The Financial Technology Report is pleased to announce The Top 25 FinTech AI Executives of 2025. These leaders are building the underlying infrastructure for a more intelligent, inclusive, and resilient financial system. From streamlining credit and risk decisions to automating regulatory compliance and transforming accounting workflows, they are applying AI not as a feature, but as a foundation. Their companies are redefining core financial operations, enabling institutions to move faster, make smarter decisions, and serve broader markets.
What unites this group is not just technical depth, but a clear sense of purpose. Whether they are advancing access to credit, combating fraud in real time, or modernizing back-office processes, each awardee is shaping how financial services adapt to complexity at scale. With backgrounds spanning enterprise software, AI research, quantitative finance, and operational leadership, these executives are rebuilding trust, accuracy, and efficiency into the financial workflows that underpin the global economy.
Among this year's awardees, we recognize Amitay Kalmar, Co-Founder and CEO of Lendbuzz, who is harnessing alternative data and AI to rethink credit access, enabling over $1.5 billion in annual auto loan originations. Chandini Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of Auquan, is driving the adoption of AI agents that help top-tier financial institutions eliminate manual work in investment and compliance workflows. With over 36 years of experience, Cathy Ross, President and Co-Founder of Fraud.net, has built a platform that powers real-time fraud prevention and AML compliance for financial institutions and digital commerce enterprises worldwide.
As AI becomes an integral part of modern finance, these leaders are defining how it’s built, governed, and scaled. This year’s awardees were selected based on their career track records and contributions to advancing AI in the financial technology space. Please join us in honoring The Top 25 Fintech AI Executives of 2025.
1. Sudhir Jha
Company: Brighterion
Title: CEO
Sudhir Jha is the CEO of Brighterion, a Mastercard company that was founded in 2000 and acquired by Mastercard in 2017. Brighterion provides enterprise Al applications for payment service providers, financial institutions, healthcare payers, and merchants. More than 2,000 companies worldwide and 76/100 of the largest U.S. banks use technology powered by Brighterion AI to protect against fraud and risk. Jha has over 20 years of technology product leadership experience in AI, machine learning, deep learning, fraud management, ads policy, CRM systems, and CAD software.
Before joining Brighterion, Jha worked with Infosys as the SVP and global head of its AI platform and solutions. Earlier in his career, he was a product lead for Google’s Personalized Ads Policy. Jha graduated from Santa Clara University with an MBA, from the University of Rochester with a master’s degree in computer science, and from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
2. Yinglian Xie
Company: DataVisor
Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Yinglian Xie is the CEO and Co-Founder of DataVisor, an AI-powered fraud and risk platform. Xie is a recognized expert in AI, machine learning, and financial crime. As CEO, she spearheads the development and implementation of DataVisor’s solutions. The organization’s expertise and continuous innovation have made it a trusted partner for Fortune 500 companies and leading organizations globally.
Prior to co-founding DataVisor, Xie was a senior researcher at Microsoft, where she focused on security, privacy, distributed systems, and networking, with an emphasis on using data-driven approaches to improve online service security. Xie holds a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Peking University.
3. Barb Morgan
Company: Temenos
Title: Chief Product and Technology Officer
Barb Morgan is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Temenos, a leading provider of banking software systems to retail, corporate, universal, private, Islamic, and microfinance and community banks. Temenos serves over 950 core banking and 600 digital banking clients worldwide. Morgan leads the product and technology organizations, with a focus on delivering scalable cloud-based solutions and integrating emerging technologies like AI to help financial institutions meet evolving customer needs. She has successfully led the implementation of advanced AI solutions, including large language models and both custom and democratized AI tools to enhance decision-making and operational agility.
Morgan brings over 25 years of experience leading global product development organizations, particularly in banking and financial services. Prior to Temenos, Morgan served as the group head of product for data and analytics at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), leading the Microsoft-LSEG partnership. She also served as the chief technology development officer at Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS), where she led global payments and banking product engineering. Morgan holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Central Oklahoma.
