FinovateFall Best of Show winner Vertice AI on bridging the gap between goals and execution and their experience as back-to-back Best of Show winners.

In this episode of the Finovate podcast, host Greg Palmer sits down with Mitch Rutledge (CEO) and Tyler Brantley (Head of Sales and Partnerships) from Vertice AI to discuss their second consecutive Best of Show win at FinovateFall.

The conversation explores how Vertice has evolved from their 2025 debut to their 2026 presentation, showcasing their new solution, Vertice Optimize. This innovative platform empowers community financial institutions and credit unions to leverage their account holder data through AI-driven growth and personalization strategies, bringing Amazon and Netflix-level intelligence to smaller financial institutions competing against mega banks.

The discussion delves into the key learnings Vertice gained over the past year, particularly the growing appetite among financial institutions to embrace AI in tangible, actionable ways. Mitch and Tyler explain how they transformed market feedback into Vertice Optimize, a solution that bridges the gap between strategic goals and execution. The platform uses constraint-based optimization to help institutions—from $200 million credit unions to $5 billion community banks—turn their growth objectives into personalized campaigns and actionable plans at scale. They emphasize how their approach democratizes access to data science capabilities, enabling even one-person marketing teams to achieve meaningful outcomes without getting lost in technical complexity.

The conversation also provides valuable insights into the preparation required for a successful Finovate demo, with both guests sharing their rigorous practice routine of daily hour-long sessions for weeks leading up to the event. They stress the importance of seeking outside feedback, being open to iteration, and finding the balance between showcasing technology and maintaining clarity for the audience. The episode concludes with their wishes for the industry's future, including eliminating the resurgence of cumbersome RFP processes and providing board members and senior leadership with foundational AI education to overcome fear and uncertainty, enabling faster innovation adoption across community financial institutions.

More info:

Vertice AI: https://verticeanalytics.ai ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/verticeai/

Mitch Rutledge: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchrutledge/

Tyler Brantley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerbrantley/

Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/

Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/

FinovateFall: https://informaconnect.com/finovatefall/

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