NivoCon 2025: AI Moves From Theory to Action
On 17 July 2025, we were absolutely delighted to host old friends and many new faces at NivoCon 2025 at 22 Bishopsgate, London. With more than 250 leaders from across specialist finance in attendance, this year made one thing clear: AI is now front and centre in financial services.
From curiosity to adoption
The day opened with our Co-founder and CDO Matthew Elliott, who captured the mood perfectly: “AI is complicated, uncertain and scary. But it’s also exciting.”
That spirit of curiosity has already turned into action. Off the back of NivoCon, multiple lenders and brokers have gone live with our AI platform, processing real cases in production within weeks. The appetite for practical, results-driven adoption is here and growing.
We encourage firms to think of AI as they would a new assistant. To get the best out of it, you need to provide the right information, set clear expectations, and let it take on the repetitive admin that slows teams down.
Industry leaders on stage
We were proud to welcome a lineup of pioneering voices:
- United Trust Bank’s Buster Tolfree showed how AI can already handle sales enquiries and triage documents, freeing underwriters for high-value work.
- Jason Oakley of Afin Bank spoke about embedding AI into the core of a bank from day one, augmenting people rather than replacing them.
- Jamie Stewart of Binq shared how AI has enabled him to launch leaner, faster and deliver more consistent customer outcomes.
- In conversation with Nivo, Richard Davies of Allica Bank reminded the audience that there is “no playbook” for AI, and stressed the importance of experimentation, testing use cases, and measuring impact against KPIs.
There was healthy debate too. On our main panel, some argued complexity still needs human oversight, while others said AI can handle it with the right mindset. All agreed that brokers and lenders who use AI will outperform those who do not.
Nivo’s mission: solving the £10bn admin problem
In his keynote, Mat laid out Nivo’s bold roadmap: a universal assistant for brokers and lenders designed to tackle the £10bn admin burden that weighs on the UK financial services industry.
With over 300,000 people tied up in repetitive manual tasks, the opportunity is huge. By partnering early with lenders and brokers, and soon to be launching a freemium, self service model (stay tuned!) Nivo are committed to making AI accessible for firms of every size.
Final word: lessons from Formula 1
Closing the day, Formula 1 strategist Ruth Buscombe drew parallels between racing and finance. Her message was simple: the teams who win are those who act fast on insight, not just collect data. It was a fitting reminder that AI adoption is not about waiting for perfection, but about experimenting, learning and moving quickly.
Conclusion
The collective message from NivoCon 2025 was clear: AI is not a future concept, it is a present reality. Start small, pick a use case, and move quickly.
