Akshay Chopra, Managing Partner at 237 Ventures and Co-Chair of the MFTA Payments Committee, joins Raghda Ibraheem on Wall Street to MENA to talk about what’s actually shifting in financial services right now, beyond the headlines.
They cover the three layers of AI in finance (productivity, process and decision AI), why decision AI needs far more scrutiny than it’s getting, and what it really means to be a responsible AI user in your profession. Akshay also shares practical advice for fintech professionals on staying relevant as AI reshapes the industry.
The conversation moves into tokenization, where Akshay breaks down what makes a real-world asset worth tokenizing versus what’s just hype, and where the most credible early traction is actually happening (hint: it’s not real estate). They also discuss stablecoins, with $400 billion already flowing through stablecoin rails as of 2025, and how the UAE’s regulatory approach compares to other markets. Finally, Akshay talks about his book After Us, a work of fiction exploring what life might look like when AI becomes superintelligent, and why he thinks fiction is a better vehicle for that conversation than white papers.