AI Isn’t the Risk… Missing the Boat Is

What’s the bigger risk in 2026: adopting AI… or waiting too long? In this episode of the FTF Exchange Podcast, Maureen Lowe sits down with Toby Glacier, Chairman of Finbourne Technology (and a 2025 FTF News Award winner for Best Data Management Solution), to flip the usual AI conversation on its head. Instead of debating whether AI is “too risky,” Toby makes the case that the real risk is falling behind, operationally, financially, and competitively. Drawing on decades of experience leading massive global operations teams (including overseeing thousands of staff at Northern Trust), Toby shares what firms often get wrong about AI adoption, why data preparedness is the true starting line, and how AI agents can actually reduce risk when implemented with the right guardrails. They also get real about what happens when firms “try AI” and feel underwhelmed, what private markets are teaching the industry about automation gaps, and how jobs will change—not vanish—over time. If your team is still stuck in “why we shouldn’t adopt AI,” this one is your push off the dock.