AI, SaaS & The Future Of Payments

Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I’ve spent almost 15 years working in payments, beginning my career in retail banking and merchant acquiring at a leading local bank. That experience gave me hands-on exposure to how transactions work, how to manage risks, and how early tokenization frameworks were put in place. After that, I moved into the fintech world, where I headed up risk, legal, and compliance for a digital wallet startup in an emerging market. In that role, I focused on developing automated fraud detection systems to tackle complex threats, all while building out payment infrastructure to meet tough central bank requirements.

Later on, I took on senior leadership roles at a global payment network and its enterprise payment platform. My main goal was to drive digital transformation across different regions, manage large portfolios, and roll out advanced value-added services—like next-gen EMV tokenization, Click to Pay, and transit mobility solutions. I spent a lot of time working with top financial institutions, regional marketplaces, and major payment facilitators to help merchants increase acceptance, boost authorization rates, and improve overall payment performance.

These days, I…