TIF tackles AI, architecture and RFPs at Finance Connect Conference

At the Finance Connect UK Summer Conference on June 4th at Kings Place, London, the Technology and Innovation Forum (TIF) will run three structured sprint sessions examining the technology decisions that matter most for specialist lenders right now — working through each question as a group, from problem definition to stress-tested answers.

The questions the sprint sessions consider were identified by the TIF community as challenges the industry is actively wrestling with:

1. Does integrated or modular architecture best serve a lender’s proposition-to-payout ambition, and where does each approach create long-term constraints?
2. Is AI best deployed as a horizontal platform capability or as a set of targeted point solutions, and what does that mean for governance and integration?
3. How should lenders run procurement processes in a landscape where technology moves faster than traditional RFP cycles?

Each question is taken through a Finance Connect proprietary sprint format: defining the problem, identifying root causes, mapping possible solutions, and stress-testing them in the room. A panel develops the theme; an audience discussion takes it forward. The session operates under Chatham House Rule and is designed for working technologists — contributors are expected to speak from deployment experience, not from marketing materials.

The Technology and Innovation Forum is a programme of monthly online forum meetings run by Finativ and Finance Connect. Its members include technologists and other specialists from lender organisations. This session is for lenders plus vendors and advisors – each of whom can bring their specialist industry expertise to the questions.

1. Learn where integrated architecture delivers a best-in-class proposition-to-payout capability, and where modular approaches protect flexibility and long-term innovation
2. Find out how lenders are approaching the platform versus point-solution AI question in practice, and the governance challenges each path brings
3. Explore how to structure RFP processes that produce the right outcome when requirements are hard to specify and the technology landscape is changing

Panel: TIF member contributors from lenders including Volvo Financial Services, Haydock Finance, and Simply Asset Finance — named individuals to be confirmed.

Part of the technology and innovation stream

This session sits within the conference’s technology and innovation stream, which runs in parallel with the business lending and regulation streams throughout the day. The stream is designed for technologists, digital leads, and innovation-focused practitioners from lender organisations, alongside advisors and vendors who can contribute practical deployment experience.

It takes a practitioner view of how technology is reshaping specialist lending – from core systems architecture to AI deployment to procurement practice – and is structured around working debates rather than one-way presentations.

Find out more on the Finance Connect UK Summer Conference website.

Secure your place at https://afcconferenceuk.com/assetfinanceconnect2026/en/page/book-now