Patricia Rozados-López, VP EMEA Financial Services, SymphonyAI

Today we're delighted to speak with Patricia Rozados-López, VP EMEA for Financial Services at SymphonyAI, the AI-native enterprise software company whose platform is used by more than 200 financial institutions for financial crime, compliance and risk work across KYC, AML, fraud, sanctions and screening. Patricia's route into the sector runs through an economics degree at Universidad Pública de Navarra, an MBA at Warwick Business School, a politics degree with the Open University and a history degree she is still working on, a combination she credits for how she reads long-term change in banking. In this interview she discusses why the AI conversation in financial services has moved from productivity to trust, the gap between the data institutions hold and the decisions they actually manage to make, and why Europe's new anti-money laundering authority is the most interesting development she has seen in the sector recently.

My questions are in bold - over to you Patricia:

Who are you and what's your background?

I'm Patricia Rozados Lopez, VP Sales, EMEA for Financial Services at SymphonyAI, where I work with banks, insurers and other financial institutions to help them unlock the power of AI to drive smarter decisions, improve operational efficiency and create better customer outcomes.

I've spent my career at the intersection of financial services, enterprise technology and business transformation, partnering with organisations across EMEA as they navigate changing market dynamics, increasing regulatory demands and evolving customer expectations. Throughout that journey, I've witnessed several major technology shifts, from digitisation and analytics to cloud adoption and now AI. What makes today's transformation unique is that AI is no longer just supporting business processes - it's becoming a strategic driver of growth, resilience and competitive advantage.

What particularly excites me about my role at SymphonyAI is that we're an AI-native company. In financial services, AI has moved far beyond experimentation. Institutions are looking for practical, trusted solutions that can help them combat financial crime, improve compliance, enhance risk management and deliver more personalised customer experiences. Being able to work with organisations that are turning AI from a concept into measurable business value is both professionally rewarding and intellectually stimulating.

My path into financial services was driven by a fascination with how organisations make decisions, manage risk and create value in increasingly complex environments. Financial institutions sit at the center of the global economy, and I've always been drawn to the combination of innovation, regulation, data and trust that defines the sector. FinTech, in particular, represents one of the most dynamic areas of business, where technology has the power to transform not only operations but also the way people and businesses interact with financial services.

My academic background has given me a broad perspective on how societies, institutions and markets evolve. I studied BSc (Hons) in Economics at Universidad Pública de Navarra, completed an MBA at Warwick Business School, and also hold a BSc (Hons) in Politics at the Open University. Today, I'm further expanding that perspective through my ongoing BSc (Hons) in History.

This combination of disciplines has shaped the way I approach business and technology. Economics provided a strong understanding of financial markets and risk, Politics deepened my appreciation for regulation, governance and decision-making, while History continues to reinforce the importance of understanding long-term trends and the forces that drive change.

These interests naturally led me into financial services and FinTech, a sector where finance, regulation, technology and innovation converge. Today, at SymphonyAI, I have the opportunity to bring those perspectives together, helping financial institutions leverage AI to transform decision-making, strengthen risk management and create lasting business value.

One lesson that has remained constant throughout my career is that, regardless of how advanced technology becomes, success ultimately comes down to people. AI can provide extraordinary insights and automation, but real transformation happens when organisations build trust, align stakeholders behind a common vision and empower their people to embrace change. The most successful technology initiatives are those that combine innovation with a clear business purpose.

Leading teams and working with customers across EMEA has reinforced the importance of curiosity, adaptability and collaboration. Every market has unique challenges, every institution has its own transformation journey and every customer defines success differently. Understanding those nuances and helping organisations connect technology investments to meaningful outcomes is what continues to motivate me.

Today, we're witnessing a once-in-a-generation shift in financial services. AI is reshaping how institutions detect financial crime, manage risk, serve customers and drive operational excellence. At SymphonyAI, I'm fortunate to be working at the forefront of that transformation helping financial institutions adopt trusted, industry-specific AI solutions that deliver measurable results while ensuring innovation remains grounded in transparency, governance and human expertise.

What is your job title and what are your general responsibilities?

I'm VP EMEA for Financial Services at SymphonyAI.

My role is to lead the growth and expansion of our financial services business across the region, working closely with financial institutions to help them address critical challenges through industry-specific AI solutions. I partner with executive stakeholders, technology leaders and business teams to align innovation initiatives with strategic business objectives.

A key part of my responsibility is building and developing high-performing sales teams, fostering strong customer partnerships and ensuring we deliver value at every stage of the customer journey. I also collaborate closely with product, customer success and partner teams to bring together the expertise needed to help clients achieve their transformation goals.

Much of my time is spent engaging with banking, insurance and capital markets leaders to understand how AI can help them strengthen risk management, improve operational performance, enhance compliance and create better experiences for their customers.

