IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Interviews

Piyush Bagaria, Co-founder, SalarySe Salary-linked finance is reshaping how Indian employers think about retention, responsibility, and financial wellbeing. Puja Sharma speaks with Piyush Bagaria, Co-founder, SalarySe, on how salary-linked finance is pushing financial wellness from the HR desk to the boardroom. 

Kevin Flood, Director of Payments Ecosystem Strategy, FISFor years, banks have been pouring money into app development, yet the next revolution in customer interaction may not happen in an app at all. A global shift is underway towards conversational finance – where relationships begin and end in a message thread. Consumers don’t want to download another app, they want to chat, ask and act. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence has been in conversation with Kevin Flood, Director of Payments Ecosystem Strategy at FIS.

Siddharth Ugrankar, CEO & Co-Founder, Qila.ioBlockchain has long been associated with hype and experimentation, but its real value is now emerging in highly regulated environments like banking, insurance, and financial services. As institutions prioritise security, compliance, and transparency, enterprise-grade blockchain is becoming a practical foundation for next-generation financial infrastructure.  In this episode, Vriti Gothi speaks with Siddharth Ugrankar, CEO and Co-Founder of Qila.io, to unpack how blockchain can strengthen trust in banking systems, the role of private blockchains in CBDCs and cross-border settlements, and how tokenisation and smart contracts are reshaping financial markets. They also discuss India’s evolving regulatory stance on data localisation and explore real-world use cases where blockchain is already delivering measurable impact across BFSI.

Anar Qasem, Vice President of MENA, Cleareye.aiTrade-based money laundering is how criminals move dirty money across borders disguised as legitimate trade. Banks are spending millions but are still missing most suspicious activities, in part because 80% of global trade operates on open account terms with minimal documentation. So, what can be done? Anar Qasem, Vice President of MENA for Cleareye.ai, discusses solutions with Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence. 

Jeeja Gopinath, Managing Director, Zentis AI & Techvantage.aiArtificial Intelligence is moving beyond experimentation to become a core driver of transformation across banking, financial services, and FinTech. But as institutions grapple with legacy systems, regulatory scrutiny, and the need for responsible innovation, translating AI vision into real-world impact remains a challenge.In this episode, Vriti Gothi speaks with Jeeja Gopinath, Managing Director at Zentis AI and Techvantage.ai, about where AI is delivering tangible value today, how financial institutions can move from strategy to execution, and the role of governance in scaling AI responsibly. They explore real-world enterprise use cases, the balance between speed and compliance, and the emerging AI trends shaping the next wave of FinTech innovation.

Pedro Arnt, Chief Executive Officer, dLocaldLocal simplifies cross-border transactions in emerging markets, connecting global enterprise merchants with billions of emerging market consumers across APAC, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. Through the "One dLocal" concept (one direct API, one platform, and one contract), global companies can accept payments, send payouts, and settle funds globally—without the need to manage separate processors or set up local entities of their own. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence speaks to Pedro Arnt, CEO of dLocal.

Veena Nair, Head of Content, Humanity ProtocolHumanity Protocol aims to verify people, not passwords through palm biometrics converted into zero-knowledge proofs so platforms can block bots and fraud while keeping biometric data private and off-chain. It works on a smartphone and is already rolling out to users and enterprise pilots in finance. The firm is backed by Animoca and was most recently valued at over $1 billion. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence speaks to Veena Nair, Head of Content at Humanity Protocol.

Chandrasekhar Somasekhar, Chief Technology Officer, cleareye.aiThe business of trade finance is traditionally exhaustively documented but mix in a large language model (LLM) and that business can suddenly become much less of a challenge for those who must review the documentation. Chandrasekhar Somasekhar is CTO of cleareye.ai and also leads the firm’s Product Engineering team. He discusses the adoption and use cases of LLMs in trade finance with Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence. 

Prabhakar Reddy, Founder & CEO, OpenFXOpenFX is building a real-time, open and transparent FX network, aiming to solve the last-mile problem in international money movement by using stablecoins as an intermediary – bringing FX transactions kicking and screaming into the 21st century! Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence discusses the future of FX, and how spreads and fees are already being compressed, with Prabhakar Reddy, Founder and CEO of OpenFX

Mahesh Shukla, Founder & CEO, PayMeIndia’s digital lending space is shifting toward trust, compliance, and responsible growth. Puja Sharma speaks with Mahesh Shukla, Founder and CEO of PayMe, on building a sustainable, AI-enabled lending model for Bharat. The conversation unpacks instant credit access, data-driven underwriting beyond CIBIL, and what responsible FinTech scale looks like in 2025.