FinTech Focus TV – Powered by Harrington Starr

AI Can Build Trading Software, But There's a Catch | Buy AND Build Conference 2026

2026-11-02

Can AI really build production-ready trading software, or is there more to capital markets technology than writing code?

AI coding agents are changing how financial institutions approach software development, making it faster to build prototypes and raising new questions about whether firms should buy technology, build it internally or combine both approaches.

But in capital markets, building software is only part of the challenge. Security, governance, data quality, resilience and regulatory requirements all play a crucial role in turning an idea into a reliable, enterprise-grade solution.

In this special episode of FinTech Focus TV, Harrington Starr's Ian Bailey joins Steve Grob, Nicolas Hourcard, Anvar Karimson, Niketita Postlethwaite-Williams, Nigel Someck and Usman Khan at A-Team's Buy AND Build: The Future of Capital Markets Technology conference in London.

Through a series of conversations with capital markets technology experts, Ian explores how AI is reshaping the traditional buy vs build debate and what this means for financial institutions, FinTech vendors and trading technology teams.

The discussions cover:

- AI coding agents and software development: Why building prototypes is becoming easier, but deploying production-ready trading systems remains challenging.

- Buy AND build in capital markets: How firms are combining specialist vendor solutions with internal development.

- AI governance and cybersecurity: The importance of maintaining control over data, AI models and automated workflows.

- Trading technology infrastructure: How open-source tools, real-time market data and AI-ready platforms are influencing technology decisions.

- The future of AI in trading: What increasingly autonomous workflows could mean for trading desks, technology teams and human oversight.

As AI development tools become more accessible, the question is no longer simply what financial institutions can build, but what they should build themselves.

FinTech Focus TV is powered by Harrington Starr, global leaders in Financial Tech Recruitment. For more episodes or FinTech recruitment advice, please visit our website: www.harringtonstarr.com

No. of episodes

599

Latest episode

2026-11-02

Where can you listen?

FinTech Focus TV is hosted by Harrington Starr’s CEO, Toby Babb. This celebrated podcast invites the industry’s foremost thought leaders to share their role in driving innovation, growth, and technological change. From the merge of TradFi and DeFi, to the current state of FinTech investment opportunities, FinTech Focus TV places the spotlight on the most pressing marketplace conversations.

We are always looking for people from across the industry to join us on FinTech Focus TV? Keen to get involved? Or know someone ideal for the show?

Get in touch: [email protected]