Inside the Central Bank Innovation Sandbox: How Narrative Is Bringing AI Guidance to SME Banking

We recently met with Michael Dowling, founder of Narrative, to discuss how his research-led fintech start-up is reshaping financial guidance for small businesses. Born out of academic work in AI and behavioural finance, Narrative is building a “Digital CFO” that sits inside banking apps and helps SMEs make better financial decisions in real time. In this conversation, he shares the story behind the company, its selection for the Central Bank of Ireland’s Innovation Sandbox, and what comes next on its growth journey.

1: Can you briefly describe your company and what you’re building?

Narrative is the AI-native guidance layer for small business finance. We have created a “Digital CFO” for small businesses that sits directly in your bank app. It guides the small business towards better business outcomes.

2: What does being selected for the Central Bank of Ireland’s Innovation Sandbox mean for you?

It is a massive validation of our vision and technology. The Central Bank received 38 applications from across the innovation ecosystem and selected only nine participants. For a fintech company dealing with AI, trust is the ultimate currency. Participating in this programme allows us to innovate safely, ensuring that as we deploy agentic AI models, we are doing so with strict adherence to consumer protection and financial stability.

3: Why is the “sandbox” aspect so important?

The core theme of this Sandbox is “Innovation in Payments,” but for us, payments are the lifeblood of the economy that generate the data we use to provide guidance.

We believe that SMEs are drowning in data but starving for direction. The Sandbox environment allows us to test how our AI transforms Open Banking data into actionable “Digital CFO” guidance. It’s about proving that we can deliver hyper-personalised financial coaching that builds loyalty and financial health, without introducing the risks typically associated with new technologies.

4. How does this help your conversations with banks across Europe?

It changes the conversation entirely. Banks are under pressure to adopt AI, but they are rightly cautious about compliance, ethics, and risk. By developing our technology within the Central Bank’s Sandbox, we are demonstrating “Principled Innovation”.

It proves to potential partners across Europe that Narrative isn’t just a tech vendor; we are a partner that prioritizes ethical guardrails and regulatory alignment from day one. It acts as a massive “trust driver,” accelerating our ability to secure Tier-1 partnerships.

5. How significant is the partnership with the Bank of Ireland?

The collaboration highlights that incumbent financial institutions are eager to innovate and are looking for agile partners to help them better serve their SME customers.

6: What role did Enterprise Ireland play in getting you to this point?

Enterprise Ireland has been the fuel for our engine. Their support, particularly through the Commercialisation Fund which backed the original research at DCU, allowed us to take deep academic research and turn it into a commercial reality.

Securing €500k in pre-seed funding and support from EI gave us the runway to build a world-class team and the credibility to knock on the doors of major financial institutions. We wouldn’t be entering the Central Bank Sandbox today without that foundational support.

7: How does being based within a business school support your work?

It gives us unshakeable credibility. Narrative wasn’t built in a vacuum; it was born out of rigorous research into AI and behavioural finance here at DCU. Being rooted in a business school means our product isn’t just “cool tech” – it’s built on evidence-based models of financial behaviour. In a market where trust is everything, having that academic DNA distinguishes us from every other start-up in the ecosystem.

8: What’s next for the company?

We are moving fast. Alongside the Sandbox, we have just finished the globally prestigious Techstars Future of Finance Accelerator. We are currently raising our pre-seed round to support the rollout of our technology to over 1 million SME financial relationships,. We are expanding our sales to digital lenders across the UK and Europe, helping support their growth through the ability to offer guidance to their customers. The goal is simple: to own the global standard for SME financial guidance.