Ultimately, my focus is on helping financial institutions translate the potential of AI into measurable business outcomes. When our customers achieve greater efficiency, make better decisions and deliver stronger results, we've succeeded in our mission as a trusted partner.

Can you give us an overview of your business?

SymphonyAI is an AI-native enterprise software company that delivers purpose-built AI solutions for financial services, helping organisations make better decisions, detect risk faster and operate more effectively.

In financial services, the conversation around AI has evolved rapidly. Most institutions no longer question whether AI can improve productivity or automate processes. The challenge today is how to apply AI in a way that is trusted, explainable and aligned with the regulatory and governance requirements of the industry.

What differentiates SymphonyAI is our focus on industry-specific AI. Rather than offering generic AI capabilities, we develop solutions designed around the unique challenges financial institutions face - from financial crime detection and anti-money laundering to compliance, risk management and operational efficiency. By combining advanced AI with deep domain expertise, we help organisations generate insights and recommendations that are relevant, actionable and aligned to their business context.

For financial institutions, trust is critical. AI outputs must be transparent, auditable and supported by strong governance frameworks. The ability to understand not only what decision has been made, but why it has been made, is essential in highly regulated environments where accountability and regulatory scrutiny are ever-present.

As AI becomes increasingly embedded into the daily operations of banks, insurers and capital markets firms, I believe the real differentiator will be the ability to deliver trusted outcomes at scale. Success will not be measured by how much AI an organisation deploys, but by how confidently its people can use AI-driven insights to make better decisions, manage risk more effectively and create value for customers while maintaining the highest standards of governance and compliance.

Tell us how you are funded?

SymphonyAI is a privately held, AI-native enterprise software company founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. Romesh Wadhwani. The company was established with a commitment of more than $1 billion to build industry-specific AI solutions for sectors including financial services, retail, manufacturing, healthcare and enterprise IT.

Unlike many technology companies that have recently added AI capabilities to their offerings, SymphonyAI was built from the ground up with AI at its core. This long-term investment has enabled the company to develop deep domain expertise and purpose-built AI applications that address some of the most complex challenges facing financial institutions today, from financial crime prevention and compliance to risk management and operational efficiency.

What's the origin story? What problems was the company built to solve?

SymphonyAI was founded on a simple but ambitious belief: that artificial intelligence would become one of the most transformative technologies of our generation, but that businesses needed more than generic AI tools to solve their most critical challenges. From day one, the company was built as an AI-native organisation, focused on developing industry-specific solutions that combine advanced AI with deep domain expertise.

In financial services, we saw a particular opportunity. Banks and insurers generate vast amounts of data every day, yet many still struggle to convert that information into meaningful insights and actions. At the same time, they face increasing pressure from financial crime, regulatory requirements, operational complexity and rising customer expectations. Traditional approaches often rely on fragmented systems, manual investigations and reactive decision-making.

SymphonyAI was created to address these challenges by applying AI to the areas where it can have the greatest business impact. Our goal is to help financial institutions move from simply collecting data to making faster, more informed and more confident decisions. Whether it's detecting suspicious activity, strengthening compliance processes, managing risk or improving operational efficiency, we focus on solving real-world business problems rather than deploying AI for AI's sake.

What differentiates SymphonyAI is our belief that successful AI in financial services must be both powerful and practical. Financial institutions operate in highly regulated environments where accuracy, explainability and trust are essential. That's why our solutions are designed around the specific workflows, regulations and challenges of the industry, enabling organisations to adopt AI in a way that is scalable, transparent and accountable.

Today, as AI becomes central to the future of financial services, we continue to focus on the same mission: helping organisations reduce risk, improve performance and unlock new opportunities for growth through trusted, industry-specific AI. We believe the winners in this new era won't simply be the institutions with the most data, but those that can turn that data into intelligent action faster and more effectively than their competitors.

Who are your target customers? What's your revenue model?

SymphonyAI Financial Services works with a broad range of financial institutions, including global and regional banks, capital markets firms, payments providers, fintechs and insurance organisations. Our solutions are particularly relevant for institutions looking to strengthen financial crime prevention, enhance compliance, improve risk management and drive greater operational efficiency through AI. We are proud to support many of the world's leading financial institutions, with over 200 financial organisations leveraging SymphonyAI technologies globally.

Our revenue model is based primarily on enterprise software subscriptions and long-term strategic partnerships. Customers license our AI-powered platforms and solutions to address specific business challenges, whether that's anti-money laundering, fraud detection, sanctions screening, compliance monitoring or operational intelligence. We work closely with customers throughout their transformation journey, helping them deploy and scale AI in a way that delivers measurable and sustainable business outcomes.

What makes our approach different is our focus on delivering industry-specific AI rather than generic AI capabilities. Financial institutions operate in highly regulated environments where explainability, governance and trust are critical. By combining advanced AI with deep financial services expertise, we help organisations make faster decisions, reduce risk and improve efficiency while maintaining the transparency and controls that regulators and stakeholders expect.

The conversations we are having with customers today are increasingly centered on outcomes rather than technology. They want to know how AI can help investigators identify suspicious activity faster, how compliance teams can manage growing regulatory demands more effectively, or how institutions can reduce operational costs while improving customer experience. Our role is to help them turn vast amounts of data into actionable intelligence that drives real business value.

Ultimately, our success is directly linked to our customers' success. As financial institutions continue to modernise their operations and embrace AI at scale, we aim to be a trusted partner that helps them navigate complexity, manage risk and unlock new opportunities for growth through responsible and impactful AI.

If you had a magic wand, what one thing would you change in the banking and/or FinTech sector?

If I had a magic wand, I would remove the disconnect between data availability and decision-making.

Financial institutions have access to more data than ever before, yet too much time is still spent gathering information, reconciling systems and validating insights before action can be taken. In many organisations, critical decisions relating to risk, financial crime, compliance and customer engagement are still slowed down by fragmented data, legacy processes and operational silos.

The opportunity for the industry is not simply to have more AI, but to create an environment where trusted intelligence is available at the point of decision. Imagine a world where compliance teams can identify and investigate suspicious activity in real time, risk teams can proactively anticipate emerging threats and frontline employees have immediate access to the insights they need to serve customers more effectively - all with full transparency, governance and regulatory oversight.

From my perspective, the biggest challenge facing banking today is not a lack of technology; it's the ability to convert vast amounts of information into confident, timely and actionable decisions. That's why I believe AI has such transformative potential. When applied responsibly, it can help institutions move from being reactive to proactive, allowing people to focus less on processing information and more on making strategic decisions.

At SymphonyAI, that's very much aligned with our vision. The future belongs to financial institutions that can combine human expertise with trusted, industry-specific AI to make better decisions faster, reduce risk and deliver better outcomes for customers. If we can remove the friction between data, insight and action, we'll unlock enormous value across the entire financial ecosystem.

What is your message for the larger players in the Financial Services marketplace?

My message to CEOs, CIOs and senior leaders across financial services is simple: the AI opportunity is real, but the competitive advantage won't come from adopting AI, it will come from operationalising it at scale.

Most institutions have already moved beyond asking whether AI will transform the industry. The question now is how quickly they can embed AI into core business processes in a way that delivers measurable outcomes while maintaining trust, governance and regulatory compliance.

The organisations that will lead the next decade won't necessarily be those with the largest technology budgets or the most data. They will be the ones that successfully combine human expertise, high-quality data and AI-driven intelligence to make better decisions faster. Whether it's combating financial crime, strengthening risk management, enhancing customer experiences or driving operational efficiency, AI has the potential to fundamentally reshape how financial institutions operate.

At the same time, leaders should resist the temptation to pursue AI for its own sake. The most successful initiatives start with a clearly defined business problem and a measurable outcome. AI should not be viewed as a technology project; it should be viewed as a business transformation initiative.

I'd also encourage leaders to think beyond productivity gains. While efficiency is important, the real value of AI lies in enabling organisations to be more proactive, more predictive and more customer-centric. The institutions that embrace this mindset will be best positioned to navigate increasing regulatory complexity, evolving customer expectations and a rapidly changing competitive landscape.

Finally, trust must remain at the center of every AI strategy. In financial services, accuracy, explainability and accountability are non-negotiable. The institutions that can combine innovation with strong governance will not only realise greater value from AI but will also earn the confidence of regulators, employees and customers alike.

The future of financial services will be defined by those who can transform data into decisions and decisions into action. The technology is ready. The opportunity is here. The challenge now is execution.

Where do you get your Financial Services/FinTech industry news from?

I believe it's important to combine traditional financial news sources with specialist technology and FinTech perspectives.

On a daily basis, I follow publications such as Financial Times and Bloomberg to stay informed on global macroeconomic trends, banking developments, regulation and market dynamics. These provide valuable context around the forces shaping the financial services industry.

For insights into technology innovation, AI and FinTech, I regularly read The Financial Brand, Finextra and The Banker. These sources do an excellent job of highlighting emerging trends, real-world innovation and how financial institutions are responding to evolving customer expectations and regulatory requirements.

Beyond publications, some of my most valuable insights come directly from conversations with customers, industry peers and technology leaders. Working closely with banks, insurers and financial institutions across EMEA gives me a front-row seat to the opportunities and challenges they are facing. Often, those conversations provide a more immediate view of where the industry is heading than any headline or analyst report.

Ultimately, I try to balance market intelligence, technology trends and customer perspectives. In an industry evolving as rapidly as financial services and AI, staying connected to all three is essential.

