Banking and investment are no longer just about numbers-they are about intelligence. AI is reshaping finance, helping institutions detect fraud, assess risk, and personalize investment strategies. But with these advancements comes a critical question: How do we ensure AI-driven finance remains secure, fair, and accessible? Girish Wali, a banking technologist with nearly two decades of experience, has been working at the intersection of AI and finance, building solutions that help banks detect fraud, improve compliance, and make smarter investment decisions.
As Senior Vice President at Citibank, Wali works on AI-driven banking infrastructure, where he has helped develop tools that optimize lending, enhance security, and improve regulatory compliance. His work reflects a broader trend-financial institutions are relying more on AI not just for efficiency, but for accuracy and security in an increasingly complex global economy.
Enhancing Lending and Risk Assessment with AI
A key challenge in modern banking is balancing accessibility with security-financial institutions aim to streamline lending processes while effectively managing risks and ensuring compliance.
Wali was part of the team that developed a lending platform leveraging AI, designed to accelerate loan processing while maintaining regulatory compliance and fraud prevention measures. This system was particularly critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, when financial institutions and governments needed to rapidly distribute emergency relief funds.
By integrating risk models leveraging AI, the platform:
- Accelerated loan approvals, ensuring businesses received timely financial assistance.
- Detected and flagged potential fraud, protecting banks from the misuse of relief programs.
- Expanded financial accessibility, particularly benefiting small businesses facing challenges in traditional lending processes.
This AI-driven approach transformed lending operations, enabling faster, more secure, and more inclusive financial support during a period of unprecedented demand.
AI in banking is evolving from an automation tool to a decision-making partner, reshaping how financial institutions manage risk and serve customers.
Bringing AI to Personal Investment Decisions
Beyond banking security, AI is also changing the way individuals invest. Traditionally, financial advisory services have been manual and resource-intensive, often limiting personalized guidance to wealthy clients.
Two of Wali’s USPTO-patented AI innovations focus on making investment strategies more personalized and accessible:
Portfolio – Uses AI to analyze peer investment behavior and provide customized recommendations, bridging the gap between expert-driven advice and self-directed investing.
SpendVest – Connects consumer spending habits to investment opportunities, allowing users to invest in brands they frequently purchase from, making investing more intuitive.
AI-driven investing is making wealth management more accessible, allowing individuals to make smarter financial decisions without relying solely on traditional advisors.
The Growing Role of AI in Banking Security
Cybersecurity remains a top concern for financial institutions, with fraud and compliance violations costing banks billions annually. AI has become a crucial part of fraud detection and risk assessment, as machine learning models can identify suspicious activity faster and more accurately than traditional methods.
Wali’s work has contributed to developing AI-powered compliance automation and security frameworks that:
- Monitor transactions in real time, identifying anomalies that indicate fraud.
- Automate compliance reporting, reducing the burden on financial institutions.
- Ensure banks meet evolving regulatory requirements, adapting AI to global financial laws.
These advancements align with a broader industry shift, where financial organizations prioritize AI not just for efficiency, but to enhance security and regulatory compliance.
Judging Emerging Financial Technologies
Apart from his work in AI-driven banking, Wali has also served as a judge for global technology and business competitions, evaluating emerging innovations in fintech, cybersecurity, and AI.
By reviewing and assessing new financial technologies, he plays a role in identifying what’s next for AI-driven finance. This aligns with his broader professional focus-ensuring AI is leveraged to make banking and investment decisions more secure, efficient, and accessible.
Where AI in Finance Is Heading
AI is no longer a future concept in banking-it is actively shaping financial decision-making today. As technology advances, banks and investment firms will rely even more on AI-driven models to enhance security, lending, and advisory services.
For professionals like Wali, the challenge isn’t just building AI-driven banking tools, but ensuring that technology is used responsibly and transparently. Financial AI must be designed to prioritize security, reduce biases in decision-making, and ensure compliance with regulations.
Looking ahead, Wali’s current areas of focus include:
- Further advancements in AI-powered fraud prevention, using predictive analytics.
- Scaling AI-driven investment strategies, making finance more accessible to a wider audience.
- Developing compliance solutions that keep pace with evolving global regulations.
“The real value of AI in banking isn`t just automation-it`s using data to make smarter, safer financial decisions,” Wali explains.
As AI-driven finance becomes more sophisticated, the question isn’t whether financial institutions will adopt AI-it’s how effectively they can integrate it into decision-making while ensuring security, compliance, and trust.
