions, take actions and coordinate work across the enterprise. As agentic AI systems evolve from copilots to operators, bank executives face a defining leadership question: Who governs decision-making when machines act autonomously? 

This panel explores why AI is no longer a technology initiative, but an enterprise-wide leadership mandate requiring new approaches to accountability, risk and control. Panelists examine where AI is already shifting from recommendation to execution, which functions are closest to becoming agent-driven, what decisions leaders are willing to delegate, and why CEOs and boards—not just Chief AI Officers, CIOs and CTOs—must personally own the governance of AI at scale.

Stacey Mullin, BlackRock’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer, has spent nearly two decades helping the firm navigate some of the most consequential shifts in modern business – from the Global Financial Crisis and Brexit to Covid and today’s rapid advances in AI. In this fireside chat, Stacey will explore how leaders can turn moments of inflection into opportunities for creativity, growth and innovation. She’ll discuss what it takes to deploy AI at scale in ways that deliver for clients and create great careers for people, while sharing lessons from her own journey growing alongside BlackRock and leading through transformation.

Banking is operating within a period of massive disruption. AI is shifting from a support function to a decisioning layer, real-time payments are resetting the definition of liquidity and speed, and tokenization is beginning to reshape how value is issued, moved, and held on balance sheets. Yet too many institutions continue to treat these forces as future-state initiatives rather than present-tense competitive realities.

This panel challenges leaders to confront a harder question: whether their operating models are structurally capable of keeping pace. As fintech platforms and Big Tech increasingly function as infrastructure layers rather than competitors, and as regulatory frameworks evolve into strategic variables, the traditional boundaries of banking advantage are eroding.

The discussion will focus on where disruption is already operational, where incumbents are most exposed, and why the greatest risk is internal execution lag—and what every leader needs to do about it.

Banking is entering a new era, shaped by AI, digital assets, real-time payments, and rising expectations for seamless access to financial services. As the industry modernizes, the challenge is not simply adopting new technologies, but doing so in ways that strengthen trust, resilience, and security. Nasdaq’s Adena Friedman, president and CEO, will discuss the forces transforming finance and why trust remains the essential foundation for innovation in an increasingly connected and always-on world.

Lisa Farkovits is Managing Director and Global Head of Model Risk and AI Management, as well as Risk Business Manager, at Barclays. In the MRM role, she is responsible for the oversight, governance and validation of all of Barclays models used in every area of the firm, including responsibility for AI/ML risk. Additionally, as Business Manager, she is responsible for managing risk’s operational resources and expenses. Prior to this role, Lisa was Head of Capital and Leverage Management at Barclays. Over the course of her 25+ year career, Lisa has held a variety of roles in risk, finance, strategy, sales and trading, investment banking and wealth management, with responsibility for capital management, corporate acquisitions, client advisory, principal investments and structured transaction management. These experiences provide Lisa with an in-depth knowledge of the finance industry and global regulatory environment, fostered a leadership style where she focuses on ground up functional re-design.

Lisa attended MIT as a Ph.D. candidate in physical chemistry, and received a master’s degree in physical chemistry and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from UCLA.

Maria G. Gotsch is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Partnership Fund for New York City, the $130 million investment arm of the Partnership for New York City, New York’s leading business organization. The Fund has built a network of top venture capital and corporate experts to identify and support the city’s most promising entrepreneurs to create jobs, spur new business and expand opportunities for New Yorkers.

In addition to leading the Fund’s investments and operations, Maria has spearheaded the creation of the Fund’s strategic initiatives, helping grow the city’s innovation sectors, including fintech and commercial life sciences. These initiatives include three private sector labs (FinTech Innovation Lab; NY Digital Health Accelerator; NY Fashion Tech Lab); three public sector labs (Transit, Environmental and Buildings Tech Labs); NYCSeed; BioAccelerate Prize NYC (proof-of-concept funding for university-based biomedical research); and, the Arts Entrepreneurial Loan Fund. 

Maria has also led the creation and operations of several small business relief programs: ReStart Central and Financial Recovery Fund (assistance and funding for small businesses impacted by 9/11/01); and, the NYC Small Business Resource Network (assistance for small businesses impacted by COVID-19 economic shutdown). 
Maria has been featured in Crain’s “Most Powerful Women in New York,” “Notable Women in Tech,” and “Notable Women on Wall Street”; City & State’s “The Life Sciences Power 50” and “2024 Trailblazers in Economic Development”; Institutional Investor’s “The FinTech Finance 40,” and one of three winners in American Banker’s “Most Influential Women in Fintech for 2023.” 

Before joining the Fund in 1999, Maria was Managing Director at BT Wolfensohn (now part of Deutsche Bank), providing strategic and financial advice related to mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and the development of business strategies. Maria also worked at LaSalle Partners and for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in New York and London. Maria has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Wellesley College. She was also the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to study international relations at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland.