Experian Innovation Lab Celebrates 15 Years of Transforming Industries

As the AI-enabled speed of data analytics and model development continues to accelerate across financial services, financial institutions face a growing challenge: keeping regulatory documentation aligned with rapid model innovation. Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management was built to address this challenge, and we’re proud it has been named a 2026 BIG Innovation Award winner in the Innovative Products category. The BIG Innovation Awards recognize organizations that deliver exceptional innovation and measurable value to customers and stakeholders. This recognition underscores the impact our AI-powered solution is having in helping financial institutions modernize model risk management in today’s AI-driven environment. Accelerating model validation and reducing regulatory risk Fully integrated into the Experian Ascend Platform™ and powered by ValidMind technology, Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management helps accelerate model validation, improve auditability and reduce regulatory risk. By offering standardized templates, centralized documentation and streamlined workflow approvals, the solution supports regulatory alignment while enabling faster, more consistent model development. As AI-driven models evolve at unprecedented speed, regulatory expectations continue to require thorough, explainable and auditable documentation. Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management addresses this labor- and resource-intensive requirement through end-to-end model documentation automation, helping institutions maintain accountability without slowing innovation. Addressing a growing industry challenge According to a 2025 Experian study of more than 500 global financial institutions, 67% struggle to meet regulatory requirements, 79% report more frequent supervisory communications, and 60% still rely entirely on manual compliance processes. More than 70% of larger institutions say model documentation compliance involves over 50 people. Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management helps solve this challenge by modernizing model documentation and governance practices across the credit and risk lifecycle. The 2026 BIG Innovation Award reinforces Experian’s role as a trusted partner, helping financial institutions confidently adopt AI while improving transparency, auditability and regulatory alignment. Learn more about Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management here.  

Chief Innovation Officer, Kathleen Peters recently spoke on an “AI at Velocity: Securing the Agentic Enterprise” panel at Fortune Brainstorm AI, exploring strategies for designing, deploying, and securing agents to ensure observability and control from day one.  The panel covered a core theme that underscores how to accelerate enterprise adoption of AI agents: promoting trust. The discussion explored different dimensions of trust in AI agents, all of which speak to strengths of Experian. First, Kathleen cited the critical need to know the intent behind an agent, verifying whether it is acting on behalf of a human, another agent, or a bad actor. Also, understanding the permissions that the agent has been given is very important. Here, Experian’s identify protection and fraud prevention solutions play a key role.   Second, trust is built through policy guardrails that enterprises put in place that provide a framework for its network operations across the governance, orchestration, and execution layers. Ensuring proper security of agentic processes becomes the top priority for businesses and consumers who engage with the enterprise. This security is especially important in highly regulated industries, such as financial services and healthcare.  These policy guardrails will serve two purposes: differentiate a brand’s customer experience and eventually become the foundation for industry-wide regulatory standards. These guardrails need to be enforced by a policy engine that should have the capability to remediate or reverse the action of an AI agent if its actions violate any policy.  Experian Ascend Platform’s feature set includes this kind of governance and orchestration of agentic-AI processes to ensure the highest standards of data privacy and protection, and keep our customers safe and secure.  The panel closed with a look-ahead to 2026 and beyond. Kathleen emphasized that agents will quickly move beyond automation of human tasks into new areas where they will “talk” to each other and even spawn new agents. In this fast-evolving landscape, building trust through enterprise policy and proper orchestration and governance of AI agents will separate the market winners from the rest.  Watch the virtual event here.

I recently had the opportunity to attend Money20/20 in Las Vegas, where one theme dominated nearly every conversation: artificial intelligence is reshaping financial services. But amid all the excitement around algorithms and technology, the data that powers it all often gets overlooked. AI is only as effective and trustworthy as the data behind it. For financial institutions, high-quality, differentiated data determines how confidently they can assess creditworthiness, detect anomalies, and manage risk. Ultimately, it’s data that allows lenders to innovate responsibly, personalize experiences, and deliver better outcomes for consumers. At Experian, we see measurable impact when institutions strengthen their data foundations. Our clients are making faster lending decisions, reducing default rates, and expanding access to credit through responsible, data-driven innovation. Turning Better Data Into Better Decisions Experian’s industry-leading core credit data, alternative credit data, cash flow insights, and more gives lenders a more holistic view of financial health. These differentiated data assets, combined with our history or continuous innovation, enable AI systems that are more transparent, explainable, and fair. On example of this is our Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management, a new AI-powered capability that automates the most complex and time-intensive areas of compliance. This solution continuously analyzes model documentation, detects model drift, and recommends corrective actions in real time. Ultimately, this is transforming compliance from a barrier to a driver of ROI and innovation that benefits consumers and businesses. Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Compliance While at Money20/20, I had the opportunity to share more about how we are leveraging differentiated data and technology to help make room for innovation during an interview with Fintech Futures. Reporter Tyler Pathe and I discussed the fact that many institutions still rely on manual processes for compliance — with some involving up to 50 people just to document and validate models. That level of inefficiency slows progress and increases operational risk. Through automation and AI, and differentiated data at our foundation, we are changing this narrative and helping our clients move faster and innovate with confidence. You can tune into my full interview with Fintech Futures below.