ISITC TALKTIME: Federated Data Unpacked (Part 2)

ISITC TALKTIME: Federated Data Unpacked (Part 2)

Posted on May 26, 2026 by Cathy Wright

TalkTime Podcast: Federated Data Unpacked (Part 2)

Dive into Part Two of ISITC Europe’s podcast federated data unpacked, where Gary Wright and AIRTA Systems CEO Bob Morel push beyond definitions and into the real-world challenges, opportunities, and industry-wide implications of this emerging paradigm.

This episode picks up exactly where Part One left off—unpacking why federated data has become the latest contender in the long-running quest to solve financial services’ most stubborn problem: legacy, siloed, and incompatible data systems. As Gary notes in the podcast, the industry has spent decades cycling through solutions—“middleware… standards… interoperability… data lakes… data meshes”—yet the core issue remains unsolved. Federated data is the newest approach, but is it the breakthrough the industry has been waiting for?

Across this lively and insightful conversation, you’ll hear:

• Why federated data is gaining traction now, and why major institutions see it as a potential competitive advantage
• How AI, DLT, tokenisation, and real-time settlement pressures (like T+1) are converging to reshape data strategy
• Why innovation alone isn’t enough—and how market structure, regulation, and collaboration will determine what actually succeeds
• The tension between legacy systems and future-state architectures, including the risk of leaving behind “a white elephant… an empty room with the light on”
• The global implications of getting this right—from 24/7 markets to borderless capital raising

Bob and Gary also revisit their own history tackling legacy data challenges, offering a rare, grounded perspective on what has changed—and what hasn’t—in the past decade.

If you’re navigating AI adoption, data strategy, regulatory change, or digital transformation in financial services, this episode offers clarity, candour, and a forward-looking view of what’s coming next.

Listen now and stay tuned—federated data is evolving fast, and ISITC Europe will continue to track every development.

Viewing time: 20 mins

Bob Morel is the CEO of AIRTA Systems  (formerly Genbounty), an AI Risk Management platform designed to facilitate market access for AI-driven applications within the European Union. Specializing in the EU AI Act and Enterprise Architecture, Bob helps AI teams classified as manufacturers under new regulations to navigate complex compliance landscapes. Through AIRTA Systems, he delivers end-to-end product risk management, offering services that range from litigation defense and consumer safety to accreditation for CE Marking.

With a robust background in technical leadership, Bob previously served as the Head of Application Security at Centrica and the Application Security Lead at CoinFLEX, where he oversaw secure development lifecycles and ISO 27001 compliance. He is an active contributor to the cybersecurity community as an author for Infosec, creating learning paths on topics such as HTML5 security and the use of ChatGPT for offensive security. His expertise is supported by a B.Sc. in Computer Science, an ongoing MBA in Cybersecurity, and industry certifications including the (ISC)² CISSP, Security+, and SecAI+.