4. Karan Kashyap
Company: Posh
Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Karan Kashyap is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Posh, a company focused on democratizing access to banking and accelerating the responsible adoption of AI across financial institutions. Under his leadership, Posh has grown to serve more than 100 clients in the banking and credit union sector, helping transform how these organizations engage with their communities and employees. The company’s growth is rooted in early AI and software consulting work that Kashyap and his co-founder began while still students at MIT, applying AI to real-world challenges across multiple industries.
Kashyap holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in artificial intelligence from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While completing his graduate studies, he and co-founder Matt McEachern began consulting on AI and software solutions across multiple industries, laying the groundwork for what would become Posh.
5. Julie Iskow
Company: Workiva
Title: President and CEO
Julie Iskow is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Workiva, a leading cloud platform for assured integrated reporting. A seasoned technologist and strategic leader, she has guided Workiva’s growth and strengthened its position as a trusted platform to over 85% of Fortune 500 companies. Iskow’s leadership is rooted in leveraging innovative technology to solve complex challenges and driving exceptional outcomes for employees, customers, partners, and communities.
With more than 25 years of experience in technology, Iskow has held transformative roles that have driven innovation and delivered exceptional results. As CTO at Medidata, she played a pivotal role in the company’s growth, scale, and impact that ended in a landmark strategic acquisition. As CIO at WageWorks, she was instrumental in its evolution to a platform, strategic expansion, and a successful IPO. Iskow serves on the boards of Workiva Inc. and Five9. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree from the University of California, Davis.
6. Amitay Kalmar
Company: Lendbuzz
Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Amitay Kalmar is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lendbuzz, an AI-based financial technology company headquartered in Boston. Lendbuzz uses alternative data and machine learning to assess creditworthiness for consumers with limited credit history, expanding access to auto financing through partnerships with franchise and independent dealerships. The company originates over $1.5 billion in auto loans annually, has secured more than $1 billion in warehouse lines from institutions including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, and has issued over $1.3 billion in rated ABS bonds since its founding in 2015.
Before founding Lendbuzz, Kalmar was a vice president in Deutsche Bank’s Technology Investment Banking group, leading M&A, IPOs, and debt financing for technology companies. Earlier in his career, he served as a captain in the Israel Defense Forces, leading R&D teams and developing digital communications systems. Kalmar holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, a master’s degree in computer science from Reichman University, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics from Tel Aviv University.
7. Iason Georgakopoulos
Company: Deep Neuron Lab
Title: Co-Founder and CTO
Iason Georgakopoulos is the Co-Founder and CTO of Deep Neuron Lab. Deep Neuron Lab (DNL) is a leading provider of AI-supported auditing of reporting obligations in German-speaking countries. With Notes Auditor, the company offers a solution for auditing notes, management reports, sustainability reports, and other reports in accordance with standards such as HGB, UGB, ESRS, and IFRS, as well as individual checklists.
Prior to co-founding Deep Neuron Lab, Georgakopoulos was a data scientist at MODOMOTO, where he implemented machine learning applications and set up its data science team. Georgakopoulos graduated from Technische Universität Berlin with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.
8. Boaz Avidan
Company: Safebooks AI
Title: Co-Founder and CTO
Boaz Avidan is the Co-Founder and CTO of Safebooks AI. Safebooks AI develops a platform for enterprises to automate the quality verification of financial data and enables them to sign off on 100% of their financial data. Avidan’s background spans product development, customer engagement, and cross-functional collaboration. He is known for a customer-centered and business-oriented approach to engineering leadership, with a track record of launching technology-based ventures across diverse domains.
Avidan brings 23 years of experience to his current role. Prior to co-founding Safebooks AI, he served as VP of R&D at Soluto, where he led engineering for AI-driven call center and growth solutions. He was previously the senior director of engineering at WeWork and co-founder and CTO of the video AI company Babator. Avidan graduated from The Academic College of Tel-Aviv, Yaffo with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
9. Jane Tran
Company: Sixfold
Title: Co-Founder and COO
Jane Tran is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Sixfold, a generative AI solution for insurance underwriting. She brings over a decade of experience in product development, strategic planning, and process improvement to her role, with a focus on building operational foundations that support scale. Prior to Sixfold, Tran played a key role in growing Unqork from a 5-person startup to a 550-employee organization, leading initiatives across sales engineering, solutions architecture, industry verticals, enablement, and people operations.
