Aug 17, 2026

Inside Stripe's AI Strategy with Will Gaybrick

Stripe's President of Product & Business, Will Gaybrick, discusses how AI is transforming Stripe from a payments company into a multi-product financial infrastructure platform. He highlights AI's role in boosting product development velocity through internal tools like "Stripe Minions," which generate thousands of pull requests weekly, enabling a "build everything" philosophy rather than cost-cutting. The conversation also explores the future of "agentic commerce," the potential return of micropayments enabled by stablecoins, and how Stripe empowers internal "founder-like agency" while maintaining high product quality in an increasingly AI-driven software landscape.

Apr 09, 2026

How AI Agents Will Transform the Financial System with Circle Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire delves into how programmable money and the Arc blockchain will power the emerging AI agentic economy. He explains how stablecoins like USDC offer an internet-native financial infrastructure for micro-transactions and large settlements, addressing the limitations of traditional banking for AI agents. The discussion covers the foundational principles of full-reserve banking, the unique attributes of Arc blockchain for machine-driven economic activity, the tokenization of real-world assets, and a bold vision for AI's potential to drive double-digit GDP growth and foster new on-chain organizational structures within the next decade.

Dec 19, 2025

The History of The Fintech Industry, Explained

a16z's David Haber and Plaid CEO Zach Perret chart the dramatic seasons of fintech, from the explosive VC-fueled boom of 2020-2021 to the deep freeze of 2022 and its current resurgence. They explore the transformative forces reshaping the industry today, including AI's dual role as both a primary tool for sophisticated fraud and the ultimate defense against it. The conversation also covers the rise of embedded finance, the renewed importance of deposits, and how incumbents are finally embracing external software, with Plaid's own journey serving as a microcosm of the industry's evolution.

Sep 23, 2025

Now Is The Best Time To Build In Crypto

A summary of the conversation between YC's Harj Taggar and Base's Jesse Pollak about the 'golden age of crypto,' covering the evolution to Fintech 3.0, the technological and regulatory shifts enabling it, and the key opportunities for founders in stablecoins, tokenization, and the intersection of AI and crypto.