THE 2026 AGENDA
Take a look at the Money20/20 Middle East 2026 agenda to see who's taking the stage and the conversations that are defining the future of fintech
Day 3
11:55 AM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 11:55 AM—12:00 PM
(5 min)
Opening Remarks : MC Welcome
12:00 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 12:00 PM—12:40 PM
(40 min)
Panel Discussion : What Comes After Payments?
Payments are no longer the end goal, they are becoming the foundation for a new generation of real-time, intelligent, and interconnected financial services. As digital assets, instant payment networks, and programmable financial infrastructure converge, the industry is redefining how value moves, settles, and creates new economic opportunities.
Speakers
Farid Huseynov
CEO | Bir Ecosystem
David Birch
Global Ambassador | Consult Hyperion
Tony Ashraf
Managing Director | BlackRock
Off The Record
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Wednesday 16 September, 12:00 PM—12:00 PM
()
Opening Remarks : Virtual MC Welcome
The Capital
-
Wednesday 16 September, 12:00 PM—12:10 PM
(10 min)
Opening Remarks : MC Welcome
Next-Gen Money
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Wednesday 16 September, 12:00 PM—12:10 PM
(10 min)
Opening Remarks : MC Welcome
The New Financial System
12:10 PM
The Capital
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Wednesday 16 September, 12:10 PM—12:30 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : Built in Riyadh. Scaled Everywhere.
Saudi Arabia has rapidly emerged as one of the region's most dynamic fintech ecosystems, supported by progressive regulation, increasing access to capital, and a growing innovation economy. Yet building a successful company at home is only the first step. The next challenge is creating globally competitive businesses that can scale across markets, attract international investment, and become category leaders.Explore what separates regional success from global scale, the role of capital in accelerating international expansion, and how Saudi-founded companies can build enduring enterprise value on the world stage.
Speaker
Rakan Al Rashed
Managing Partner | BECO Capital
Next-Gen Money
-
Wednesday 16 September, 12:10 PM—12:30 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : Can I Trust You With My Money? The Psychology of Financial AI
AI can already recommend how people save, spend, borrow and invest. The next step is more consequential: allowing it to act.Consumers will not delegate financial decisions because a system is intelligent. They will do it when they understand what it is allowed to do, when it will ask for approval and whether a decision can be challenged or reversed.Opening the day, this conversation examines which financial decisions people are prepared to hand over, where they will insist on remaining in control and what banks and fintechs must build around consent, explanation and human intervention before autonomous finance becomes mainstream.
Speakers
Ilya Kravtsov
Founder & CEO | PILLAR
Yasar Ahmad
Founder | OVO Lab
12:30 PM
The Capital
-
Wednesday 16 September, 12:30 PM—01:00 PM
(30 min)
Fireside Chat : Insurtech: Protecting the Future of Capital
As climate risks, cyber threats and rising healthcare costs reshape the global economy, insurance is evolving from a financial safety net into a strategic investment opportunity. From AI-powered underwriting and embedded insurance to digital health and climate resilience, Insurtech is redefining how capital is protected, deployed and grown across MENA.
Next-Gen Money
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Wednesday 16 September, 12:30 PM—01:00 PM
(30 min)
Panel Discussion : Who Sells Financial Products When AI Makes the Decisions?
A consumer asks an AI assistant to find the best current account, the right insurance product or a sensible place to put savings. The assistant compares providers, filters products and recommends. The customer never reaches a website or an app, and the provider never knows the comparison happened.Distribution built on brand, search and branch presence does not survive that intact.The panel gets to the practical version of the problem: what a financial company has to do to remain visible to a machine choosing on someone's behalf, and whether the next generation of institutions will be competing for people or for the algorithms representing them.
Speakers
Christophe Makni
Head of Data, Automation and AI | Migros Bank
Frank Amankwah
CTO | Sabile Studio
12:40 PM
The Bridge
-
Wednesday 16 September, 12:40 PM—01:20 PM
(40 min)
Panel Discussion : Building the Trade Rails of Tomorrow
As trade corridors evolve, so must the systems that support them. Explore how digital payments, instant settlement, and cross-border interoperability are reshaping the foundations of regional and global commerce.
Speakers
Laurent Marochini
Chief Executive Officer | Standard Chartered Luxembourg
Ahmad Yaacoub
VP MENA & Country Head | Thunes
Tianwei Liu
CEO and Co-Founder | StraitsX
1:00 PM
The Capital
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Wednesday 16 September, 01:00 PM—01:40 PM
(40 min)
Panel Discussion : AI-Native Companies: The New Rules of Enterprise Value
AI is fundamentally changing how companies are built, scaled and valued. AI-native businesses are redefining traditional assumptions around productivity, capital efficiency, operating models and competitive advantage, enabling smaller teams to create outsized enterprise value. As investors reassess the characteristics of tomorrow's market leaders, the focus is shifting from scale alone to defensibility, proprietary data, distribution and long-term value creation. This session explores how AI is reshaping enterprise value, what distinguishes the next generation of category leaders, and where investors see the greatest opportunities for long-term returns.
