Plaid CEO Zach Perret sat down with Lydia Moynihan to dish on how his fintech unicorn went from a modest budgeting app to the digital plumbing behind apps like Venmo and Robinhood. Perret insists Plaid is on a mission to democratize financial access—while spending serious time in D.C. convincing lawmakers that "data connectivity" isn’t just nerd-speak. He touts privacy and trust as core to the company’s DNA, even sending users email nudges to confirm activity. Oh, and if you’re an engineer at Plaid? Congrats—you're now also an AI expert, whether you like it or not. #plaid #zachperret #fintech