Dublin AI start-up Narrative works inside a bank’s own platform and has three pilots landing across European banks this year.
Growing up in a small Irish town in the 20th century, the bank manager held the same social standing as the priest and the doctor. Their word was law on all financial matters, from personal finances to advising businesses, and many actually lived above branches with their families.
Within a generation, thanks to innovations like the internet, smartphone apps and now AI, that quaint world has been consigned to the history books.
“The payback for the bank is that a growing small business, and a more financially comfortable one, is more likely to take out financial products, so its a win-win all round”
“A generation ago a small business had a bank manager who knew the business, and that person was the route to credit and to a view on what to do next. That has now declined for a variety of reasons,” says Michael Dowling, co-founder of Dublin start-up Narrative Banking.
Mind the gap
Into that gap has stepped generic AI. But real insight is the real missing link.
“The owners still need the conversation and the guidance. Increasingly they have it with a general-purpose AI tool, and the borrowing decision follows the guidance, out of the institution’s sight.”
The importance of maintaining an intrinsic link between a lender and its business customers could not be more important today. It is a shift with some real scale behind it. Eurostat counted 32.3 million enterprises in the EU in 2022, 99% of them under 50 staff.
“Small businesses are the employment and economic backbone of the whole EU. They are also at the heart of every local community – sponsoring the hurling teams and keen to keep the community growing,” Finley urges.
Meet Finley
Narrative’s answer is Finley, an AI relationship manager and mentor for small business banking customers that sits inside the bank or lender’s own platform rather than a separate app.
It draws on a customer’s banking and accounting data to do three things, according to Dowling. “It explains what the numbers mean for this business, flagging cash position and cash needs coming up. It produces weekly growth ideas grounded in market, seasonal and local competitor research, any of which can become a tracked project. Third, it acts as a mentor to the small business, answering any questions they have and being a sounding board for working out the right best next steps.
“The payback for the bank is that a growing small business, and a more financially comfortable one, is more likely to take out financial products, so its a win-win all round.”
Narrative has form when it comes to deploying sophisticated AI technology for banks. It has already worked with Bank of Ireland on BenefitsFinder, the Bank’s first customer-facing AI product. The service is designed to strengthen financial resilience by ensuring customers are claiming tax credits and reliefs that they are legitimately entitled to via a short, step-by-step experience that takes only a few minutes to complete and points users towards potential entitlements they may wish to explore further.
“Two things about how it is built. Every insight shows its workings: the source, why this business is seeing it, and how confident the estimate is. We’ve recently spent six months going through the Central Bank of Ireland regulatory sandbox, to perfect the right side of regulation for this approach.”
In this quarter alone, Narrative is currently working on three more pilot projects with three banks across three countries in Europe that will push the envelope on smart use of AI further with the intention of deepening customer relationships while guiding customers on the correct financial decisions to make.
Dublin’s next big fintech
Narrative was founded in 2024 by Dowling and his co-founder Yulia Plaksina, with Chonghuan Wang joining as chief technology officer. Dowling’s background is in AI applied to finance, running international research programmes, while Plaksina built AI performance coaching for financial traders, including what Dowling describes as the first customer-facing generative AI product at a global financial services firm.
The attraction towards supporting small businesses is personal. Both Michael and Yulia come from families where one of the parents ran small businesses, “so this urge to do right by small businesses is deep within our DNA.”
The founders recently graduated from the globally renowned Techstars programme, which Dowling credits with sharpening the company’s entrepreneurial instincts. “It has really helped us build up our entrepreneurial know-how.”
As start-up ecosystems go, Dowling is emphatic that building the business in Dublin was the right choice. “Dublin is amazing. You’re a stone’s throw away from a unicorn, a start-up valued at over €1bn or many other start-ups. There’s no other city in the world with that level of concentration of expertise and it helps you to easily grasp what success looks like.
“We’re hugely lucky with the mentors and advisors we have, also because of this concentration.
“Enterprise Ireland are amazing. When we were in Techstars with nine other startups from seven other countries, they were in awe of the role that Enterprise Ireland plays in kickstarting journeys. We also get brilliant help from their international offices when trying to make business connections in other countries.
“I also need to give special mention to Bank of Ireland. The Bank have been with us from the very beginning of our journey, supporting, giving feedback, and helping us on. We’ve even launched the Bank’s first customer-facing AI product in BenefitsFinder. It’s a really unique posture they have and actually just as critical as formal ecosystems if you are a start-up – that large pillar institutions are there to help you on your journey.”
Be the AI you want to see in the world
When it comes to building its technology, Narrative practices what it builds. “We operate as a fully AI-native company. Everything feeds off, and into AI systems. At the heart is Claude Teams, the AI for the organisation. Here we build out repeatable Skills, so we can learn best practice once and then refine and reuse.
“We only work with software that works well with AI. Our CRM system is Attio, as AI systems love speaking to Attio. Similarly documentation is kept in Notion. We use Superhuman for email. Linear for product development. OpenAI Codex for coding.”
