Business Leaders Ponder AI at 25th Banking and Finance Symposium

While technology was a theme, speakers stressed the importance of relationships and that trust and human judgment remain irreplaceable.

Chancellor Glenn Boyce told attendees in his keynote address that nurturing trust is a critical factor, whether one works for a financial institution or in higher education.

“The first time they lose trust in you, I’m sorry, you don’t get a second time,” he said. “You just don’t get a second time. That’s how important it is.”

Boyce identified critical thinking as one of the most important skills students must retain, even as the university incorporates AI into its courses. The goal is to teach students not to become overly reliant on technology to provide answers or to simply change the parameters until we get something we like, he said.

“We can’t lose our creativity and our ability to make decisions,” Boyce said. “That can’t be the way we move forward in the future. Even though there are people who will tell you that is the only way we are going to move forward in the future, I see it as a threat to mankind.”

One of the university’s greatest strengths is that it prepares students with human skills that technology cannot replace, said Rich Gentry, dean of the School of Business Administration.

“I think one of the things that differentiates the University of Mississippi from many other institutions is the focus here on relationships,” he said. “At the university, we need to pair that with some technical skills, some job training, so at the business school a big focus for us going forward is going to be to some degree where we can lean into those social skills.”

AI has moved swiftly from the discussion phase to implementation in the banking industry in just 24 months, said Stan Viner, president of the school’s banking and finance board. This demonstrates how important it is for students to learn how to use and coexist with AI.

“To me one of the nice things about AI is that it will allow for the automation of repeatable processes, to free up the people in the bank to think more about strategic priorities,” he said

Phil Buffington, one of the event’s organizers and an attorney at Balch & Bingham LLP who works with banks, said he could see AI also being involved in risk assessment, regulatory guidance and cybersecurity. But businesses should use AI to assist and supplement human decision-making, not replace them, he said.

“You still have to have experienced people that understand the data, that know how to read it and not only decide which way to move, but also if something is presented that does not quite add up, to be knowledgeable enough to go back and adjust it,” Buffington said. “It will help banks operate with greater speed and efficiency to make an impact on the communities they serve.”

The quality of the symposium’s speakers, including a “fireside chat” with Michelle “Miki” Bowman, vice chair for supervision for the Federal Reserve System’s board of governors, and educational panels on technology and regulation is what keeps attendees coming back, said Chuck Nicholson, a 1981 alumnus of the school and former chairman of Community Bank.

“A lot of the meetings that I go to, if I show up and it is just a social event, I don’t go back,” he said. “It has grown a lot in its 25 years and has turned into something that is not only well known regionally, but nationally to some extent.”

This year’s symposium, held Nov. 6 at the Oxford Conference Center, drew 400 attendees, including bankers, regulators, technology providers and students. This is the second consecutive year that organizers had to cut off registration because it maxed out the venue, Viner said.

Attendees came from more than 20 states, and one company sent representatives from London.

“I think this is the best one we have ever had,” Buffington said. “I think over the last several years, that has been our statement. What is amazing to me is that we are not trying to rest on our laurels; we are trying to improve it every year.”

The event also featured 67 sponsors and raised more than $300,000 in sponsorships, a symposium record. Since 2022, the event has raised more than $1 million to support the school.

Students got an opportunity to showcase their skills in the afternoon, with Nicholson; Edward Francis, of InBank of Denver; and Wesley Dickens, the school’s director of career services, bringing together corporate-suite executives with 16 Ole Miss business students hoping to go into banking. The session was a reverse interview, so students had to research good questions to ask the executives, Dickens said.

This personal aspect is one of the most important things the conference offered, Gentry said.

“I was excited that our students also had the chance to interview with a curated group of executives, which connected them with industry and with careers,” he said. “Ole Miss has long focused on connecting students to employers, and this event also connects employers with one another and with the university.

“That is what universities do best: provide common ground and a shared venue.”

Top: Jill Castilla (left), CEO of the Bank of Edmond; Cathy Owen, president and CEO of Eagle Bank and chair of the American Bankers Association; and Michelle Bowman, a member of the Federal Reserve board of governors, discuss issues facing the banking industry during a ‘fireside chat’ at the university’s 25th Banking and Finance Symposium. The event drew 400 participants from 20 states. Photo by Hunt Mercier/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services