December 8, 2025

How to Monetize AI While Building Trust

Three senior FI leaders weigh in on the emerging role of Cognitive Banking 

By Emily Darracott, Regional Customer Success Manager, Personetics 

At Money 20/20, I had the privilege of moderating a panel with three exceptional women who are defining what banking looks like in an AI-driven world: Sherry Graziano, EVP, Head of Digital, Client Experience & Marketing at Truist, Janel Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer of Avidia Bank, and Katie Webb, Chief Digital & Experience Officer at Synovus. 

We focused on how banks can monetize AI while strengthening customer trust. At the heart of our discussion was Cognitive Banking,where enriched data, intelligence, and empathy converge to create meaningful everyday financial experiences. What emerged from this session was a clear blueprint for financial institutions to leverage advanced technology and tools so they can create more value and achieve primacy. 

Competing on Personalization and Experience 

Customers today benchmark their banking experience against the apps offering them the smoothest, smartest interaction. Think Spotify, Amazon, Uber. That means financial organizations must deliver digital journeys that feel both personal and intuitive. 

For a community bank like Avidia, ($2.8 billion in assets), the stakes are particularly high. Historically, their differentiation has been the human connection. Now that same familiarity must also exist in the digital realm, as Janel touched on when she said “people expect to be known by name when they walk into a branch. We wanted that same personalized experience digitally.” 

This fast-paced digital shift is just as crucial, and more complex, for larger banks operating at scale. A super-regional bank like Truist ($544 billion in assets), for example, must ensure consistent personalization across multiple channels, not just via its mobile app or branch, according to Sherry: “we’re unlocking data and insights to be digitally empowered but deeply relational, connecting every channel to deliver a seamless, personalized, and empowered experience,” she said. “We’ve delivered over a billion insights since going live with Truist insights, helping clients prepare, plan, and act with financial confidence.” 

For Synovus, another large U.S. bank (over $61B in assets), digital transformation goes well beyond capability to enhance customer experience. “Digital used to be transactional,” Katie said. “Now it’s about empathy, connection, and trust: technology that reflects the personality of your brand.” 

Financial Wellness Is Now a Business Driver 

A core theme across the panel was that financial wellness is no longer separate from business strategy. It is business strategy. 

Customers today expect their banks not just to hold their money; they’re looking for a financial adviser to help them manage it proactively. When banks manage these relationships the right way, with the right technology, customer loyalty grows, as does the balance sheet. 

Traditional budgeting tools, for example, aren’t sufficient. According to Katie, customers don’t want to dig through dashboards or calculate their own cash flow to improve their financial position. “Don’t make me figure it out. You’re the bank. Tell me what to do next.” 

For Avidia, tools that nudge customers to save their money not only benefit households, but also fuel low-cost deposits for the bank. “Encouraging people to save through Personetics isn’t just helping customers,” Janel said. “It’s helping the bank with low-cost deposits. It’s a win-win.” 

As customer expectations evolve, so does the role of financial wellness, Sherry added. “Financial wellness isn’t just about education. It’s about empowering clients through small, everyday actions that build confidence.” 

That’s what Cognitive Banking enables, taking complex financial patterns and turning them into simple, human actions that customers can use. 

Overcoming the Primacy Challenge: The Banks’ Perspective 

With money now freely flowing through digital payment services, digital wallets, and payroll apps, the traditional checking account is no longer the primary financial lifeline for customers. That’s why primacy, the goal of becoming a customer’s main financial institution, has become harder for banks to achieve. 

According to Katie, banks first need to prove “why” they should be the customer’s primary partner before making it easy to switch. And that “why” comes from leveraging the right AI capabilities and tools to gain insights, guidance, and relevance. 

Given that 65% of Truist’s new-to-bank clients are millennials and Gen Zers, Sherry highlighted the importance of considering every interaction of a client that’s entering the digital servicing channel. “We’re looking at the entire relationship to see what else we can do in that flow to really think about how you drive primacy early and often at account opening.” 

What Does Success Look Like? 

Another message resonating during the session was that delivering insights is only a precursor to results: Action is the true barometer for success. 

“Our customers get notifications if a large transaction hits from a new merchant or if they double pay, and they’re very happy we let them know,” Janel said in pointing out a typical insight. 

For Katie, success comes when the customer acts in accordance with the banks’ suggestions. 

“Success is action; when customers do what we recommend” she says. That’s when you know you’re providing real value.” 

In other words, it’s about conversions. Other examples could be when a customer moves money to savings when the bank sends an insight advising them that they have some spare cash. Or, taking up a short-term loan offer that appeared on an insight predicting an upcoming overdraft, based on the customer’s past, and upcoming financial activity. 

These are the proof points that a Cognitive Banking strategy is working. And those moments are where trust is built. 

So, What Does the Future Hold? 

Cognitive Banking isn’t about adding features. It’s about reshaping how customers experience money. The institutions that will thrive won’t be the ones offering the most products, but those that anticipate customer needs, guide them with meaningful, contextual actions, and build trust through every interaction. 

Monetizing AI and building trust don’t conflict. They reinforce each other. As Katie put it, “AI will let us connect with customers in ways we’ve never been able to before, but trust will determine who wins.” 

And when banks deliver real value first, customers reward them with engagement, conversions, and loyalty; another step toward primacy. 

To learn more, download our new report: Primacy in Practice: How Banks Can Capture Share of Wallet with AI.