Jay Budzik, senior vice president and director of AI/ML model development and operations at Fifth Third Bank, will speak at the inaugural FinAI Lending Summit on Wednesday, Oct. 7.  

The summit, set for Oct. 7-8 at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, will bring together executives, technology experts and decision-makers across the FinAi lending ecosystem. 

View the full agenda here.  

Budzik oversees AI model development and operations for consumer credit and the back office, shaping the consumer data strategy, including the modernization of analytics platforms and decisioning systems.  

Budzik previously was chief technology officer at Zest AI, where he led the data science, engineering and product management teams that pioneered the use of AI in underwriting, serving clients such as Freddie Mac, Citibank, Truist, Discover and more than 100 regional banks and credit unions.  

During the panel “The AI-powered lender: A senior lending executive’s playbook” at 1:30 p.m. local time, the discussion will include: 

• Eliminating friction across lending workflows; 

• Designing the AI-enabled lending organization; and 

• How AI can be customized across lending verticals — commercial, auto, mortgage, personal. 

Budzik will be joined by: 

• Rohan Kakar, head of retail and consumer strategy, Chase Auto; 

• David Normandin, president and chief executive, Wintrust Specialty Finance; and 

• Jennifer Taylor, SVP and head of commercial digital, Axos Bank. 

Fifth Third reported these Q2 AI metrics:  

• AI chatbots responded to more than 1 million employee prompts in June;  

• The percent of code written by AI and accepted by software developers was 45%; and  

• More than 87% of unit testing — checking small, individual pieces of a bank’s software — was automated by AI. 

Register for FinAi Lending Summit here by Aug. 21 for early bird pricing and apply to speak here.