Provoke Media

03/11/2025

So, here's a light subject: can humanity keep growing without destroying the Earth?

This week, as our sister podcast The Futurists takes over Breaking Banks, physicist Brian Cox and host Brett King dive into the “limits to growth” theory, first introduced in the 1970s and still relevant today. Studies show that by 2040, Earth could hit a breaking point where automation, industry, and consumption outpace what the planet can handle.

What can be done to prevent this?

And speaking of the future, find the future of AI for financial services with our sponsor, fin.ai/breakingbanks

Listen & subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

01/11/2025

You wake up to find gold has plummeted to $5 an ounce. For good.

Now what happens?

Asteroid mining is not science fiction anymore. Some near-Earth asteroids contain more precious metals than all of human history has ever mined. In this clip, Professor Brian Cox explains how an asteroid like Psyche could equal 100,000 years of Earth’s GDP in raw resources.

All this week, our sister podcast The Futurists takes over Breaking Banks for an incredibly insightful interview with physicist Brian Cox. And speaking of the future, find the future of AI for financial services with our sponsor, fin.ai/breakingbanks.



Link to full episode: https://provoke.fm/the-futurists-takeover-a-fascinating-interview-with-physicist-brian-cox/

30/10/2025

Hey, how about some news about AI that's not all doom & gloom?

The truth is, we’re living in a time when almost anything you dream can actually be built.

At the recent Futurists X Summit, J.K. Khalil and Raja Rajamannar of Mastercard talked about the power of convergence: the moment when AI, blockchain, augmented reality, and other technologies come together to create something never seen before

This goes beyond the promise of greater speed or automation. It’s about how these tools can help us build with more purpose, authenticity, and connection. As Raja told host Brett King, the next era of innovation will empower creators and companies to serve people with heart while still driving real business growth.



Link to the full episode: https://bit.ly/4quYk28

26/10/2025

What if the biggest breakthroughs in technology come from questions no one thought to ask?

All this week, our sister podcast The Futurists takes over Breaking Banks for an incredibly insightful interview with physicist Brian Cox.

Professor Cox explains to Brett King how the early days of quantum mechanics weren’t about building technology at all. Physicists were simply trying to understand how electrons and atoms behaved.

No one imagined that those same discoveries would one day power transistors, semiconductors, and now the push toward quantum computing.

And speaking of the future, find the future of AI for financial services with our sponsor, fin.ai/breakingbanks

hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

Link to the full episode: https://provoke.fm/the-futurists-takeover-a-fascinating-interview-with-physicist-brian-cox/

25/10/2025

What does it take to build payment infrastructure across 54 countries, 40+ currencies, and dozens of central banks?

In a recent episode of the Finovate Podcast, Bridgit Antwi of Flutterwave shares with Greg Palmer how the company went from solving pain points in Nigerian banking to becoming Africa’s most licensed non-bank entity, powering everyone from Uber to next-gen African startups.

They discuss:

● Why building in Africa means building everything, from rails to regulations

● How Flutterwave is enabling seamless local and cross-border payments

● The real impact of stablecoins like USDC on African commerce

● Why Flutterwave is betting on infrastructure to unlock the continent’s economic future

It's a must-listen for anyone curious about innovation where it's needed most:

Listen to the full episode: https://bit.ly/42qYywy

18/10/2025

What happens when your bank app goes down and there’s no one to call?

In the recent episode of Breaking Banks, Brett King and Efi Pylarinou talk about the growing risks in digital banking. As AI reshapes finance, the loss of human connection is just the start. There's also rising cyber threats, operational breakdowns...and the list goes on.

The future of banking is not about simply choosing digital or physical, it’s about addressing customer needs no matter what form that takes.

Link to full episode: https://bit.ly/4pdadcq

Shoutout to our sponsor, Fin.ai - check out their world class AI agents for financial services: fin.ai/breakingbanks

12/10/2025

Europe’s banks are already seeing the death of the branch. Is the U.S. next?

In the new episode of Breaking Banks, Brett King continues the fascinating discussions around the theme of his new book, "Branch Tomorrow." This week, Brett features insights from collaborator Efi Pylarinou on the future of financial services: branchless challengers, fintech disruptors, and AI-powered branch advisors.

The result? A provocative look at what banking might feel like tomorrow.

🎧 Catch the full discussion - Link in comments.

A special thanks to this week's sponsor, Fin.ai! https://bit.ly/4m3kdC9

11/10/2025

Why are physical bank branches struggling so much?

In the recent episode of Breaking Banks, Brett King and Paolo Sironi unpack why branches are struggling in today’s digital world.

Banks in Germany have even warned regulators that without certain revenue streams, they would need to close their branches. The truth is, many branches no longer operate as advisory centers, but more like brokerage hubs.

It's a fascinating preview of the issues discussed in Brett's new book, "Branch Tomorrow," with collaborations by Paolo Sironi and other global banking experts.

Learn more: https://amzn.to/4mTA5Zi

05/10/2025

What's a "Super App" and why is it so cool?

In China, apps like WeChat Pay and Alipay have revolutionized banking and fintech.

In this clip from Breaking Banks, Brett King and Richard Turrin explain how these super apps transformed payments by making refunds free and instant, sometimes in under a minute. This level of speed and ease has created a new expectation for how money should move, one that traditional banks are still struggling to meet.

The lesson is clear: once people experience seamless, instant refunds and payments, their trust shifts to the platform that delivers it. Banks that can’t offer the same thing risk losing relevance in a world where digital convenience wins.

04/10/2025

The Branch of Tomorrow? Or No Branch At All?

Digital disruption has reshaped banking on a scale the West is still catching up to. In China, banks have already lost the payments business—and they can’t get it back. They’re still “data poor” while fintechs thrive.

In a recent episode of Breaking Banks, Brett King sits down with Richard Turrin and Paolo Sironi to unpack:

Why traditional branches are disappearing

How fintechs have permanently shifted consumer trust

What “Branch Tomorrow” looks like for banks that want to survive

🎧 Listen now to understand where banking is headed: https://youtu.be/2OF2svpLWIk

30/09/2025

What if the content you send to customers could be both compliant and high-performing, automatically?

On a recent episode of the Finovate Podcast, Assaf Baciu, President and Co-Founder of Persado, shares with Greg Palmer how Persado's agentic AI platform is eliminating the long, painful bottleneck between marketing and compliance.

Here's an amazing example: In one case, Persado helped reduce the approval timeline for a single subject line from 12 weeks to just hours.

This isn’t just smarter marketing, it’s safer, faster growth, which is the true promise of AI.

Listen now: https://provoke.fm/ep-268-assaf-baciu-persado/

Your new go-to-market(ing) strategy – balancing compliance and speed with agentic AI Detailed Summary: In this Finovate Podcast episode, Greg interviews Asaf Baciu, President and Co-Founder of Persado, an agentic AI platform that optimizes both marketing performance and regulatory compliance for f...

28/09/2025

Are banks with prehistoric legacy systems just screwed when it comes to going digital?

(After all, wasn't it the inability to quickly go digital that led to the rise of fintechs?)

As Brett King and Bruno Diniz explain, many big banks tried to launch digital divisions. Some worked, most didn’t. Because digital isn’t just a channel, it’s a new way of operating entirely.

But the shift is no longer optional.

Learn more on the latest episode of Breaking Banks, and read Brett King's new book, "Branch Tomorrow," for expert analysis on the disappearance of the branch bank: https://www.amazon.com/Branch-Tomorrow-Brett-King-ebook/dp/B0FN6Y69PK/