#238: How a 700-Person Bank Is Using AI to Build Apps, Agents, and Digital Employees

A smaller bank replaced a $375,000 software contract by building its own tool, and now runs named "digital employees" that answer tickets, review its websites, and message staff in Teams. This is what an AI transformation actually looks like inside a regulated institution.

CTO John Kowal joins Mike Kaput to unpack Peapack Private Bank and Trust's journey since 2023: flipping build-vs-buy, giving every AI agent a name and personality, building a network of 29 AI champions, and the guardrails that keep AI in check in banking. Part of the AI Transformations series, presented by Google Cloud.

Show Notes: Access the show notes and show links here

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Intro

00:06:02—  What PPAC Private Bank and Trust does

00:07:41 — How the AI transformation started

00:10:24 — What's driving PPAC from chat to agents

00:12:09 — Concrete examples of AI changing daily work

00:16:23 — Re-engineering workflows, not just layering on tech

00:17:25 — The technology stack powering the work

00:19:24 — The data warehouse foundation and OpenAI + Microsoft ecosystem