Next-Gen Money
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Wednesday 16 September, 01:00 PM—01:40 PM
(40 min)
Panel Discussion : When AI Fails: Who Pays?
An autonomous system makes a financial decision. Someone loses money. The argument starts immediately and has no obvious winner.Liability could sit with the institution that deployed the model, the vendor that built it, the team that trained it, or the customer who agreed to delegate the decision in the first place. Most arrangements currently leave the answer implied.This panel refuses the abstract version. Where liability actually lands when financial AI causes harm. What governance looks like when an autonomous system has to survive a real audit rather than a policy review. And which of these responsibilities must be settled before agentic finance operates at scale, not after.
Speakers
Justin Malta
Global Leader, Risk and Regulatory Advisory | KPMG
Claire Harrop
Partner | Freshfields LLP
Balaji Rajagopalan
CTO | State Bank of India
Ratul Ahmed
Managing Director - Lending | Commerzbank AG
1:20 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 01:20 PM—01:50 PM
(30 min)
Fireside Chat : Always-On Wallet: Banking for the digital natives
The financial architecture for a generation that never powers down.Always-on isn't a feature, it's becoming the default state of an economy. This session unpacks the infrastructure, governance and trust models that an always-on economy depends on. It keeps the future-facing energy while staying firmly on the systems beneath it.
Speakers
Karan Chawla
Director, Global Head of Financial Services | Uber Technologies Inc.
Ambareen Musa
Chief Executive Officer - GCC | Revolut
Off The Record
-
Wednesday 16 September, 01:20 PM—01:40 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : Match Made in Heaven: The New Creator & Bank Alliance
The creator economy is now a $250B network of micro-businesses and banks, platforms and fintechs are racing to serve them.Are creators just a new customer segment, or the next frontier of banking entirely? We look at who builds the winning relationship over the next decade.
Speakers
Glauber Mota
CEO - Brazil | Revolut
Aydan Al-Saad
Influencer | What do you do?
Afua Hagan
Journalist & Broadcaster | News Central
1:40 PM
The Capital
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Wednesday 16 September, 01:40 PM—02:00 PM
(20 min)
Live Demo : Can AI Investment Decisions Be Trusted?
A compliance officer can't take an AI's investment call on faith. This session opens one live recommendation and walks it backward: explanation, portfolio logic, signal, data - exposing exactly where the evidence trail holds and where it quietly comes apart.
Speaker
Ivan Chelebiev
CEO | Chicago Global
Next-Gen Money
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Wednesday 16 September, 01:40 PM—02:00 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : Life on Autopilot: The Rise of Autonomous Money
Managing money has traditionally meant completing a series of separate tasks: paying bills, moving savings, monitoring spending and choosing when to act.AI agents are beginning to turn those tasks into an always-on financial service. They can anticipate upcoming needs, manage subscriptions, move money and adjust financial plans within limits set by the customer.This conversation explores what everyday financial life looks like when money management shifts from manual action to continuous automation. How will autonomous systems coordinate spending, saving and financial planning across a customer’s life? What happens when circumstances change or the system gets something wrong? And can money become effortless without making the person who owns it invisible?
Speaker
Mohamed Mansour
Regional Director | Wise
Off The Record
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Wednesday 16 September, 01:40 PM—02:00 PM
(20 min)
Panel Discussion : $650B in Motion: The New Remittance Cost Curve
Remittance costs remain above the 3% global target, and a younger, mobile-first customer base is shifting volume toward instant, low-cost digital channels.We map what the $650B+ market looks like as fee revenue compresses: who survives, who consolidates, and what new risks replace the old ones.
Speaker
Mohamed Mansour
Regional Director | Wise
1:50 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 01:50 PM—02:20 PM
(30 min)
Fireside Chat : “The” Inheritors' Blueprint
How the next generation wants the next financial systems built.The people who'll run on tomorrow's rails rarely get to shape them. This session changes that, putting next-gen builders in dialogue about the infrastructure, incentives and governance being designed now. It's a forward look co-authored by the generation it's for.
Speaker
Naif Alajmi
Co-Founder, Board Member, and Head of Arranging | OORI
2:00 PM
Off The Record
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Wednesday 16 September, 02:00 PM—02:20 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : Who Still Uses Their Bank Cards?