Can you list 3 people you rate from the FinTech and/or Financial Services sector that we should be following on LinkedIn, and why?

1. Dr. Romesh Wadhwani
Founder and Chairman of SymphonyAI, Romesh is one of the pioneers of enterprise AI and a highly respected technology entrepreneur. What makes him particularly interesting is his focus on applying AI to solve real industry challenges rather than pursuing technology for technology's sake. His perspectives on AI, innovation, leadership and digital transformation are highly relevant for anyone interested in the future of financial services.

2. Brett King
Brett is one of the most influential voices in FinTech and the future of banking. Through his books, podcasts and thought leadership, he consistently challenges the industry to think beyond incremental change and embrace new business models, AI and digital-first customer experiences.

3. Jim Marous
Jim is one of the most trusted commentators on banking innovation and transformation. He combines strategic vision with practical insights, making his content particularly valuable for financial services leaders navigating AI adoption, customer experience and operational modernisation.

What FinTech services (and/or apps) do you personally use?

I tend to gravitate towards platforms that help me stay informed and make better decisions rather than purely consumer-focused FinTech apps.

S&P Capital IQ and Bloomberg are invaluable for market intelligence, industry research and understanding the macroeconomic forces shaping financial services. They remain some of the most powerful platforms for turning data into actionable insight.

I'm also a regular reader of Finextra, which I find particularly useful for staying on top of developments in payments, digital banking, financial crime prevention and AI across the industry.

More recently, I've become increasingly interested in the new generation of AI-powered solutions transforming financial services. As someone working at SymphonyAI, I believe we're only at the beginning of a major shift where AI becomes embedded into risk management, compliance, financial crime prevention and decision-making processes across the industry.

What's the best new FinTech product or service you've seen recently?

One of the most significant developments I've seen recently isn't a product in the traditional sense, but the establishment of the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) and the ecosystem of innovation it is driving across the financial services sector.

As AMLA begins to shape a more harmonised approach to anti-money laundering and financial crime compliance across Europe, financial institutions are increasingly rethinking how they detect risk, investigate suspicious activity and manage compliance obligations. This is accelerating investment in data-driven and AI-powered approaches to financial crime prevention.

What excites me is the shift from reactive compliance to proactive intelligence. The combination of regulatory modernisation, better data sharing and AI-driven analytics has the potential to help institutions identify complex criminal networks more effectively while reducing operational burden on investigators. For me, that's one of the most important and impactful innovations happening in financial services today, not just because it improves efficiency, but because it helps make the financial system safer and more resilient.

Finally, let's talk predictions. What trends do you think are going to define the next few years in the FinTech sector?

I believe we're entering a new phase for FinTech and financial services, one where the focus shifts from digitisation to intelligence. The institutions that succeed over the next few years will be those that can turn data into insight and insight into action more quickly and effectively than their competitors.

The first major trend will be the move from AI experimentation to AI at scale. Most financial institutions have already tested AI in isolated use cases. The next challenge will be embedding AI into core business processes, from financial crime prevention and risk management to customer service and operational decision-making. The winners won't be the organisations deploying the most AI, but those delivering the most measurable business outcomes from it.

A second trend will be the growing importance of trusted and explainable AI. In highly regulated industries such as banking and insurance, accuracy, transparency and governance are non-negotiable. As AI becomes more deeply integrated into decision-making, institutions will place greater emphasis on understanding how decisions are made and ensuring that models remain compliant, auditable and responsible.

I also expect to see a significant evolution in the fight against financial crime. Criminal networks are becoming more sophisticated and increasingly leveraging advanced technologies themselves. Financial institutions will need AI-powered solutions that can identify hidden patterns, uncover emerging risks and enable investigators to focus on the highest-value threats rather than being overwhelmed by false positives.

Another area of transformation will be the convergence of AI, automation and human expertise. The future is not about replacing people; it's about augmenting them. The most successful organisations will be those that empower employees with intelligent insights, allowing them to spend less time gathering information and more time making strategic decisions and delivering value to customers.

Finally, I believe we'll see a growing focus on industry-specific AI. Generic AI models can be powerful, but financial institutions require solutions that understand their unique regulatory environments, workflows and risk considerations. The future belongs to AI that is purpose-built for the challenges of financial services and capable of delivering outcomes that are both trusted and measurable.

Ultimately, my prediction is that AI will become as fundamental to financial services as digital banking is today. The conversation will no longer be about whether to adopt AI, but about how effectively institutions can use it to drive growth, strengthen resilience and create better outcomes for customers. The organisations that combine innovation with trust, governance and domain expertise will be the ones that define the next generation of financial services.

Many thanks to Patricia Rozados-López for taking the time to share her insights with FinTech Profile. You can learn more about SymphonyAI on their website.