Tran has spoken and been featured in a number of publications, including Forbes, Wharton Fintech, and NYC Fintech Women. She is an LP investor at The Fund XX, an early-stage VC focused on supporting and investing in the next generation of female founders. She is also an active mentor for Techstars and First Round Capital. Tran graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in policy studies, economics, and English.
10. Chandini Jain
Company: Auquan
Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Chandini Jain is the Co-Founder and CEO of Auquan, a company developing AI agents to support complex workflows in financial services, transforming how professionals manage investment and credit prescreening and due diligence, risk monitoring, sustainability, and compliance. Trusted by leading institutions including MetLife, UBS, and Capital Group, 25% of the top 20 global financial firms use Auquan to eliminate manual work, accelerate decision-making, and drive strategic impact.
Jain first got her start in 2010 as an analyst at Deutsche Bank, and later worked as a derivatives trader at Optiver, her most recent position prior to founding Auquan. Jain graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and computational science and from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
11. Cathy Ross
Company: Fraud.net
Title: Co-Founder and President
Cathy Ross is the Co-Founder and President of Fraud.net. Fraud.net delivers an AI-powered platform for fraud prevention, AML compliance, and digital risk management. Trusted by financial institutions and digital commerce enterprises worldwide, its cloud-native solution prevents fraud, money laundering, and financial crimes in real time while automating customer onboarding, monitoring, and compliance workflows.
Ross brings 36 years of experience to her current role. Before joining Fraud.net, she was a co-founder and board member at TechNetwork.com and held executive and board roles at companies including Mothernature Inc., Imed.com, and GovShop.com. Earlier in her career, she worked with Chase Manhattan Bank as a senior analyst for corporate finance. Ross graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
12. Sashi Narahari
Company: HighRadius
Title: Founder and CEO
Sashi Narahari is the Founder and CEO of HighRadius, a company that guarantees value creation for the Office of the CFO via a single Agentic AI platform. He brings a unique combination of business management expertise and technical knowledge to his leadership, guiding the team and corporate strategy. His focus on business process improvement drives HighRadius’ product development, helping clients enhance financial performance through outcomes like reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), improved operational efficiency, and increased deduction recovery. Narahari has worked with many Fortune 1000 companies to implement solutions across credit management, collections, dispute resolution, and invoicing and payments.
Prior to HighRadius, Narahari co-founded and served as the CEO of Riversand Technologies, a provider of Master Data Management (MDM) solutions. Narahari holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.
13. Eido Gal
Company: Riskified
Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Eido Gal is the Chairman, Co-Founder, and CEO of Riskified, a leader in e-commerce fraud and risk intelligence. Gal co-founded Riskified in 2013 to pioneer a machine learning-led solution safeguarding ecommerce businesses against payment fraud. Under his leadership, Riskified has executed on its global expansion strategy and is a leading reviewer of online transactions for many of the world’s most recognizable brands and publicly-traded merchant companies.
Prioritizing continuous innovation, Gal has played a significant role in the expansion of Riskified’s AI-powered platform of products, proven to boost ecommerce revenues while reducing fraud across the entire customer lifecycle.
14. Sam Bobley
Company: Ocrolus
Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Sam Bobley is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ocrolus, a document AI platform that enables faster and more accurate financial decision-making. He co-founded the company in 2014 from his parents’ kitchen at age 22. Today, Ocrolus serves over 400 customers and is recognized as a leader in AI infrastructure for fintech. The platform has analyzed more than 300 million pages of financial documents and is used by leading firms to streamline underwriting, improve accuracy, and expand access to credit.
Under Bobley’s leadership, the company has also created over 1,000 jobs globally. He has raised more than $100 million in venture capital and continues to lead Ocrolus as it scales its technology and impact across the financial ecosystem. Bobley holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and business from the University of South Carolina.
15. Paul Gu
Company: Upstart
Title: Co-Founder and CTO
Paul Gu is the Co-Founder and CTO of Upstart. Upstart is an AI lending marketplace that connects millions of consumers to more than 100 banks and credit unions that leverage Upstart’s AI models and cloud applications to deliver superior credit products. With Upstart AI, lenders can approve more borrowers at lower rates across races, ages, and genders, while delivering digital-first experiences.
