Santander’s AI Pay, NVIDIA’s 6G Pact, & the 98% Finance Tipping Point

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AI HUSTLE | March 5, 2026

Welcome to AI Hustle, the newsletter that translates complex AI workflows into bottom-line results for operators. This week, we're diving into how AI is moving from a "nice-to-have" assistant to an autonomous agent that can execute real-world actions, from stopping SaaS subscription waste to processing live bank payments. The era of "agentic AI" is here, and it’s time to build the guardrails.

How Jennifer Anniston’s LolaVie brand grew sales 40% with CTV ads

For its first CTV campaign, Jennifer Aniston’s DTC haircare brand LolaVie had a few non-negotiables. The campaign had to be simple. It had to demonstrate measurable impact. And it had to be full-funnel.

LolaVie used Roku Ads Manager to test and optimize creatives — reaching millions of potential customers at all stages of their purchase journeys. Roku Ads Manager helped the brand convey LolaVie’s playful voice while helping drive omnichannel sales across both ecommerce and retail touchpoints.

The campaign included an Action Ad overlay that let viewers shop directly from their TVs by clicking OK on their Roku remote. This guided them to the website to buy LolaVie products.

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The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Anniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.

Learn more.

The Hustle: Build an AI Auditor to Stop SaaS Bleed

The Goal: Automatically identify and flag unused software subscriptions to eliminate "ghost" expenses and increase profit.

The Tools:

* Financial Data Connector: Plaid, Stripe, or direct bank feeds

* Usage Data Source: Google Workspace, Okta, or other Single Sign-On (SSO) provider logs

* Workflow Automation: Zapier, Make, or a custom script

* AI Model: GPT-4o, Claude 3 Opus

Step 1: Identify Recurring Charges (The Input)

Connect your automation platform to your company's banking or credit card feed. Create a workflow that scans all transactions daily. The first filter is to isolate recurring charges, which are often tagged by the bank or follow a predictable pattern (e.g., same vendor, same amount, every 30 days). The output of this step is a clean list of all recurring software vendors your company pays each month.

Step 2: Cross-Reference with Usage Data (The Trigger)

For each recurring software charge identified in Step 1, the workflow triggers a second action: a data lookup. The automation will use the vendor's name (e.g., "Asana," "Figma") to query your company's SSO or Google Workspace logs. The goal is simple: find out if any employee has logged into that specific tool within the last 30 days.

Step 3: Apply the AI Logic (The AI/Logic)

This is where the AI makes the judgment call. The workflow passes the data to an AI model with a clear prompt: "The software '[Vendor Name]' has a recurring monthly charge. According to our logs, zero employees have logged in during the past 30 days. Based on this, add this software to a 'To Cancel' list. Then, draft a professional but firm email to their support or billing department to request immediate cancellation of our subscription." The AI's job is to apply the logic and generate the necessary text.

Step 4: Review and Execute (The Output)

The AI does not automatically cancel anything. Instead, it populates a simple Google Sheet or Airtable base titled "SaaS Cancellation Review." The table includes the vendor name, monthly cost, and the AI-drafted cancellation email. You or your operations manager get a notification to review the list. With one click, you can copy the email and send it, taking the final, human-in-the-loop action.

Why This Hustle Works:

* Direct Bottom-Line Impact: This system directly targets and eliminates operational waste, turning a hidden expense into pure profit with minimal effort. The average company wastes over $2,000 per employee per year on unused software.

* Turns a Manual Chore into an Automated System: Instead of a painful, manual audit every quarter, this workflow runs continuously in the background, surfacing savings opportunities in near real-time.

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🚀 The AI Pulse: 3 Signals to Watch This Week

Santander and Mastercard Execute Europe's First Live AI-Powered Payment

Santander and Mastercard successfully ran Europe's first live payment initiated and completed by an AI agent, not a human. The pilot, conducted within Santander’s regulated banking network, demonstrated that an autonomous software agent can execute a financial transaction while complying with all security and governance rules. This wasn't a simulation; it was a real transaction on a live network, marking a milestone for what the companies call "agentic payments."

The Hustle Take: The keyword here is "governed execution." For years, AI has been great at suggesting actions, but enterprises have been hesitant to let it pull the trigger. This successful pilot signals that the technical and regulatory frameworks are maturing. Soon, your business systems could be trusted to autonomously pay suppliers, manage subscriptions, or re-order inventory based on predefined rules, moving beyond simple automation to trusted, autonomous commerce.

AI-Native Networks Get Real at Mobile World Congress

MWC 2026 proved that AI-driven telecom networks are no longer a future concept. A flood of announcements from Nvidia, Nokia, Ericsson, and major operators showed AI-RAN (Radio Access Networks) moving from labs to live field trials and commercial products. This architectural shift treats connectivity infrastructure like cloud software—intelligent, flexible, and continuously optimized by AI.

The Hustle Take: This matters for two reasons. First, embedding GPU compute power directly into the network opens the door for enterprises to run their own AI workloads at the network edge, enabling low-latency applications for factories, retail, and logistics. Second, as networks become software-defined, connectivity itself could become more dynamic. Businesses might one day purchase "intelligent bandwidth" that adapts to their needs in real-time, managed by AI.

AI Adoption in Finance Reaches the Point of No Return

According to a new Finastra report surveying 1,500 financial executives, only 2% of financial institutions globally have zero AI use. The conversation has shifted from if to how to scale AI responsibly. The biggest hurdles are no longer technology but talent shortages and modernizing legacy infrastructure. As AI becomes table stakes, the ability to govern, audit, and explain AI models is becoming the next major competitive differentiator.

The Hustle Take: The opportunity for B2B operators and fintechs has evolved. Simply having an "AI-powered" feature is no longer a selling point; it's an expectation. The real value is now in solving the second-order problems. Businesses that provide AI governance tools, explainability solutions, or services that help companies integrate AI with their legacy systems are positioned to win big in a market where everyone is using AI, but few are managing it well.

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