In a June 2026 PYMNTS interview, Mercury co-founder and CEO Immad Akhund argued that AI is lowering the cost and time required to turn an idea into a functioning company, and that this is reshaping how founders build. PYMNTS reports that Mercury is developing AI tools to automate financial workflows while keeping final approvals with human reviewers. The piece also notes that fintech-bank partnerships have matured since the 2024 Synapse collapse, and that at sufficient scale, activity tends to move under direct regulatory oversight. Akhund frames a broader shift toward software- and API-first banking built for programmatic, developer-led businesses. Independent reporting in the same period, including CNBC, documents related commentary from Akhund on how AI is compressing the path from idea to company. This is CEO commentary on an industry trend rather than a product or regulatory development.
