In a world where nearly 1.4 billion adults still lack access to basic financial services, the promise of technology to bridge this gap has never been more critical. Our exclusive roundtable from the Surfin AI Fintech Forum 2025 in Manila brings together three visionary leaders -- a venture capitalist, a nuclear physicist turned fintech CEO, and Nobel Laureate in economics, who are supporting the growth of a company at the forefront of this transformation.

Timestamps

(00:05) How a nuclear physicist turned fintech CEO, Nobel laureate in economics, and Singaporean venture capitalist joined forces to bridge AI with financial inclusion;

(09:39) Managing Risks of an Increasing Techno Nationalism to Build a Truly Global Fintech;

(17:13) Bringing Together Financial Inclusion and Agentic AI;

About who you are on call with

Yanan Wu is is CEO and founder of Surfin. Dr Wu has over 26 years of global investment experience, serving institutions and family offices, including stints at CITIC Prudential Fund and TD Asset Management Canada. He is no stranger to fintech as well, having launched and grown a robo-advisory startup prior to Surfin. He received a Ph.D in statistical physics from University Western Ontario in Canada and completed his post-doctoral research at Los Alamo National Lab in the USA.

Michael (Mike) Spence is an American economist who, with George A. Akerlof and Joseph E. Stiglitz, won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001 for laying the foundations for the theory of markets with asymmetric information. Spence studied at Yale University (B.A., 1966), the University of Oxford (B.A., M.A., 1968), and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1972). He taught at Harvard and at Stanford University, serving as dean of the latter’s business school from 1990 to 1999. In 2010 he became a professor at New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. He is the author of the book, “The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World,” Ferrar, Straus and Giroux, May 2011. Spence holds a BA in philosophy from Princeton University (1966), a BA/MA in mathematics from Oxford University (1968), and a PhD in Economics from Harvard University (1972).

Yinglan Tan founded Insignia Ventures Partners and is the Founding Managing Partner. Insignia Ventures Partners is a Southeast Asian early-to-growth stage venture capital firm that debuted in 2017 and manages capital from premier institutional investors including sovereign wealth funds, foundations, university endowments and renowned family offices from Asia, Europe and North America. Portfolio companies include GoTo (IDX: GOTO), Appier (TSE: 4180), Carro, Ajaib, Shipper, Tonik, Flip, Fazz, Aspire, Super, Groww, J&T and many other technology market leaders. Prior to founding Insignia Ventures Partners, Yinglan was Sequoia Capital’s first hire and Venture Partner in Southeast Asia. He also serves on the International Board of Stars – Leaders of the Next Generation, the Singapore Government’s Pro Enterprise Panel. He is also a Board Member at Hwa Chong Institution and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore. Yinglan was educated at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and completed executive programs at Harvard, Wharton, Cambridge and Oxford.

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Directed by Paulo Joquiño

Produced by Paulo Joquiño

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Insignia Ventures⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.

Building a truly global financial inclusion with AI | Surfin AI Fintech Forum Exclusive Roundtable | Call 181

The On Call with Insignia Podcast