Money20/20: How Experian is Scaling AI for Finance’s Future

As financial services moves from AI experimentation to AI at scale, the critical question is no longer whether the technology works – it is whether institutions have the trusted, high-quality data, governance and decisioning capabilities needed to make AI reliable in the real world.

For Malin Holmberg, CEO of Experian UK and Ireland, that is where Experian’s role becomes central.

The opportunity is not simply to apply AI to financial services, but to power AI with data that businesses can trust, explain and act on.

Speaking with FinTech Magazine at Money20/20 in Amsterdam, she explains: “We hold more than a billion records and we’re trusted with that.

“Over the past 10 to 15 years, we’ve taken that trusted data and built it into software, analytics and fraud solutions that help our clients make better decisions.”

That distinction matters.

As banks, lenders and fintechs accelerate AI adoption, the winners will be those able to connect trusted data, real-time decisioning and strong governance into everyday workflows – from onboarding and fraud checks to lending, customer service and risk management.

Malin says Money20/20 is also a great stage for the company to showcase its role as both participant and observer in fintech’s rapid evolution.

“We are here at Money20/20 this year to really explore everything that’s happening in the fintech industry,” she says. “Everyone is here – our clients, our partners and lots of fintech innovators. Hearing the buzz around the industry is critically important for us. 

“We’re at a pivotal moment this year as well. Many businesses have been dabbling with AI, experimenting with things and now is the moment where we’ve really got to scale with AI – moving into the era of self-driving money. 

“That’s where Experian sits. With our data, we want to empower the era of self-driving money.”

The concept of “self-driving money” – where financial decisions are increasingly automated and optimised – is quickly gaining traction. 

For Experian, its vast data assets position it as a foundational layer in enabling this shift.

Balancing transformation and operations

However, the transition to AI-led financial services is not without friction.

“The main discussions I’ve been having with our clients and partners here have been around the challenge of prioritising daily business – customer experience, operational excellence – versus transforming with AI and moving into agent-based autonomy. Helping them with that discussion is important for us.”

This dual mandate – maintaining operational excellence while investing in transformation – is shaping vendor-client relationships across fintech.

Then, conversation turns from customer experience and efficiency to autonomy.

Although AI is already delivering measurable gains across Experian’s business, Malin suggests the industry is on the cusp of a more profound shift.

“For us, AI is really helping make decisions faster, more accurately and driving efficiency across our business,” she explains, “but I think the industry is ready now for the next phase – driving more towards agentic, autonomous systems and really unlocking AI at a different scale of productivity and customer experience.”

This next phase moves beyond augmentation towards autonomy, where AI agents can act on behalf of users and institutions – raising both opportunities and risks.

Trust, identity and governance

As autonomy increases, so too does the importance of trust frameworks.

This is an area where Experian sees a clear role.

Malin says: “I think data governance is critically important to enable the next phase – the self-driving money phase. 

“An agent is only as good as the data it uses and an agent is only as safe as the data governance around it. 

“Data governance and trust in the system around identity becomes critically important.”

This emphasis aligns with growing regulatory scrutiny around AI, identity verification and data usage across financial services.

To support this transition, Experian has recently introduced two solutions aimed at operationalising agentic AI.

The first is the Experian Agent Operating system within its Ascend platform. This, Malin says, will help financial institutions scale with AI across the entire lending journey.

The other is the Experian Agent Trust – launched together with Visa, Cloudflare and Skyfire – which is designed to help with agentic payments.

“This comes back to that point around matching a human with an agent and the safety element,” Malin notes. “Those are the key things we're focused on right now.”

Leadership in an AI era

For Malin, navigating this transformation requires a new leadership mindset.

“I think it's going to be hard to be a good leader in this phase,” she says. “You really need to understand technology well enough to make the right decisions about growth and investment, but you also really need to understand people. 

“That dichotomy – being able to do both of those – is going to be critical for the future.”