Boku puts Data & AI at the heart of its next growth phase

[London, UK - 2 June 2026] - Boku, the local payments partner for global commerce, announces it is creating a Data & AI function within its executive leadership structure. This organisational change demonstrates the strategic importance of the function to the wider group and reflects the power of AI technology to support the next phase of growth. The move is designed to help the company scale its services and drive value for customers through product enhancements.

Boku has appointed David Oliver to lead the new function as the company's first Chief Data & AI Officer (CDAIO). David, who joined Boku from NatWest in 2024, will sit on Boku's Global Leadership Team and report to Stuart Neal, Chief Executive Officer. He brings extensive experience at the intersection of data, analytics, and strategy within financial services.

Over the past 18 months, Boku has been building its data and AI capabilities through pilots, automation, and internal investment. The newly dedicated function will bring this work under a single operating model, with an initial focus on the tools, governance and infrastructure required to develop and deploy AI effectively and safely at scale.

One of the immediate priorities for the newly established function will be to embed an AI infrastructure across the business. This will enable Boku to deploy AI consistently and securely to optimise performance and accelerate delivery across teams and departments. This is particularly important as the payments industry prepares to leverage the huge potential of agentic processes in business, retail and consumer facing sectors.

Boku's global LPM network provides merchants access to over seven billion customer accounts across more than 60 countries, through payment methods including digital wallets, account-to-account schemes and direct carrier billing. This network incorporates licensed cross border money movement and currency conversion, comprehensive regulatory and operational infrastructure, combined with embedded bundling programmes to support subscriber acquisition. The Data & AI function will help Boku harness the full potential of these data assets safely and securely, alongside existing and emerging technologies, to strengthen Boku's operations and enhance outcomes for customers.

Stuart Neal, CEO of Boku, said: "In recent years, Boku's proposition has evolved to drive even greater value for our customers, particularly by supporting their growth ambitions in new markets and among LPM-native consumers. However, the world we operate in never stands still. New AI-powered technologies are opening hugely exciting opportunities to augment our existing services and transform how we scale and serve our customers efficiently, and we are focused being at the forefront of these advances. The Data & AI function will oversee these important priorities and, under David's leadership, will be a key driver of Boku's next phase of growth."

David Oliver, Chief Data & AI Officer at Boku, said: "Boku already operates at significant scale, and there's an exciting opportunity to now turn that scale into repeatable intelligence that will improve decision-making, strengthen operations and help teams deliver better outcomes for our customers. My focus is to ensure we are deploying our data, technology and AI consistently and securely, and then scale what works across the business."

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NOTES TO EDITORS
About Boku Inc.
Boku Inc. (AIM: BOKU) is the local payments partner for global commerce. Through a single integration, merchants can access over seven billion customer accounts across more than 60 countries, through payment methods including digital wallets, account-to-account schemes, buy-now-pay-later, and direct carrier billing. Boku pairs that network with cross-border money movement, embedded bundling, and the licensing and operational infrastructure to help merchants acquire and retain customers in markets where they have no local presence.

Boku's platform serves leading global merchants including Spotify, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, and Tencent. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in London, Boku is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (BOKU).
For more information, visit www.boku.com

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