SHOWCASING THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS AND OPEN INNOVATION AT BIRMINGHAM TECH WEEK
2025-10-30 12:35:49.0
Birmingham Tech Week has once again demonstrated the power of collaboration to shape the future of finance and technology—for our customers, our colleagues, the start-up and SME community plus the West Midlands as a whole. After another year of exploration and discovery, we’re reflecting on the highlights from an incredible week...
Our Innovation Lab 2025: turning ideas into impact
Last month we kicked off the third series of our Innovation Lab FinTech Incubator Programme, and we were delighted to host our mid-point showcase event during Birmingham Tech Week.
Eight FinTech businesses have been enrolled onto the programme, which was launched in partnership with SuperTech WM and STEAMhouse, each responding to this year’s challenge... How can we use Generative AI to enhance customer communications and insight to drive engagement, understanding and effectiveness?
Since the launch of the programme, the cohort have been attending workshops where they have received mentorship from senior financial service experts and personalised 1:1 support. During the showcase event, this year’s cohort engaged in a series of presentations to demonstrate their progress so far to senior executives and colleagues from BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, as well as various programme leads from SuperTech WM and STEAMhouse.
The innovation ecosystem
In addition to the showcase event, we were delighted to join Hilary Smyth-Allen, CEO of SuperTech WM, for a fireside chat with Patrick Bek, Head of Service Innovation and Experimentation at STEAMhouse, represented by our very own Ricardo Mantovani, Deputy CEO BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK and Andrew Brameld, Chief Commercial Officer BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK.
The panel discussed the importance of providing an anchor for innovation, and how our collaborative ecosystem simultaneously allows for agility in developing ideas and solutions but also provides the stability needed to nurture these ideas and drive progress.
We have big growth ambitions, and a commitment to delivering our high standard of service to customers, so collaboration plays a key part in supercharging our own innovation — enabling us to see different perspectives, access new approaches, expertise and insights.
Ricardo Mantovani, Deputy CEO of BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, commented: “Open innovation gives us a way to see outside of the box, and collaboration pushes the boundaries of what we’re trying to solve, giving us the ability to adapt our thinking and finetune customer solutions.”
Partnerships like our Innovation Lab are not only transforming our business and supporting startups—they’re also fuelling the growth of the West Midlands tech ecosystem and delivering wider economic benefits.”
Driving innovation in the West Midlands and beyond
Hosting our mid-point showcase during Birmingham Tech Week reinforces our commitment to supporting the vibrant West Midlands tech ecosystem. Innovation is a catalyst for growth, which creates many opportunities across the region.
Andrew Brameld, Chief Commercial Officer of BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, commented: “It’s great to see Birmingham Tech Week go from strength to strength, and to continue putting the West Midlands well and truly on the map as a hub for innovation. An event like this allows us to see new technologies and new ideas that will drive not only our business, but the wider financial services industry forwards.
"Providing our customers and partners with the best possible service requires us to keep very close to technological advancements, so I can’t wait to see what the coming months will bring.”
The future of finance and AI
Advancements in AI have transformed the tech industry, and to remain a leader in personal finance, we have to think differently and embrace new ideas that will allow us to deliver better products and services to our own customers and partners. The Innovation Lab programme allows us to identify pain points in our own business and gives us the opportunity to use emerging technologies to solve these issues.
Having a clear business challenge for this year’s programme, a focus on generative AI and customer experience, allows everyone involved to really drive business change.
Across the cohort, solutions are centred around implementing AI to streamline processes and make things easier for our customers. For example, one of the participants has chosen to focus on addressing barriers to communication experienced by neurodivergent customers and evaluating how generative AI videos can resolve these issues to ensure they receive the support they need.
What’s next for our Innovation Lab?
The cohort will continue to collaborate, and develop their solution to this year’s challenge, working towards their final showcase in December.
Want to keep updated with the programme? Follow our LinkedIn page.