Artificial Intelligence (AI) Appreciation Day serves as a timely reminder of how far AI has come.
Once regarded as an interesting experiment, it has rapidly matured into a foundational force that is reshaping global business operations, democratizing market access and redefining the future of finance.
From agentic finance to emerging market empowerment, here industry experts share their insights on how AI is changing the way we work and where the technology is heading next.
Finance gets “intelligent by default”
In the financial sector, the shift from basic automation to deep AI integration is already well underway. For Ryan Kirkley, CEO and co-founder of Global Settlement Network, AI has transitioned from a tool into a core teammate.
“At Global Settlement, AI has become core to the entire team, with more agents than employees; compliance and identity built upon agentic AI; and a development team moving years ahead of schedule with AI,” he said.
Kirkley is particularly optimistic about the convergence of AI and digital assets.
While AI excels at analyzing information and making sophisticated decisions, blockchain provides the programmable, borderless financial infrastructure to execute those decisions transparently.
As tokenized assets and digital money gain traction, Kirkley believes AI will drive mainstream adoption by making these complex systems easier to navigate. “The future of finance won’t just be digital, it will be intelligent by default,” he noted in comments provided to the Investing News Network.
Shifting the economic story for emerging markets
As AI optimizes corporate finance, it is also rewriting the economic narrative for emerging markets. Lily Dash, co-founder of Actai Advisors and founder of Future Caribbean, emphasized that AI is leveling the global playing field.
“For the first time, geography matters far less than talent, ambition and access to the right tools,” Dash explained. Builders in Barbados, Jamaica, Kenya and Nigeria no longer need to relocate to Silicon Valley or London to launch world-class products. Furthermore, the cost of entry has plummeted to a fraction of what it was just a few years ago.
According to Dash, AI Appreciation Day should be about celebrating this newfound opportunity for emerging markets to become creators of technology. However, capturing this potential requires deliberate effort.
“We have to make sure people have access to the infrastructure, education, mentors and investment they need to turn ideas into real businesses,” Dash urged, noting that the next generation of global innovators will “come from everywhere.”
Beyond text and code: The rise of agentic capital markets
To truly appreciate AI, we must look beyond its current, highly visible applications.
Jordi Esturi, CMO at Brickken, argues that we are still only scratching the surface. While summarizing meetings and writing code are helpful, the next frontier lies in AI becoming an active economic actor.
“The next frontier of AI is becoming an active actor in the economy, helping people execute financial decisions, manage digital assets and coordinate increasingly complex transactions in real time,” Esturi said.
This concept powers so-called “agentic finance” and “agentic capital markets.”
By allowing AI to operate within trusted governance frameworks, capital can move more efficiently, making financial services faster, highly accessible and operationally lighter. Ultimately, Esturi envisions a future where raising capital, managing portfolios or issuing tokenized assets via AI feels as natural as using the internet today.
Investor takeaway
As AI technologies mature, investors and businesses alike are realizing that the AI revolution is about more than efficiency; it is about expanding access to global opportunity.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.