Gu co-founded Upstart while studying at Yale, driven by the insight that many creditworthy individuals were being overlooked by traditional lending models. That realization led to the development of a more inclusive, data-driven approach to credit, forming the foundation for what would become Upstart’s AI lending platform. He studied computer science and economics at Yale University.
16. Joe DeCosmo
Company: Enova
Title: Chief Analytics and Technology Officer
Joe DeCosmo is the Chief Analytics and Technology Officer at Enova, an online financial services company that serves small businesses and consumers who are underserved by traditional banks. Over its 20-year history, Enova has provided over $61 billion in loans and financing to more than 12 million customers by offering a suite of market-leading products powered by the company's analytics, machine learning algorithms, and proprietary technology. Its decisioning platform, Colossus, relies on machine learning models to power real-time credit decisions across its portfolio.
Prior to working at Enova, DeCosmo served as director and practice leader of advanced analytics for Chicago-based West Monroe Partners. He also held a number of executive positions at HAVI and the Allant Group. DeCosmo received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Lewis University and a master's degree in economics from the University of Illinois Chicago.
17. Noel King
Company: Napier AI
Title: CTO
Noel King is the CTO of Napier AI, a RegTech company that provides anti-money laundering and financial crime compliance software to financial institutions, payment providers, and wealth and asset management firms. King is a seasoned CTO known for delivering impactful software across sectors like education, finance, gaming, and insurance. He’s led major innovations, including a nationwide education system in Norway and large-scale AI deployments for firms like Mastercard and Goldman Sachs.
King’s expertise spans tech strategy, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and team optimization. Previously, he was CTO at Implement Technologies and, before that, CTO at Shipyard Technology Ventures. Earlier in his career, he worked with FINEOS as a technical consultant. King earned a master's degree in computing and a bachelor’s degree in computer applications from Dublin City University.
18. Andreas Hauri
Company: Unique AG
Title: Co-Founder and CTO
Andreas Hauri is the Co-Founder and CTO of Unique AG, an AI-driven platform focused on streamlining financial operations for institutions. The company’s agentic AI tools help automate middle- and back-office workflows, aiming to improve efficiency, ensure compliance, and enhance security at scale. Hauri brings a background that spans neuroscience and enterprise software, applying the scientific method and lean principles to build systems that adapt in real-world use. His work at Unique focuses on enabling autonomous decision-making and real-time collaboration for financial institutions.
Hauri first got his start as a software architect at Corsystems AG, before eventually rising to head of intelligence service at SAP, his most recent position prior to founding Unique AG. Hauri graduated from ETH Zürich with a PhD in computer science and neuroscience and a master’s degree in computer science and software engineering, and from the University of Applied Sciences Aargau with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and enterprise computing.
19. Rebeca Minguela
Company: Clarity AI
Title: Founder and CEO
Rebeca Minguela is the founder and CEO of Clarity, a company addressing the unequal and inefficient allocation of capital by creating a universal framework to evaluate the social and environmental impact of companies, projects, governments, and NGOs. Clarity’s automated rating platform is designed to support more informed and responsible investment decisions across sectors. In addition to her work at Clarity, Minguela serves as an advisor to several startups focused on social impact.
Earlier in her career, Minguela led the global digital transformation program at Santander Bank. She was also the founder and CEO of Blink Booking, which was acquired by Groupon less than 18 months after launch. At Groupon, she served as senior director of product and operations and general manager, overseeing one of the company’s strategic priorities. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a master’s degree in telecommunication engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and a master’s degree in information technologies from the University of Stuttgart.
20. Raj Neervannan
Company: AlphaSense
Title: Co-Founder and CTO
Raj Neervannan is the Co-Founder and CTO of AlphaSense, a market intelligence platform that uses AI to help professionals extract insights from financial documents, news, and research. The platform is used by companies across industries to support decision-making with trusted, searchable content and advanced natural language processing tools. Neervannan has 26 years of experience in the field.
