The Fintech Playbook for Latin America

Adi, a Colombian fintech platform, serves over 3 million consumers and 50,000 merchants by providing integrated credit, payment, and banking services. Founder and CEO Santiago Suarez emphasizes the necessity of building a robust technology foundation, specifically through a monorepo architecture and event-sourcing, which enabled the company to scale AI-driven operations efficiently. By prioritizing internal organization and maintaining a high bar for talent, Adi successfully automated 100% of customer service queries and merchant onboarding, achieving significant cost-to-serve efficiencies. Suarez highlights the importance of being contrarian in market strategy—choosing to focus deeply on Colombia rather than spreading across multiple regions—and advocates for explicit, written communication to maintain organizational alignment. These strategic choices allowed the company to navigate complex financial infrastructure challenges while fostering a culture of rapid, AI-first innovation that continues to drive economic inclusion.