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I sat down with Sarah Hammer, Executive Director and Professor at the Wharton School. Sarah has a long history of leading multiple fintech and financial institutions at Wharton, in the private sector, and also in the public sector.
Additionally, Sarah leads the Cypher accelerator, Wharton’s fully remote and non-dilutive accelerator program built to launch the world’s leading technology startups. So, if you’re starting to build a fintech company anywhere in the world, be sure to apply by December 17th. Some of the program mentors include Mark Cuban, Tim Draper, and Charles Birnbaum.
In this episode, we discuss:
Wharton’s Cypher accelerator and the types of companies they are looking to support
“You never know what the what the road looks like when you're launching and leading a company.”
The Cypher Accelerator at Wharton recently opened applications for entrepreneurs. As part of the selection process, the team is especially focused on assessing the company leaders' decision-making capabilities. The accelerator is stage agnostic, accepting companies ranging from pre-seed to Series C. This diversity in stages has led to synergies and cross-mentoring within cohorts, with more experienced companies providing guidance to early-stage ones.
Lessons from leading the PA Department of Banking and Securities throughout the Silicon Valley banking crisis
“The run on the banks was extremely difficult for so many people. For 1000s of people and founders around the country. And it showed how broken aspects of our system are… and I think it's important for us as leaders and policymakers to be ahead of the curve on these issues.”
Sarah describes her experience leading the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities during the SVB banking crisis of early 2023. At the time, she was responsible for overseeing 290,000+ financial entities, including banks, non-banks, and asset management companies, during a period of extreme stress in the banking sector. She highlights the challenges posed by the modern financial landscape, where accelerated liquidity due to digital banking and social media can amplify issues like bank runs. This experience, crystalized for Sarah that it’s more important than ever to recognize and prepare for these challenges, which is why at Wharton there are efforts in building a large language model to measure in real-time the impact of social media chatter on financial stability. She stressed the importance of strategic planning, calm leadership, and clear communication in managing financial crises.
Potential applications, uses, and impact of GenAI in the financial world … and a lot more!
“I do see real applications and use cases in finance, not only potentially on the credit and lending side, but definitely on the side of communications consumption of information. We have a very antiquated code in the financial infrastructure space, as you will know, and generative AI has the potential to help us transform that code to more modern code.”
Hammer sees genuine applications of AI in finance, particularly in areas like credit and lending, and in modernizing the antiquated coding infrastructure of financial systems. She believes generative AI can play a crucial role in transforming these systems, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. Emphasizing the importance of financial inclusion, Hammer is paying attention to issues like data access, governance, model transparency, and fairness. She advocates for rapid yet responsible advancement in AI, ensuring its ethical and equitable application in the financial sector.
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Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder & General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.
Sarah Hammer, Executive Director at the Wharton School – Accelerating Fintech and Leading Through Crisis