The Lab 2025: A look back.
By: Ava Skye Carter, Marketing Manager, Collabry
Welcome back to The Lab for one last time this year. And what a year it’s been.
In 2025, we published (with this final post) 30 blog posts ranging from consultant spotlights, to business insights, to more personal takes from our very own Co-CEOs, Rachel Formaro and Jenny Cronin.
It was a good year for Collabry content. But before we jump into 2026, let’s take a quick look back at a handful of our top posts from 2025. Starting in reverse order, our top five posts were:
5. My Name Is Mike and I Like AI (and Sharing with Collabry and My Community).
By Mike Golaszewski, Senior Consultant
I’ve been fascinated with computers since around 1980, when 11-year-old me typed the word “RUN” into a little Tandy computer and was surprised by a game of hangman. I had accompanied my dad to the local Radio Shack, and—bored—wandered over to play with the calculators. The PC-1 “calculator” was the most interesting model on display because it had letters! In the corner of its two-line LCD screen was a little tiny word that said “RUN,” and so I just typed what I saw and pressed the enter button. The magic that this moment unlocked has defined my life ever since. Read more
4. Did I Just Tell My Client “I Love You?” And Why That Might Be Okay.
By Rachel Formaro, Co-CEO
Something happened at a client appreciation dinner last year that I’m somewhat embarrassed by. Let me back up with some context first. Being based in Des Moines, Iowa, I don’t often get to meet with our coastal clients in person. When I do, it’s always really exciting and special. With this particular client, we had just wrapped up a four-year project. We talked daily and had become friends. During the project timeline, her mom had passed away and I’d lost my dad to cancer. Oh, and there was a pandemic, too. Read More
3. Hope (and Solidarity)
By Rachel Formaro, Co-CEO
It was during breakfast time before school, all 10 minutes of it, that my teenage daughter told me how upset she and her friends were about what’s happening in the world—particularly in the U.S. She’d been seeing frightening stories on social media, and she and her classmates had come to dread watching the scheduled “CNN 10” at school each day (CNN 10 is a daily news show for students over 13 and others who want to learn about current events in 10 minutes or less). Read More
2. Four Reasons You Need a Consultant for Your Integration
By Josh Jenkins, Senior Consultant
Consider this: A Fortune 500 financial institution acquires a cutting-edge fintech startup, promising a game-changing product for millions of new clients. The value proposition is huge, but the implementation is daunting. Systems need to align. Startup employees grapple with the formal processes of a much larger institution. Competitors race to launch similar innovations. Read More
Without further ado, 2025’s most read blog post was:
Mindset, Skillset, Get Set for AI.
By: Jennifer Cronin, Co-CEO Collabry
In today’s financial services, AI integration is a present reality, not a future concept. Successfully navigating this revolution demands more than just technological know-how; it requires a deep understanding of people and organizational dynamics. All too often, we see well-intentioned project roadmaps serving as stand-ins for real plans to drive fundamental cultural shifts. Read More
AI was a focal topic in 2025, and we see no indication that will change moving into 2026. The Collabry collective has expertise across a wide range of disciplines, including project management, change management, UX design,“As-is/To-be” software development, marketing, copywriting, and a broad range of AI capabilities. If your firm is taking on a large project in 2026, a partnership with Collabry can provide the ease, expertise, and essential skills to ensure your peace of mind at the project’s completion. Your project needs the right consultants. Are you ready? Let’s talk!