For many global SMEs and marketplaces, onboarding onto a new fintech platform or bank is a gauntlet of fragmented documentation and jurisdictional red tape that can stall growth for weeks. At Verto, the mission to bridge this gap is led by Kaustubh Patki, Head of Growth Engineering. By viewing onboarding not just as a compliance necessity but as a critical piece of global infrastructure, Kaustubh and his team have developed an AI-driven engine designed to turn regulatory complexity into a competitive advantage.
We sat down with Kaustubh to explore his vision for "engineering for access" and how Verto is using AI to solve real-world logic problems in international finance.
1. Describe your role at Verto
My role sits at the intersection of innovation, product engineering, and strategy. The focus is on building platform capabilities that accelerate growth, reduce operational friction, and convert emerging technologies into real operational advantage for the business.
2. What makes you excited about it?
We are working on real infrastructure problems that shape how businesses move money and operate globally. Every improvement we make directly impacts customer speed, reliability, and trust. I strongly believe that technology is meaningful only when it improves access to resources that were previously difficult to reach. It is not about deploying fashionable tools, but about ensuring that infrastructure reaches the people and businesses that would otherwise struggle to access it. When engineering translates into broader access, faster activation, and tangible outcomes, the work becomes deeply meaningful.
3. Can you describe the tool?
Verto’s onboarding aims to be as smooth a process as possible and now, with AI, we are able to simplify and accelerate cross-border onboarding for our customers. We automate document ingestion, multilingual understanding, structured data extraction, compliance validation, and real-time feedback within a single intelligent workflow. What previously required multiple manual handoffs now operates as a unified platform.
4. What does it mean for the user?
Users onboard faster with clearer guidance and fewer resubmissions. They receive immediate feedback rather than waiting through manual review cycles. The experience becomes predictable and transparent, which builds confidence and allows businesses to activate and operate without unnecessary friction.
5. What was the specific "lightbulb moment" or piece of user feedback that convinced you Verto’s onboarding needed an AI-driven overhaul?
We repeatedly observed customers delayed by small documentation issues that triggered manual rework and extended turnaround times. Most of these checks were deterministic logic problems rather than judgment-based decisions. That insight clarified that automation could meaningfully improve speed, consistency, and scalability without compromising control.
6. What is the biggest hurdle in traditional cross-border payment onboarding, and how does this tool remove it?
The biggest hurdle is regulatory complexity combined with operational latency. Different jurisdictions impose different documentation standards, formats, and validation requirements. Using AI, we can simplify complexity directly into automated workflows, which validates in real time, and removes the waiting cycles that traditionally slow onboarding.
7. What does a "successful onboarding experience" look like to you now that this tool is live?
A customer submits documentation once, receives immediate feedback, clears compliance quickly, and can begin transacting with confidence. Internally, teams operate with cleaner data, fewer escalations, and consistent decision quality. Success is predictable speed and trust at scale.
8. What type of business should use the tool?
Any business operating internationally that values speed, regulatory confidence, and operational efficiency will benefit. This includes global SMEs, marketplaces, fintech platforms, and multinational operators that require fast activation without compromising compliance standards.
9. How does this tool balance AI efficiency with the human oversight and security that users expect from a financial partner?
AI drives high-volume validation and consistency, while sensitive cases and exceptions remain governed through human oversight. All workflows are auditable, access-controlled, and aligned with enterprise-grade security and regulatory expectations. Efficiency is balanced with accountability and control.
10. Describe the development process.
It began as a small internal proof of concept focused on improving onboarding efficiency. As early results demonstrated real operational value, it evolved into a production-grade platform validated against live workflows. Building in-house allowed us to retain control over data, compliance alignment, scalability, and long-term economics.
11. Can you walk us through how Verto uses AI to solve actual logic problems—like document verification or data extraction—rather than just using it as a chatbot?
Our AI workflow performs structured operational decision making such as multilingual document understanding, data extraction, validation logic, anomaly detection, and confidence scoring. These outputs directly drive workflows and compliance readiness rather than surface-level automation. We are also experimenting with automated AI voice calls to request additional information and send documentation reminders, further reducing friction and improving completion rates.
12. How do you see AI evolving within Verto over the next 18 months?
AI will increasingly strengthen onboarding intelligence, transaction monitoring, operational automation, and predictive risk management across the customer lifecycle. The focus will shift toward systems that continuously improve decision quality, throughput, and platform resilience.
13. If a user is choosing between Verto and a legacy bank, how does our approach to AI-driven engineering become a competitive advantage for their business?
Legacy institutions are constrained by manual processes and fragmented infrastructure. Our platform approach enables faster onboarding, cleaner data, lower operational friction, and the ability to scale globally without linear cost growth, allowing customers to move faster in competitive markets.
15. If a user is about to start their onboarding journey today, what is the one thing you want them to know about the technology supporting them?
The technology supporting the process is designed to remove uncertainty and delay while expanding access to financial infrastructure. Every step prioritizes speed, accuracy, and security so customers can focus on operating and growing their business rather than navigating complexity.
16. What other AI initiatives are underway within Verto?
Beyond this, we are investing in AI to improve engineering speed and quality, as well as expanding our in-house web automation capabilities to accelerate operational workflows and platform resilience. We are also developing an AI-driven transaction monitoring platform for anti-money laundering analysis that evaluates every Verto transaction using historical behavior, contextual signals, and document intelligence to support compliance decisioning. These initiatives reinforce a broader strategy of embedding intelligence directly into the operating platform.
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