#38 - Laura Kornhauser, Co-Founder & CEO at Stratyfy

Join us on this week's episode of the Slice of Finance podcast, hosted by Jared S. Taylor!

Our Guest: Laura Kornhauser, Co-Founder & CEO at Stratyfy.

What you’ll get out of this episode:

Stratyfy’s Mission: Empowering financial institutions with AI-driven tools for better, fairer credit, fraud, and compliance decisions.
Inclusion Challenge: Financial systems still carry biases from exclusionary historical practices, which AI can either reinforce or help dismantle.
The Role of Machine Learning: Traditional AI (ML) is gaining traction, fueled by GenAI buzz but with proven impact in lending and risk management.
Empowering Smaller Banks: Clear leadership direction and AI literacy are key for smaller institutions to adopt and benefit from AI technologies.
Exciting Initiatives: Stratyfy is advancing equity through partnerships like Underwriting for Racial Justice and integrations with major platforms.

AI for Fair and Accurate Decisioning

Laura Kornhauser, Co-Founder and CEO of Stratyfy, brings over a decade of experience in financial risk management to her mission: transforming how financial institutions make critical decisions. Stratyfy focuses on enhancing credit, fraud, and compliance processes—making them not only more accurate and efficient but also fair and inclusive.

Challenging a Biased Legacy

Laura underscores a hard truth: the financial system was not designed with inclusivity in mind. From redlining to entrenched data biases, historical exclusions still echo in modern algorithms. The urgency is clear—without proactive interventions, AI will perpetuate existing inequities. Stratyfy aims to reverse that trend by building fairness directly into their AI models.

Trends in AI and Finance

While generative AI garners attention, Laura sees traditional machine learning as the true workhorse for banks today. Proven, scalable, and increasingly integrated, ML is poised to accelerate across financial services—especially as institutions seek practical applications with tangible ROI.

Data Transparency and Trust

Consumers are understandably cautious about sharing personal data. Laura believes financial institutions must earn trust through transparency—clearly communicating how data will be used and demonstrating real benefits in return.

Smarter Lending for Broader Access

Credit decisioning is set to evolve along two paths: some banks will stick with the status quo, while others will seize the opportunity to serve underbanked communities. Stratyfy is helping the latter group leverage AI to expand access without compromising profitability.

Strategic Adoption of AI

Adoption hinges on mindset. Leadership must champion innovation, empower teams to experiment, and invest in AI literacy. Laura notes that winning banks will embed AI into core operations—much like the evolution of cloud technology—rather than isolating it in separate departments.

What’s Ahead for Stratyfy

Stratyfy is at the forefront of change with initiatives like its 18-month partnership with Underwriting for Racial Justice, now showing promising results. New collaborations with a major core provider and a large bank are also in the pipeline, focusing on LOS integration and fair lending compliance.