Tomi Popoola on where AI will create the biggest advantage in fintech

Tomi Popoola works at the point where artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure and financial services converge.

A founder, former AWS Solutions Architect and sought-after fintech expert, she brings a practical view of how emerging technologies can reshape access, efficiency and growth across financial services.

Her background gives that perspective real weight. Popoola began her career at JP Morgan, later supported cloud solutions for Fortune 500 firms at AWS, and went on to found Slash Finances, a company using AI to promote financial inclusion.

With academic grounding in both Computer Science and Finance, she combines technical depth with a clear understanding of commercial application.

She has also built a strong reputation as a speaker who can make complex subjects usable for real-world audiences.

Her talks cover financial technology and inclusion, generative AI and automation, cloud infrastructure and multi-region deployment, and she has spoken on major stages, including AWS Re-Invent roadshows and Black Tech Fest.

In this exclusive interview with the AI Speakers Agency, Tomi Popoola explores where strategic leverage will sit in the AI-fintech stack, which metrics investors should watch most closely, and why data, fraud infrastructure and distribution will shape the next phase of financial services.

Q1. Which layers of the AI-fintech stack will capture the most strategic leverage over the next 12 to 18 months?

Tomi Popoola: “Strategic leverage will concentrate where AI meets irreplaceable structural advantages, and three layers stand out.

“The first is proprietary data. The durable moat in financial AI isn’t the model. It’s the underlying transaction and behavioural data that trains and continuously refines it.

“Banks, payment networks, and large fintech platforms already hold datasets that compound in value as AI becomes more deeply embedded in operations. AI can commoditise models, but it cannot commoditise the data feeding them.

“The second is fraud and risk infrastructure. This layer will monetise fastest because the ROI is immediate and measurable.

“Even marginal improvements in fraud detection translate directly into loss reduction, while better risk scoring expands approvals without inflating defaults. These tools also slot into existing workflows with relatively low friction, which accelerates adoption.

“The third, and most durable, is distribution. The greatest value in financial services has always accrued to whoever owns the customer relationship.

“Payments apps, neobanks, and embedded finance platforms can deploy AI across lending, insurance, payments, and financial advice, compounding its impact across the entire customer lifecycle.”

Q2. What metrics should investors track to assess whether AI is genuinely moving the needle?

Tomi Popoola: “The most revealing metrics are those where machine intelligence should produce outcomes that humans or rules-based systems simply cannot match at scale.

“Fraud loss rate is often the cleanest signal of model effectiveness. Look for sustained reductions without a corresponding spike in false positives that reject legitimate transactions.

“Cost-to-serve per account captures the operational impact of automation across support, compliance, and underwriting. If AI is working, this number should fall without a degradation in service quality.

“Credit approval rates alongside default metrics are particularly instructive together. Rising approvals paired with stable or declining charge-offs suggest better risk discrimination, not just looser standards.

“CAC to LTV ratios can improve meaningfully if AI enables more precise targeting, better product-market fit at the customer level, and higher cross-sell conversion.

“Manual review rates are perhaps the most underused metric. The proportion of transactions still requiring human intervention in fraud, compliance, or underwriting is a direct measure of automation effectiveness. Consistent declines here translate almost mechanically into margin expansion.”

This exclusive interview with Tomi Popoola was conducted by Tabish Ali of the Motivational Speakers Agency.