Access Without Understanding Is Not Opportunity.
By Jennifer Spaziano, SVP of Operations & Innovation, Ascendus
The conversation around small business finance is shifting quickly.
At The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability — a forum hosted by the Aspen Institute’s Business Ownership Initiative and the Responsible Business Lending Coalition — that much was clear. Policymakers, lenders, technologists, advocates, and small business owners gathered to wrestle with some of the most pressing questions in our field. A few of the themes that stuck with me.
The infrastructure hasn’t caught up.
Much of the lending infrastructure we rely on today is still built for a different era. Replatforming remains one of the biggest barriers to innovation. Before lenders can take full advantage of what technology makes possible, many need to address the foundational systems underneath. That work is unglamorous, but it is essential.
AI can reduce friction — if we let it.
AI can dramatically reduce manual work in lending — from document collection and intake to underwriting support and customer service. The opportunity is real. But the impact of that efficiency depends entirely on how it’s applied. Speed without accuracy doesn’t serve small business owners. Automation without accountability doesn’t either.
Better decisions require better data.
Clean, categorized financial data — invoices, revenue, transactions — can unlock more accurate cash-flow-based lending. For the entrepreneurs we serve at Ascendus, cash flow is the story of their business. A lending system that can actually read that story is one that can make better, fairer decisions.
Speed matters — but so does alignment.
Technology can help lenders make faster, more transparent decisions. That matters. Small business owners face real urgency — payroll, inventory, opportunity. But speed only creates value when it aligns with what entrepreneurs actually need. A fast decision on the wrong product is not progress.
Access without understanding is not opportunity.
This was perhaps the most important theme of the day, and it is one that sits at the heart of how we work at Ascendus. Capital alone does not transform a business. The entrepreneurs we serve need to understand the tools available to them — the terms, the tradeoffs, the implications. That is what financial education makes possible. That is what the integration of lending and learning is designed to do.
As we build the next generation of lending systems, the goal shouldn’t simply be faster technology. It should be better outcomes for small business owners.
Grateful for the thoughtful dialogue and cross-sector collaboration pushing this work forward.
What this means for Ascendus.
The conversation at the Aspen Institute reinforced what we are already building toward. Ascendus has launched a new Loan Operating System (LOS) with artificial intelligence integrated at its core — designed to reduce manual work, improve decisioning, and create a faster, more transparent experience for both our team and the entrepreneurs we serve.
At the same time, we are forming an AI Committee, led by the Operations & Innovation team and drawing on key participants from across the organization. Its purpose is to ensure that as we adopt and expand AI capabilities, we do so with the same intentionality that guides everything we do: putting the needs of small business owners first, and measuring success by outcomes, not just efficiency.
The forum made clear that the field is moving quickly. We intend to move with it — responsibly, purposefully, and always in service of financial ascension for all.
This Way Up.
Jennifer Spaziano is the Senior Vice President of Operations & Innovation at Ascendus. She attended The New Era of Small Business Finance: Access, AI, and Accountability, hosted by the Aspen Institute’s Business Ownership Initiative and the Responsible Business Lending Coalition on March 5, 2026.
Learn more about Ascendus’s lending products and financial education programs at ascendus.org.
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Media Contact — Ascendus
Gustavo Banchero
Director of Communications · Ascendus
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