Deepak Dastrala, CEO, Purple Fabric, Intellect Design arena

As the Middle East prepares for a massive intergenerational wealth transfer and rising demand for personalised financial advice, wealth management firms are rethinking how they engage clients, empower relationship managers, and scale operations. Puja Sharma speaks with Deepak Dastrala, CEO, Purple Fabric, IDA, about the growing role of AI-driven intelligence in wealth management, the shift from technology-led to insight-led advisory models, and how firms can balance growth, productivity, trust, and compliance in an increasingly competitive landscape.

This interview discusses how organizations can manage the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence by focusing on ethical governance and trust. The discussion explains that while AI can improve efficiency and customer experience, businesses must also address challenges such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and integration with legacy systems. The interview proposes a three-pronged framework based on strong ethics, high-quality data, and robust cybersecurity to support responsible AI adoption. It also highlights the importance of upskilling employees and using modular architectures to ensure long-term adaptability and innovation. Overall, the interview presents responsible AI implementation as an essential strategy for maintaining competitiveness and sustainable growth in the financial and technology sectors.

Ross Sinclair, Founder & CEO, EIP

Global InsurTech funding remained strong in 2025, but what will it take to make sure the hype does not outpace deliverables? Ross Sinclair, Founder and CEO of EIP believes the pressure is now on for many firms to deliver on their ‘pitch deck’ promises, including AI use cases, and justify them to investors with strong revenue streams.

Nick Fernando, Co-founder & Director, Aqua Global Solutions

The Swift ISO 20022 deadline of 22 November 2025 is now past history. Isn’t it? Well, it appears not, with many banks continuing to rely on translation tools to bridge legacy systems. Yet stopgap measures come at a cost. Nick Fernando, Co-founder and Director at Aqua Global Solutions, warns that translation tools won’t cut it in the long run. Banks that are ISO 20022 native stand to gain far more than compliance – from faster straight-through processing to fewer manual errors and richer data insights.

Chris Newman, Head of Corporates, Clear.Bank

UK businesses across a variety of sectors are increasingly looking to offer financial services to their customers, including payments, lending, and savings accounts. Embedded finance is widely perceived as a growth driver and a new opportunity for revenue growth. Chris Newman, Head of Corporates at ClearBank, which offers embedded banking solutions to corporate clients, speaks to Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence about the prospects for explosive growth over the coming years in ‘white label’ banking.

Dan Scholey, Chief Product Officer, Moneyhub

Financial services platforms have been guilty of differentiating more on technical specifications, or look and feel, than their ability to impact the real lives of consumers. Dan Scholey, Chief Product Officer at UK FinTech Moneyhub believes many consumers suffer with high levels of financial anxiety, low confidence in managing money, and a lack of basic financial literacy. As Open Banking evolves into Open Finance, real-time client data is becoming readily accessible, and it is incumbent on banks and advisers to take advantage of these developments to help customers make more from their money and bring greater long-term value for the customers they serve.

Carrie Osman, Founder & CEO, Cruxy

London-based Cruxy has delivered growth strategy to 40+ capital markets FinTechs and advised 20+ private equity firms (ranging from $1bn up to $100 billion AUM) on value creation through product, packaging and pricing. More than 80% of Cruxy's clients are based in the USA. The firm’s Founder and CEO, Carrie Osman talks FinTech value creation with Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence. 

Ben Turner, Founder & CEO, Verituity

Instant settlement has a downside – the potential for fraud and compliance exposure. Continuous verification is likely essential for stablecoin-based disbursements to function safely. Banks must look to design stablecoin systems that combine speed with enterprise grade integrity. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence speaks to Ben Turner, Founder and CEO of Verituity. 

This interview with Ritesh Pai discusses the rapidly changing world of global digital payments. He explains how technologies such as artificial intelligence, biometric security, and blockchain are improving the personalization and security of financial services. The interview places strong emphasis on financial inclusion, highlighting the importance of mobile-first infrastructure and simplified identity verification to help unbanked populations access digital finance. PhonePe also sees major potential in expanding India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) globally to improve international remittances and cross-border transactions. Additionally, Pai explains how companies can manage complex regulations by using flexible compliance systems and working closely with local regulators.

This interview highlights how Perfios operates as a “TechFin” leader by providing AI-driven digital infrastructure for the banking and insurance sectors. The company offers tools that automate the customer lifecycle, including onboarding, identity verification, credit underwriting, and fraud detection. By using alternative data and machine learning, Perfios helps financial institutions improve financial inclusion while maintaining strong risk management and regulatory compliance. The interview also explains how the acquisition of Clari5 strengthened the company’s ability to detect financial crimes such as money laundering and deepfake fraud in real time. Overall, it presents Perfios’ strategy of global expansion and continuous innovation to build a secure and future-ready financial ecosystem.

This interview with leaders from X-Biz Techventures discusses the growing role of artificial intelligence in modern cybersecurity. The interview explains how AI is helping organizations move from reactive to proactive security by continuously monitoring attack surfaces and detecting hidden risks such as shadow IT and undocumented APIs. The leaders emphasize that traditional security audits are no longer enough to handle advanced AI-driven cyber threats, making automated risk assessments and behavioural analytics increasingly important. The discussion also highlights the challenges of supply chain security and the need for machine learning to manage third-party vendor risks. Overall, the interview presents SecureNexus as a solution that combines human expertise with advanced technology to strengthen long-term digital resilience.