MEET THE SPEAKER: SAM BOBOEV – SAM ON AI, AGENTIC COMMERCE AND THE FUTURE OF PAYMENTS

Speaker Name

Sam Boboev

What's one thing you hope attendees take away from your session?

A clearer sense of where AI can create measurable value in payments. I want attendees to leave with practical questions they can apply to their own products: what problem are we solving, how will we measure the improvement, and who takes responsibility when something goes wrong?

In one sentence, what do you do and what is your role?

I’m the founder of Fintech Wrap Up and an industry analyst, bringing a product perspective to conversations with the people building the future of banking and payments.

What's the biggest challenge facing the industry in this area?

Giving AI enough authority to be useful while keeping its actions understandable and accountable. When an agent makes a purchase or initiates a payment, businesses need evidence of what the customer authorised and a clear process for resolving mistakes. Those questions become harder as more companies and systems participate in the transaction.

What's one piece of advice you'd give to someone working in fintech today?

Spend more time understanding how customers actually get things done. Follow a payment from initiation through settlement and reconciliation, including what happens when it fails. You’ll often find the most valuable product opportunities in the work people still do manually.

What book, podcast, newsletter, or resource would you recommend to our audience?

I’d recommend my WRAP UP podcast, where I speak with leaders building the future of banking, payments and fintech. We explore the product decisions behind their businesses, the challenges they face and what developments such as AI and stablecoins mean in practice.

What topic will you be speaking about at FinTech Connect 2026?

I’ll be exploring how AI and agentic commerce could change payments, with a focus on the customer relationship, the economics for payment providers and responsibility when an agent makes a mistake.

Just for fun: if you could have dinner with any person, past or present, who would it be and why?

Leonardo da Vinci. I’d love to understand how he approached unfamiliar problems and moved between engineering, science and art. Working in product makes me curious about people who can connect ideas across very different fields.

What industry trend are you watching most closely?

How AI companies are building the financial infrastructure around their products. Usage-based pricing creates a close connection between customer behaviour, computing costs and revenue. As agents begin transacting, payments become part of how the product operates, which opens up some interesting opportunities for fintech.

Why is this topic particularly important right now?

Businesses are starting to give AI tools permission to take actions with financial consequences. That makes questions about authorisation, spending limits and accountability immediate product decisions. The choices companies make now will shape customer trust as these services grow.

What's one prediction you have for the next 3-5 years?

I expect agent-initiated payments to become a standard feature in business software, starting with tightly defined tasks such as renewing subscriptions or purchasing approved supplies. Adoption will depend heavily on whether finance teams can set limits, review decisions and stop an agent when needed.