Driving Trust in the Deepfake Era: Decoded Returns to London
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Kiran Bajar
June 16, 2026•
June 16, 2026•
On the evening of June 11, 2026, over 120 industry leaders gathered at Madison's rooftop overlooking the iconic dome of St Paul's Cathedral for Decoded: Incode's curated gathering for senior professionals at the forefront of identity, fraud, and trust. The theme this year? Driving Trust in the Deepfake Era.
What followed was an evening of authentic, thought-provoking conversation that reminded everyone in the room why these discussions are so important.
The evening was opened by Olli Krebs, Incode's SVP of Sales for EMEA and APAC, who set the tone with a warm welcome that reflected the spirit of the event: this was not a sales pitch. Decoded exists to curate a community, a space where industry leaders can engage in meaningful, honest dialogue about the challenges and opportunities shaping their world.
The organisation behind the evening was seamless. From the stunning venue to the flow of the programme, every detail reflected the care and intention that has come to define Decoded as something genuinely special.
The keynote came from Henry Ajder, one of the world's foremost authorities on generative AI and deepfakes. Widely known as the world's first “deepfake cartographer,” Henry has advised some of the most influential organisations on the planet, including Meta, Google, Adobe, the World Economic Forum, EY, the UK Government, the EU Commission, and the OECD. He is also a BBC documentary presenter and a visiting researcher at Cambridge.
Henry's 2019 report, The State of Deepfakes, was the first of its kind to map the real-world impact of generative technologies and has since influenced international legislation and corporate strategy worldwide.
His keynote tackled the night’s central question head-on: when seeing is no longer believing, how do we navigate a world where our digital infrastructure is vulnerable to threats hidden in plain sight? He mapped the full arc of the deepfake threat, from its origins to its most consequential impacts today, including image-based abuse targeting women and girls, AI-generated political disinformation, and a new wave of cybersecurity attacks where synthetic media is the attack vector.
Having Henry open the evening gave the discussion an immediate sense of authority and urgency. It also served as a reminder that the challenges the industry faces are here, now, and accelerating.
Next up was Aurelien Alexandre, Solutions Architect at Incode, who delivered a session that had the entire room talking. In a bold and brilliantly executed opening, Aurelien had the entire room, including the organisers, convinced he was the author of a peer-reviewed study from the University of Cambridge entitled The Impact of Deepfakes: A study of deepfake fraud and its effects. But he shortly revealed that his convincing thesis was, in fact, an AI fabrication entirely.
Aurelian went on to explain how incredibly advanced AI engines and deepfakes will expedite and improve the success of fraud attacks exponentially in coming years.
The panel discussion that followed brought together three exceptional voices from across the industry. Manish Singhal drew on his experience at HSBC to ground the conversation in the realities of financial services. Rahul Agarwal brought the perspective of one of Europe's most disruptive fintech companies, Revolut. And Karolina Pelc, Founder of Beyond Play, former VP at FanDuel, and newly published author, added a layer of entrepreneurial and creative thinking that sparked some of the evening's most memorable exchanges.
The conversation addressed several of the most pressing questions today in identity security:
The growing tension between security and seamless experience ran through every answer. Moderating with skill and confidence was Olga Obrenovic, Incode's Staff Product Manager, who guided the conversation with deft precision.
Away from the main stage, Incode Project Coordinator Jorge Serafio ran a fraud lab that proved to be one of the most talked-about elements of the evening. Hands-on, eye-opening, and at times jaw-dropping, it gave attendees a visceral sense of the threat landscape and the tools available to combat it.
As the formal programme drew to a close, Diego Creel, Incode's General Manager for EMEA, offered closing remarks that captured the essence of the evening: grateful, grounded, and forward-looking.
There is something quietly ironic about a room full of identity technology experts insisting on meeting in person. Incode builds the infrastructure that lets people verify each other without ever sharing a room. And yet, when you are building the foundation everyone else will rely on, the hard conversations about fraud, regulation, and where the technology is heading need to be had face to face. So they were.
The night ended as it began: with people. Canapés, cocktails, and music provided the backdrop for the kind of genuine networking that only happens when the right people are in the right room. Conversations continued long after the programme had finished.
Decoded is not about selling. It is about building something more valuable: a community of trust, in an era when trust has never been more important.
Learn more about Incode.
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