Last month, Narmi returned to La Jolla, San Diego for our annual Innovators Retreat sessions, where we host our peers across all corners of the community banking world for a series of discussions on what’s next for the industry. This year was the biggest Innovators Retreat yet, with dozens of participants coming in from all corners of the country for two days of discussion, knowledge sharing, networking, and scenic oceanside views.
We kicked things off with a discussion with one of Narmi’s longest-tenured and closest customer relationships, First Internet Bank. The first state chartered, FDIC-insured institution to operate entirely online, First Internet Bank’s culture of innovation has been essential in its role as a design partner for some of Narmi’s most cutting-edge features, culminating in their adoption of the full Narmi One platform. First Internet Bank’s Craig Fortner spoke to Narmi co-founder Nikhi Lakhanpal about where the bank saw itself going in a few years’ time, and how Narmi has enabled that through close partnership.
Narmi’s leadership team then convened for its annual State of Narmi session, where we discussed our priorities as a company in the coming year, typified by our ethos of Service, Integration, and Innovation. This year, in addition to providing a vision of where Narmi is going, we provided a quick rundown of Narmi’s history as a company as it approaches the ten-year mark, starting with its origins at Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union.
With 67% of Gen Z using AI to aid in personal financial management, it was the right time to talk about how financial institutions can use the technology to reclaim these interactions. In An Intentional Approach to AI, Narmi co-founder Chris Griffin and Senior Product Manager Ayesha Imran provided a state-of-the-market when it comes to AI in banking. We dove into the easiest way to integrate AI into your workflows: through the staff experience, by enabling more efficient customer support, marketing promotions, and audience segmentation.
We also outlined how AI can allow financial institutions to deliver on consumer and business demand for rich, personalized financial insights. Narmi Forward Deployed Engineer Ryan Siebecker led a lively demo of our groundbreaking MCP server technology, which allows users to safely connect their banking data to LLMs like Claude and ask questions like, "Can you categorize my top 10 recurring vendors?” and "What expenses could I reduce to improve margins next quarter?"
We rounded out the conversation on Day 1 with a session on the FedNow Service, where we spoke with Federal Reserve Financial Service’s Erik Van Bramer on the state of market penetration for the instant payment service and the benefits of being an early adoptee; streamlining operations and reinvigorating community and member focus with Rancho Cucamonga-based Arrowhead Credit Union’s Theresa Hainsworth; a series of interactive breakout sessions on fraud, business banking, and growing deposits; and we ended the day with a discussion with Austin-based University Federal Credit Union’s Brooke Peterson on how they scaled staff-led account opening across dozens of locations and hundreds of employees.
We began Day 2 with a series of case studies, including speaking to John Betts of Caldwell, Ohio-based Community Savings on their experience with both implementation and forward deployed engineering. Siebecker joined Narmi Senior Director of Implementations Larisa Hendrick for a conversation about best-in-class implementation, and how that approach continues after go-live with the customizations and tailoring enabled through forward deployed engineering.
Narmi SVP of Operations Angela Gentry Yue then rounded out our sessions with a presentation on the constantly evolving expectations of community financial institutions around the country, including the changing conversations around onboarding and member/staff experience. We then capped things off with interactive user groups, where attendees held technical conversations with Narmi subject matter experts on the solutions they see succeeding in the market.