You don’t reach for your wallet anymore, it reaches for you.From social platforms to creator ecosystems and embedded retail experiences, finance is no longer a destination, it’s infrastructure. Invisible, frictionless and woven into the scroll, the click and the checkout.As AI agents start making decisions and completing transactions on our behalf, who actually owns the customer relationship when the customer never opens a banking app again?
Speaker
Panagiotis Kriaris
Director / Strategic Advisor | Unzer / Nordic Fintech
2:20 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 02:20 PM—02:50 PM
(30 min)
Panel Discussion : Building the Builders: Who Will Power the Next Generation of Financial Infrastructure?
The greatest challenge facing financial infrastructure may not be technology, it may be talent. As AI, cloud, digital identity and real-time payments reshape financial systems, countries are competing to build the skills, partnerships and innovation ecosystems needed to sustain long-term transformation. How should governments, industry, universities and investors work together to develop the next generation of fintech talent and ensure financial infrastructure continues to evolve?
Speakers
Wasim Hamoud
Founder & CEO | Moola
Sumnesh Joshi
Deputy Director General | Government of India
Off The Record
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Wednesday 16 September, 02:20 PM—02:40 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : Are Traditional Exchanges Becoming Obsolete?
2:40 PM
The Capital
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Wednesday 16 September, 02:40 PM—03:00 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : What Makes a Company Worth Owning?
Capital gets you started. But product, customers, distribution and loyalty are what ultimately create enterprise value. A founder and investor unpack what separates businesses that simply raise money from those that build something customers genuinely want to keep using.
Off The Record
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Wednesday 16 September, 02:40 PM—03:10 PM
(30 min)
Panel Discussion : If AI Manages Your Money, Do You Still Need To Understand It?
AI is rapidly evolving from a financial assistant into a financial decision-maker. As intelligent agents begin recommending investments, choosing credit products, managing budgets and automating everyday financial decisions, the role of financial education is being fundamentally challenged.Will AI democratise better financial outcomes, or will it create a generation of consumers who trust algorithms without understanding the consequences? If technology becomes the expert, what financial knowledge remains essential, and who is ultimately accountable when AI gets it wrong?
Speakers
Tolani Abere
Influencer & Investment Professional | Tolani Talks Money
Christophe Makni
Head of Data, Automation and AI | Migros Bank
Azeem Khan
Co-Founder | Miden
Prof.Dr. Ahmed Ebada
Professor, AI Strategist & CEO | HOPn
2:50 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 02:50 PM—03:30 PM
(40 min)
Panel Discussion : Monetizing Openness: The Future of Financial Ecosystems
Open finance was built on access. The next phase is about value. As data, identity, payments, and financial services become increasingly interconnected, where will the biggest commercial opportunities emerge and who will capture them?
Speakers
Bassel Ojjeh
CEO | LigaDATA
Todd Schweitzer
CEO and Founder | Brankas
Amira Abdelaziz
Senior Data, AI & Fintech Innovation Leader | Central Bank of Egypt
3:00 PM
The Capital
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Wednesday 16 September, 03:00 PM—03:30 PM
(30 min)
Fireside Chat : HOT SEAT: The Founder Playbook That Doesn't Exist
There is no universal blueprint for building a successful fintech company. Every founder faces unique decisions around hiring, fundraising, regulation, expansion and product strategy. This session brings together founders who have taken very different paths to explore what worked, what failed and the lessons they wish they had known earlier.
Speaker
Brad Maasdorp
FinTech Growth Partner | TMC (The Member Company)
3:10 PM
Off The Record
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Wednesday 16 September, 03:10 PM—03:20 PM
(10 min)
Networking : Networking Break
3:20 PM
Off The Record
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Wednesday 16 September, 03:20 PM—03:50 PM
(30 min)
Fireside Chat : Keep Your “AI” On The Prize
AI is booming, cybersecurity is essential, and fintech is evolving.Explore what top investors are backing, what sectors are being overlooked and where they see the next billion-dollar opportunities
Next-Gen Money
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Wednesday 16 September, 03:20 PM—03:40 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : The Post-Quantum Deadline: Is Financial Infrastructure Ready?
AI is already embedded in risk models, fraud engines, liquidity decisions and financial operations. Quantum computing could eventually extend those capabilities through new forms of optimisation, modelling and analysis. It could also undermine cryptography protecting financial data, identity and transactions.That creates a deadline long before a sufficiently powerful quantum computer arrives.This conversation separates practical readiness from speculation. It examines which cryptographic dependencies require attention now, where quantum and AI could create financial value first and what banks, regulators and payment networks should already have underway to prepare financial infrastructure for a post-quantum world.
Speaker
Achille Yomi
CEO & Co-Founder | Scenario X SA
3:30 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 03:30 PM—03:50 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : When Agents Pay Agents
The transaction architecture behind autonomous commerce.Soon the buyer and the seller may both be software, settling value without a human in the loop. This session explores what that does to payment infrastructure, authorisation and network design. The focus is the rails being built for machine-to-machine money, not the shopper.
