Adi Vora is the co-founder and Chief Product and Technology Officer at Ayoconnect, one of Southeast Asia’s largest open finance API platforms.

Ayoconnect serves more than 200 API customers, including some of the region’s largest banks, financial institutions, tech unicorns and fintechs, and offers more than 4,000 embedded finance products.

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👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

I oversee the technological aspects of the company's operations, including product and technology strategy, infrastructure, security and regulatory compliance.

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🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I was a small-time Electronic Music DJ before I pivoted to building tech systems.

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🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

The biggest highlight of my career so far has to be scaling Ayoconnect to the level we are at today. I could have never imagined that the systems we started building out of a small room with 2 people would scale up to support more than 250M transactions a year.

It has been a truly rewarding experience that not only validated my hard work but also inspired me to continue pushing myself to reach new heights everyday.

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🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

The rise of sustainable and socially responsible startups. With an increasing focus on environmental conservation and social impact, startups that prioritize sustainability have gained significant traction.

It is also a space that is close to my own beliefs, and I try to support the community by investing in this space.

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💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

One key aspect of being successful in the fintech space is staying compliant with regulations. It's a space that is evolving fast, with changes even on a weekly basis.

Working towards the needed licenses and protecting your users’ data should be on top of the priority list when building your products.

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🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

Evolution. How we have evolved from single celled organisms to our complex conscious selves that we are today always fascinates me.

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🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Movie: The Departed. TV Show: Breaking Bad.

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🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Dark Chocolate Gelato.

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FYI. We’ve edited this interview for clarity.