Blab AI
BNY Mellons INSITE26 Conference Highlights AI, Digital Assets, and the Future of Custody
The 2026 BNY Investments annual conference, INSITE26, unfolded in Denver, Colorado, drawing more than 1,100 attendees—including 25 % from Latin America and the U.S. offshore markets—who listened to CEO Robin Vince lay out the bank’s roadmap for thriving amid economic turbulence and rapid tech evolution.
Vince framed the current landscape as a cocktail of geopolitical conflict, high debt, commodity swings, record equity levels, and inflation uncertainty, adding that digital assets and artificial intelligence are running parallel to these macro‑factors. He emphasized that BNY, which safeguards $60 trillion in assets and settles $30 trillion in Treasury securities daily, is moving beyond a traditional custodian model to become a partner that can drive multiple transformations at once.
A cornerstone of that shift is distributed ledger technology (DLT). Vince said BNY is “moving from the classic ledger to something much more multifaceted,” but cautioned that universal tokenization is not imminent. He framed the change as a generational evolution of five to ten years, slower than the pace of AI.
The bank’s early foray into digital‑asset custody is highlighted by its first native Bitcoin custody service, stable‑coin offerings, and tokenized deposits and securities. “Someone has to bring all the threads back together. That’s our job,” Vince said, underscoring BNY’s role as a bridge between legacy and digital finance.
AI is a central pillar of the bank’s strategy. In the weeks after OpenAI’s ChatGPT launch, BNY invested in an internal multi‑agent platform called Eliza, named after Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the wife of the bank’s founder. Eliza connects to major models on the market and operates on three levels: individual productivity for nearly 50,000 employees, automation of complex operational processes, and AI solutions offered directly to clients.
Vince explained that the platform is designed to build the “right” AI for each user, rather than requiring customers to develop their own. He warned that advanced agents can develop “a bit of a mind of their own” and that handing full control of assets to an agent is not realistic at present.
When asked whether AI could replace human advisors, Vince rejected a comparison with robo‑advisors. He said that good advice, good technology, and the human relationships that build trust must converge. “Will you trust AI in the same way you trust the person who has been looking after your wealth for years and knows your family?” he asked. He added that AI will “give us superpowers to provide smarter advice and make things seem effortless because AI is working behind the scenes.”
The conference also featured client perspectives. Rocío Harb, Branch Manager at IPG in Miami, said she has attended INSITE for more than twenty years and that Pershing is the largest custodian for offshore clients. Sebastián Ballester Molina, Partner at Insigneo, noted Pershing’s evolution into a technology leader, while Ariel Kay, Managing Partner at Safebay Capital Partners, highlighted its integration of technologies and services.
Carlos Martín, CEO of Bci Securities, explained how the bank’s architecture supports new business opportunities, such as scaling separately managed accounts (SMAs) through the Canvas platform and exploring local custody services in Chile and Peru. José Andrés Martínez, Global Wealth Advisor at BBVA in the United States, described Pershing BNY Mellon as the bank that holds clients’ assets in custody, with PAS providing the broker‑dealer platform for trade execution.
BNY’s annual technology investment of $4 billion supports these initiatives. In addition, the bank has partnered with Google Cloud to enhance Eliza, integrating Gemini Enterprise and expanding the platform’s capabilities.
The INSITE26 conference underscored BNY Mellon’s commitment to blending legacy custody services with cutting‑edge AI and digital‑asset solutions, positioning the bank as a key partner for clients navigating the evolving financial landscape.
Vince framed the current landscape as a cocktail of geopolitical conflict, high debt, commodity swings, record equity levels, and inflation uncertainty, adding that digital assets and artificial intelligence are running parallel to these macro‑factors. He emphasized that BNY, which safeguards $60 trillion in assets and settles $30 trillion in Treasury securities daily, is moving beyond a traditional custodian model to become a partner that can drive multiple transformations at once.
A cornerstone of that shift is distributed ledger technology (DLT). Vince said BNY is “moving from the classic ledger to something much more multifaceted,” but cautioned that universal tokenization is not imminent. He framed the change as a generational evolution of five to ten years, slower than the pace of AI.
The bank’s early foray into digital‑asset custody is highlighted by its first native Bitcoin custody service, stable‑coin offerings, and tokenized deposits and securities. “Someone has to bring all the threads back together. That’s our job,” Vince said, underscoring BNY’s role as a bridge between legacy and digital finance.
AI is a central pillar of the bank’s strategy. In the weeks after OpenAI’s ChatGPT launch, BNY invested in an internal multi‑agent platform called Eliza, named after Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the wife of the bank’s founder. Eliza connects to major models on the market and operates on three levels: individual productivity for nearly 50,000 employees, automation of complex operational processes, and AI solutions offered directly to clients.
Vince explained that the platform is designed to build the “right” AI for each user, rather than requiring customers to develop their own. He warned that advanced agents can develop “a bit of a mind of their own” and that handing full control of assets to an agent is not realistic at present.
When asked whether AI could replace human advisors, Vince rejected a comparison with robo‑advisors. He said that good advice, good technology, and the human relationships that build trust must converge. “Will you trust AI in the same way you trust the person who has been looking after your wealth for years and knows your family?” he asked. He added that AI will “give us superpowers to provide smarter advice and make things seem effortless because AI is working behind the scenes.”
The conference also featured client perspectives. Rocío Harb, Branch Manager at IPG in Miami, said she has attended INSITE for more than twenty years and that Pershing is the largest custodian for offshore clients. Sebastián Ballester Molina, Partner at Insigneo, noted Pershing’s evolution into a technology leader, while Ariel Kay, Managing Partner at Safebay Capital Partners, highlighted its integration of technologies and services.
Carlos Martín, CEO of Bci Securities, explained how the bank’s architecture supports new business opportunities, such as scaling separately managed accounts (SMAs) through the Canvas platform and exploring local custody services in Chile and Peru. José Andrés Martínez, Global Wealth Advisor at BBVA in the United States, described Pershing BNY Mellon as the bank that holds clients’ assets in custody, with PAS providing the broker‑dealer platform for trade execution.
BNY’s annual technology investment of $4 billion supports these initiatives. In addition, the bank has partnered with Google Cloud to enhance Eliza, integrating Gemini Enterprise and expanding the platform’s capabilities.
The INSITE26 conference underscored BNY Mellon’s commitment to blending legacy custody services with cutting‑edge AI and digital‑asset solutions, positioning the bank as a key partner for clients navigating the evolving financial landscape.