Before joining AlphaSense, Neervannan was CTO at MajescoMastek and, before that, CTO at ChoicePoint, Inc. Earlier in his career, he worked with Expeditrix Corp as a director and chief architect. Neervannan graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with an MBA in finance, from Bowling Green State University with a master’s degree in computer science, and from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science with a master’s degree in mathematics and a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
21. Huss El-Sheikh
Company: 9fin
Title: Co-Founder and CTO
Huss El-Sheikh is the Co-Founder and CTO of 9fin, a platform that delivers data and analytics for the credit markets. 9fin helps finance, investment banking, and asset management professionals assess risk, analyze financials, and collaborate more effectively. Its tools are designed to streamline credit research and support faster, more informed decision-making. The platform uses AI to centralize and extract insights from debt market data, helping clients analyze credits more efficiently and gain a competitive edge.
El-Sheikh first got his start in 2011 as the head of technology at the Bristol Investment Society, where he built UI tools and maintained the society’s website. He went on to spend four years at Deutsche Bank, rising to lead business analyst in the Prime Finance division, where he focused on synthetic equities, listed derivatives, and treasury operations. El-Sheikh graduated from the University of Bristol with a master’s degree in engineering.
22. Rajesh Ramanand
Company: Signifyd
Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Rajesh Ramanand is the Co-Founder and CEO of Signifyd, an end-to-end commerce protection platform that uses AI and identity intelligence to approve legitimate customers in real time while blocking fraud and abuse. The platform draws on data from thousands of global retailers to predict risk across the entire ecommerce journey—from login to checkout to returns.
Ramanand brings 24 years of experience to his current role. Prior to co-founding Signifyd, he served as head of risk for emerging markets at PayPal, where he launched seller protection programs in Brazil and Mexico, built regional risk models, and reduced fraud losses for major global merchants. Before that, he led the payments and shipping risk team at FedEx, scaling it to more than 100 people and implementing machine learning models to proactively detect and prevent fraud across millions of daily transactions. Ramanand graduated from Tulane University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
23. Pankaj Kulshreshtha
Company: Scienaptic AI
Title: Founder and CEO
Pankaj Kulshreshtha is the Founder and CEO of Scienaptic AI. Founded in 2014, Scienaptic AI was built with the mission to drive financial inclusion at scale through AI-driven credit decisioning. The platform encapsulates a decade of technological innovation, integrating more data into decision-making, leveraging advanced machine learning algorithms, and supplementing them with rigorous risk and fair lending monitoring processes.
Kulshreshtha first got his start in 1991 as an engineer at Larsen & Toubro Limited. From there, he went on to GECIS Analytics, before eventually rising to SVP and business leader of analytics and research at GENPACT Ltd., where he was responsible for the growth and performance of the analytics business of the company. Kulshreshtha graduated from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore with a PhD in quantitative methods and from the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
24. Andrew Bihl
Company: Numeric
Title: Co-Founder and CTO
Andrew Bihl is the Co-Founder and CTO of Numeric. Numeric is an AI accounting automation platform built to take manual work off accountants' plates so they can focus on what’s impactful. Numeric is currently used by hundreds of private and public companies to organize their close, automate reconciliations, and leverage AI for auto-drafted flux explanations and technical accounting research. Its AI capabilities extend across the entire accounting lifecycle, helping teams draft policy memos, analyze variances, and accelerate reporting with greater accuracy. The platform integrates with major ERP systems and offers full transaction-level drill-downs to support audit readiness and data validation.
Previously, Bihl was a software engineer at Segment, including through its acquisition by Twilio. Before that, he was a software engineer at CRE Simple. Bihl graduated from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
25. Arun Deep
Company: Semine
Title: CTO
Arun Deep is the Chief Technology Officer of Semine, where he leads the development of SEMINE.AI, a cognitive automation platform for enterprise finance teams. The platform helps standardize and automate one of the most labor-intensive financial tasks—invoice processing—by using a semantic model to classify invoices and train AI models. It supports automation of cost distribution at both the general ledger and dimension levels, improving efficiency in shared service centers.
Deep brings over 25 years of experience from the software industry to his current role. He got his start in 1998 as a software developer at Digimaker, before eventually holding multiple roles at Unit 4, including principal software engineer, R&D manager, and engineering director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the College of Engineering Trivandrum and an MBA from the University of Agder.