Speaker
Nicole Sandler
Chief Ecosystem Officer | Ubyx
The Capital
-
Wednesday 16 September, 03:30 PM—03:30 PM
()
Closing Remarks
3:40 PM
Next-Gen Money
-
Wednesday 16 September, 03:40 PM—04:25 PM
(45 min)
Panel Discussion : Beyond Cards: Will QR Become the Default Way the World Pays?
Cards became dominant because they created a familiar experience across merchants and markets. QR payments are now challenging that model, particularly in economies where wallets, bank accounts and super apps connect directly at checkout.This panel examines whether QR-based payments can move from strong domestic adoption to become a global consumer payment model. It explores why merchants and consumers choose QR, whether cards can retain their position as account-to-account payments expand, and what the next dominant checkout experience will look like.
Speakers
Vimal Kumar
CEO | Omnispay
Waleed Sadek
Founder & CEO | FinTra Holding
Sandra Mianda
Founder & CEO | Paypr.work
Sandeep Indurkar
CEO | Bharat Pe- Payments
Eduardo Abreu
CPO & CEO of EBANX Singapore | Ebanx
3:50 PM
The Bridge
-
Wednesday 16 September, 03:50 PM—04:10 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : Cyber as systemic resilience
Securing What Comes NextAgent-driven, always-on finance opens attack surfaces that didn't exist a year ago. This session looks ahead at how security must evolve to protect autonomous, real-time systems. It frames resilience as the work of staying ahead, not catching up.
Speaker
Ferenc Bole
Head of IT | National Bank of Oman
Off The Record
-
Wednesday 16 September, 03:50 PM—04:20 PM
(30 min)
Panel Discussion : AI vs Crime: Who gets Smarter First?
The next frontier in financial crime isn't detection, it's prediction. As AI enables institutions to anticipate fraud before it happens, criminals are harnessing the same technology to launch faster, smarter, and more sophisticated attacks. In a race where every second matters, who will outsmart whom, and can AI stay one step ahead of the criminals it's designed to stop?
Speakers
Angaj Bhandari
Senior Vice President, EMEA | Fime
Charles Lobo
SVP & Risk & CEMEA | Visa Inc
Petra Janež
Financial Controller | Ministry of Finance, Republic of Slovenia
4:10 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 04:10 PM—04:30 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : Everyone's an Investor Now
Wealth-Building Foundations for the Many, Not the FewRobo-advice, fractional access and private-market platforms are opening wealth-building to everyone.
4:20 PM
Off The Record
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Wednesday 16 September, 04:20 PM—04:20 PM
()
Closing Remarks : Closing Remarks
4:25 PM
Next-Gen Money
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Wednesday 16 September, 04:25 PM—04:55 PM
(30 min)
Panel Discussion : From Access to Prosperity: Is the Financial System Delivering Better Outcomes?
Access stopped being a sufficient measure of success some time ago. A person can hold an account, use a wallet, qualify for digital credit and buy a fractional investment while remaining exactly as financially fragile as before.AI, embedded finance, digital identity and new investment products are all reshaping participation. Whether they produce economic mobility or simply more financial activity is a different question, and rarely the one being measured.The panel pushes on measurement itself: what the new financial system has to deliver beyond access, which outcomes are worth reporting, and who answers for the gap when inclusion statistics improve and household prosperity does not move.
Speaker
Bassel Ojjeh
CEO | LigaDATA
4:30 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 04:30 PM—04:50 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : From Garage to Tadawul: Building the on-ramp for the next generation of listings
What does it actually take to move a company from founding to public markets? Saudi has quietly built one of the region's most complete on-ramps to public capital, and the Nomu parallel market is its beating heart. This session follows a company's journey from equity crowdfunding and private rounds through a Nomu listing to a main-market graduation. The focus is the system that makes capital formation reachable, not just the IPO at the end.
4:50 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 04:50 PM—05:10 PM
(20 min)
Fireside Chat : The End of the Credit Score?
Credit without a credit score is already a reality for millions who never fit the traditional model. This session unpacks how alternative data and AI are rewriting who gets access and how fairly. The lens is system design: the rails, signals and safeguards behind the next generation of lending.
Speakers
Anshul Johri
Group CTO | Validus Investment Holdings
Valerie Kontor
Founder | Black in FinTech
4:55 PM
Next-Gen Money
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Wednesday 16 September, 04:55 PM—05:05 PM
(10 min)
Closing Remarks : Closing Remarks
5:10 PM
The Bridge
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Wednesday 16 September, 05:10 PM—05:15 PM
(5 min)
Closing Remarks