Author

IBM FinTech Strategy and Author
About the Author
Paolo Sironi is the global thought leader in banking and financial markets at IBM Institute for Business Value. A trailblazer in fintech, Paolo’s insights resonate across the industry, making him one of the most respected voices in the field. As the host of THE BANKERS’ BOOKSHELF podcast, he brings cutting-edge research to life, sharing the stories and strategies behind financial innovation. With a career spanning from start-up entrepreneurship to leading risk management as a quantitative engineer in investment banking, Paolo’s expertise bridges the gap between technology and finance. His groundbreaking books, including the Amazon bestseller "Banks and Fintech on Platform Economies", have become essential reading for professionals navigating the evolving financial landscape.

AI is what you will make of it

In this episode, Paolo Sironi speaks with Jean-Philippe Desbiolles author of the updated book AI Will Be What You Make of It (originally published in 2019). Desbiolles argues that AI’s impact on banking and society will ultimately be determined by human choices, not technology. He introduces the concept of a “co-era,” in which AI functions as a…

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Tokenization of Money

In this episode, Paolo Sironi speaks with Selim Yazıci and Michael Salmony, authors of “Tokenization of Money; from fiat currencies to stable coins”. They deliver a comprehensive, multi-perspective analysis of tokenised money by assembling leading insights from central banks, commercial banks, fintechs, academics, regulators, platform builders and service providers across all major geographies in a…

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India’s Digital Payments Transformation

In this episode, Paolo Sironi speaks with Dr. Balakrishnan Mahadevan (Balu), author of Designing Change: My Journey Through India’s Digital Payments Transformation. India’s digital payments have grown from under one billion transactions annually around 2010 to over 225 billion by March 2025—a more than 200-fold increase. Through his unique lens as a former banking technology leader,…

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Fintech handbook

In this episode, author Dimitrios Salampasis joins host Paolo Sironi to introduce the Research Handbook on FinTech, a global scholarly effort to understand finance’s radical transformation. Two decades ago, finance meant traditional banks and centralised institutions. Today, digital payments, AI, blockchain, and central bank digital currencies are rewriting the rules. Dimitrios explains why this handbook…

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The Digital Phoenix Effect

In this episode, author Daniel Trabucchi joins host Paolo Sironi to explore strategies for legacy companies to embrace platform business models amid dominance by tech-native giants. Drawing from his book The Digital Phoenix Effect, he outlines a pragmatic approach for traditional firms to foster innovation through platform thinking, preserving core strengths like customers, suppliers, data, and…

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Patterns of Success in Fintech: Leda Glyptis on Leading Through Digital Chaos

In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks, we spotlight our sister podcast, The Bankers’ Bookshelf, hosted by Paolo Sironi. In this episode, Paolo sits down with frequent Breaking Banks guest Leda Glyptis to discuss her book, “Beyond Resilience: Patterns of Success in Fintech and Digital Transformation”. Drawing from candid interviews with leading entrepreneurs, Leda moves past the typical…

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Beyond Resilience: Patterns of Success in Fintech and Digital Transformation

In this episode, Paolo Sironi dives into “Beyond Resilience: Patterns of Success in Fintech and Digital Transformation” with author Leda Glyptis. At the heart of the conversation are probing questions: Is success in fintech truly pattern-based? Can the journey of building new banks or digital services, whether from scratch or within established organizations, be predictable…

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Undisruptable

In this episode, Paolo Sironi interviews Aiden McCullen to explore his book UNDISRIPTABLE, a book that brings order to the chaos we are experiencing in personal and corporate lofe to the acceleration of the innovation life cycle. While we cannot see into the future, there are repeatable patterns we can understand learning from homo sapiens…

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Wealth Management with a Difference

In this episode, Paolo Sironi interviews April Rudin and Nick Rice to explore their new book Wealth Management with a Difference, an essential guide for advisors and firms navigating an era of unprecedented wealth transfer, where millennials, Gen Z, and women are poised to inherit trillions while technology revolutionizes financial services. From understanding demographic trends,…

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Data Impact

In this episode, Paolo Sironi interviews Ritavan to explore his book Data Impact: How legacy businesses Save, Leverage, Align, Simplify, Optimize, and Grow to WIN. The SLASOG framework is a methodology designed to empower non-digital native businesses in harnessing their unique strengths for scalable, data-driven growth. Drawing from first-principles and empirically validated strategies, they discuss…

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Reshuffle: Who Wins When AI Restacks the Knowledge Economy

In This Episode This week onBreaking Banks, we spotlight the newest member of the Provoke.fm family, Bankers’ Bookshelf, hosted by Paolo Sironi. This episode features Paolo’s interview with Sangeet Paul Choudary, author of the new book, Reshuffle: Who Wins When AI Restacks the Knowledge Economy. Paolo and Sangeet discuss how AI is set to transform the global economy and…

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Reshuffle – Who wins when AI restacks the knowledge economy

In this episode, Paolo Sironi interviews Sangeet Paul Choudary, author of Reshuffle: Who Wins When AI Restacks the Knowledge Economy. They discuss how AI is set to transform the global economy and company operations by redistributing power among key players. Sangeet’s research delves into four central tensions: workers versus their software tools, tool providers versus…

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