Nashville, you brought the music, the magnetism, and the momentum to Alkami Co:lab 2025! Thanks for the Southern hospitality and cutting-edge innovation. Now, let’s take a step back and recap what the brightest minds in banking and TechFin heard in our Technology track.
At an industry conference centered on collaboration and innovation, it was only fitting to host not just one but two sessions on a topic that touches us all—open banking, giving attendees the opportunity to understand the evolving regulations shaping it, and explore how this technology is reshaping the future of financial services.
This session unpacked the evolution, regulatory framework, and technological impact of open banking—while offering actionable insights for financial institutions preparing for a data-driven future. The panel of product, compliance, technology, and consulting experts shared how open banking is redefining data access, customer control, and innovation in financial services.
Each panelist offered a unique lens on the impact and future of open banking. Deep Varma, Chief Technology Officer at Alkami traced its global origins and emphasized the need for scalable, secure infrastructure and advanced consent management. Dennis Irwin, Chief Compliance Officer at Alkami broke down the U.S. regulatory framework, particularly Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, stressing the importance of consumer data rights and third-party risk management. Jamie Lang, Product Manager at Alkami detailed Alkami’s move from screen scraping to secure FDX APIs, highlighting improved data transparency and performance, while Ashley Thomas, Senior Director of Client Services, CCG Catalyst provided a consultant’s perspective on how financial institutions can treat open banking as a competitive advantage, not just a compliance requirement.
This breakout session explored how Alkami’s Software Development Kit (SDK) empowers financial institutions to extend the digital banking experience with tailored solutions. Through live examples, the panelists shared how SDK customization enabled them to preserve vendor relationships, build highly-specific functionality, and improve customer and member experiences while navigating common implementation hurdles. The session emphasized flexibility, ownership, and innovation as key advantages of extensibility, while also offering a candid look at the challenges and opportunities around developer onboarding, training, and deployments.
In the breakout session Ready, Set, Scale: Shifting Gears to Grow with Speed and Stability, Eakta Pandey, VP, Engineering, Quality Performance at Alkami and Sharilyn Bowen, Senior Director, Technology at Alkami shared how Alkami is evolving its delivery model to drive faster, more reliable outcomes. They highlighted progress made from 2023 to 2024 through improved testing cycles, tool consolidation, and strategic investments in automation and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines. A key focus was the adoption of a shift-left mindset, empowering scrum teams to own more of the development process and reduce bottlenecks. Their insightful session emphasized strong client partnerships and early collaboration as essential ingredients for scalable, high-quality delivery in 2025 and beyond.
In this breakout session, Beyond Code: Transforming the Technology Org with Business-Driven KPIs and Tools, Sharilyn Bowen, Senior Director of Technology at Alkami, shared a behind-the-scenes look at how Alkami runs its tech org like a high-performing business unit. In her breakout session, Sharilyn delivered a powerful message: successful transformation starts with business-driven key performance indicators (KPIs). She emphasized that clear, intentional metrics are the backbone of meaningful change—shaping behavior, driving priorities, and determining success. Sharilyn shared how choosing the right KPIs aligns teams, keeps goals measurable, and ensures every initiative is outcome-focused. She also highlighted the importance of using proven frameworks to bring structure and consistency, helping organizations turn strategic goals into repeatable, scalable results. Attendees walked away with practical insights on how to move beyond vanity metrics and lead transformation with purpose, clarity, and impact.
Jamie Lang, Product Manager at Alkami and Ritesh Mishra, Director, Software Engineering at Alkami led a dynamic and engaging discussion on how Alkami is transforming financial institution integrations through an API-first approach. The session emphasized the growing need for scalable, secure, and seamless data exchange as the financial services industry continues to evolve rapidly. With a focus on real-world applications, both speakers showcased how Alkami’s composable architecture and standardized API solutions are empowering institutions to build modern and personalized banking experiences for their account holders—without the burden of custom development.
In this engaging breakout session, Modernization in Motion: Alkami’s TechFin Transformation Update, Deep Varma, CTO, and Justin Collins, Principal Software Engineer, took the audience on a journey through Alkami’s technology evolution. They shared why modernization is critical to better serve financial institutions and end users—and how it impacts every strategic Alkami TechFin pillar. Using a fun and relatable home renovation analogy, they outlined the “blueprint” for Alkami’s modern platform: a strong foundation, efficient plumbing, resilient electrical systems, and smart, always-on surveillance. Sharing key modernization investments across 2023, 2024, 2025 and beyond, the session highlighted how Alkami is building a strong digital sales and service platform that financial institutions and end users want to call “home”.
In the breakout session Kubernetes Power Moves: How K8s Revolutionizes How We Build and Scale, Mike Merrill and Eric Kraar, Principal Engineers at Alkami, shared how Kubernetes (K8s) has transformed Alkami’s digital banking platform. They walked through the “before and after” of various aspects of Alkami’s infrastructure, showing how K8s has dramatically improved resilience, accelerated development, and enabled effortless scalability. From self-healing and auto-scaling to stronger reliability and faster deployment cycles, this educational session gave attendees a clear view of how Kubernetes empowers us to seamlessly grow alongside and with our clients.
It’s a wrap! Whether you joined us in person, tuned in virtually, or caught up through this blog, thank you for being part of an energizing deep dive into how we’re driving innovation across every pillar of TechFin excellence—Quality, Reliability, Efficiency, Performance, and Scale. We loved connecting with our clients and partners, and we’re already looking ahead to what’s next—starting with our 2025 Alkami Hackathon this summer at the Alkami headquarters! Don’t miss your chance to collaborate directly with Alkami engineers and build on our extensibility platform—spots are limited, so register now!