The point of the set-up, Dowling says, is not efficiency for its own sake. “Everything speaks perfectly to each other and that’s how we can build up shared expertise. The system also gives us the time we need to speak to each other and do some proper high level human planning!”
Lessons learnt
Narrative closed a pre-seed funding round over the summer months, which Dowling says is being spent exactly as planned: turning pilots into paid production deployments. “Our seed round will be in early 2027.”
There have been many lessons learnt on the entrepreneurial journey so far, but Dowling emphasises the importance of mentorship. “The biggest learning has been to be open to the expertise of others. Techstars was instrumental in showing the power of mentorship. More locally, we have some amazing Irish mentors. Spotting weaknesses and then working with mentors to fix them is by far the greatest learning, and the greatest joy.”
He also flags the discipline of turning seemingly ad-hoc decisions into systematic thinking.
He wryly notes: “Lastly, and by no means least, is learning not to skim-read legal documents! And having great legal support.”
His advice for other founders centres on protecting time to think ahead. “Try not to just spend the week fire-fighting. Focus a decent part of the week on what will move the firm forward. The more time spent thinking three months ahead rather than three days ahead, the more things will move in the right direction.
“Build hiring expertise. Read Work Rules! by Laszlo Bock. Build a great place to work.
“Your biggest and best ideas come after a good jog or a good break – keep some personal time!”
Image at top: Narrative Banking founders Yulia Plaksina and Michael Dowling
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| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is Narrative? | Narrative is a Dublin-based AI fintech start-up developing tools that help banks build stronger relationships with small business customers. |
| What product has Narrative developed? | Narrative has created Finley, an AI relationship manager and mentor designed for small business banking customers. |
| How does Finley work? | Finley operates within a bank or lender’s existing platform rather than as a standalone app. |
| Who are Narrative’s founders? | Narrative was founded by Michael Dowling and Yulia Plaksina, with Chonghuan Wang serving as Chief Technology Officer. |
| When was Narrative founded? | The company was founded in 2024. |
| What does Finley do for SMEs? | Finley explains business financial data, highlights cash flow needs, generates growth ideas, and acts as an AI mentor for business owners. |
| What data does Finley use? | It draws on customers’ banking and accounting data to provide personalised insights and recommendations. |
| How does Finley support business growth? | It provides weekly growth opportunities based on market trends, seasonality and local competitor research. |
| Why is Finley valuable for banks? | It helps banks deepen customer relationships and can increase adoption of financial products by supporting healthier business growth. |
| How does Narrative address AI transparency? | Every insight includes its source, an explanation of why it is relevant, and a confidence level for the recommendation. |
| What regulatory work has Narrative completed? | The company spent six months in the Central Bank of Ireland regulatory sandbox to ensure compliance and responsible AI deployment. |
| What previous AI project has Narrative delivered? | Narrative worked with Bank of Ireland on BenefitsFinder, the bank’s first customer-facing AI product. |
| What is BenefitsFinder? | BenefitsFinder helps customers identify tax credits and reliefs they may be entitled to through a simple AI-powered experience. |
| What banking partnerships is Narrative pursuing? | The company is working on three pilot projects with banks across three European countries. |
| Who are Narrative’s target customers? | Banks, lenders and their small business customers. |
| What market opportunity is Narrative addressing? | The decline of traditional relationship banking for SMEs and the growing use of AI for financial guidance. |
| Why are SMEs important to Narrative’s mission? | SMEs make up the vast majority of European businesses and play a significant role in employment and local communities. |
| What experience do the founders bring? | The founders have backgrounds in AI for finance, financial services innovation and AI-powered performance coaching. |
| What accelerator programme did Narrative complete? | The company recently graduated from the Techstars programme. |
| What role has Enterprise Ireland played? | Enterprise Ireland has supported the company through start-up development and international business connections. |
| How does Narrative operate internally? | The company describes itself as fully AI-native, integrating AI across operations, product development and knowledge sharing. |
| What AI and software tools does Narrative use? | Narrative uses Claude Teams, Attio, Notion, Superhuman, Linear and OpenAI Codex. |
| Has Narrative raised funding? | Yes, the company recently completed a pre-seed funding round. |
| What will the funding be used for? | The funding is focused on turning pilot projects into paid production deployments. |
| When does Narrative expect to raise its next funding round? | The company plans to pursue a seed funding round in early 2027. |
| What advice does Michael Dowling give founders? | Focus on long-term growth planning, build hiring expertise, seek mentorship and protect time for strategic thinking. |
| What differentiates Narrative from generic AI tools? | Its AI operates within banking platforms, uses verified financial data, provides transparent reasoning, and strengthens lender-customer relationships. |
| What is Narrative’s vision for banking? | To restore personalised business guidance and relationship-driven banking through trusted, transparent AI tools. |
