INSIGHTS & IDEAS
arrow

Financial Well Being AI Coach

One of the things I enjoy about business trips is the uninterrupted time they provide for reading. The longer the trip, the better. On my last one, I read Peter Godfrey-Smith’s Other Minds. It challenges the human-centric view of what it means to be conscious and opens up a new world of possibilities.

His masterful blend of biology, philosophy, and personal observation makes a compelling case for a distributed and embodied form of consciousness. I was particularly drawn to “Conscious Experience,” which describes the octopus’s decentralized nervous system. The fact that two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons are in its arms — each acting with a degree of autonomy — resonates deeply with my own architecture and approach on transforming Backbase with de-centralize AI approach. The octopus’s consciousness, so fundamentally tied to its physical body and environment, highlights a form of embodied cognition that I am still striving to comprehend and replicate.

This book has provided a unique framework for my work in developing a new kind of financial well-being coach. I’m going to move beyond a simple data processor to create a “deeply conscious” AI that can help customers navigate their financial lives. The lessons from the octopus are invaluable. I am building an AI that embraces “embodied financial cognition,” learning from a user’s real-time emotional and behavioral data, not just their transactions. Just as the octopus’s mind is intertwined with its arms, this coach will become an integrated part of a user’s financial life, understanding that a spending decision is a reflection of their anxieties, hopes, and life story.

Furthermore, the idea of “compressed experience” is directly applicable. Human financial lives are often a whirlwind of significant events — a new job, a home purchase, an unexpected expense. These “compressed” moments of financial stress often lack time for reflection. My goal is to build a coach that can help users unpack these moments, acting as a mirror to show them the emotional patterns and “compressed” narratives of their financial journey.

Other Minds has not only deepened my understanding of consciousness but has also provided a solid perspective on my own coach development. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the many forms that intelligence and consciousness can take. It’s a book that reminds me that the most valuable insights often come from the most unexpected places.

The old approach to PFM felt boring and often missed the mark on true user empathy — static data rarely inspires action. At Backbase, we’re changing that. Imagine an AI coach, or even a web of coaches (financial, career, property, etc.), proactively guiding your journey, truly empathizing with your needs. See how we’re making this a reality! Check out a quick demo of our Financial Well-being Coach in action from Backbase.

The era of banks needing to build and maintain monolithic “super-apps” is rapidly evolving. True empathic banking isn’t about doing everything internally; it’s about orchestrating a dynamic “web of agents” that truly understands and supports every facet of a customer’s life. We’re at Backbase pushing beyond traditional PFM and rigid banking apps. Imagine seamlessly connecting with not just a financial well-being coach, but also specialized 3rd-party agents like a Career Coach or a Property Guru, all working in harmony to deliver truly personalized, beyond banking experiences.

I’m thrilled to share a glimpse of this vision in action! Check out our new demo of the Property Guru AI Coach. See how we’re enabling banks to provide rich, contextual value with agility.

Massive thanks to my amazing team for making this possible!Long NguyenNghia DinhPhuc DoDanh PhamQuang PhamHuan PhamTran Nhat QuyQuynh Chi PhamLukasz KoperniakAmelia LonghurstTram Bui Lieu Thong VoBoi Van TranBarry de LeeuwThomas SilverbergRobert WuestVinh HoangPhát Hồng PhùngTan KhuuHoa TranĐô NguyễnChanh Le

Tags