Mambu at Money 20/20: Embracing AI within Fraud Protection

In this exclusive interview with Frank Krieger, Chief Information Security Officer at Mambu, he explains how AI can be leveraged within cybersecurity. 

Mambu is a software company headquartered in Amsterdam that provides infrastructure and software-as-a-service (SaaS) models for banks and financial service providers. As of 2021, the company achieved a valuation of US$5.3bn, making it one of the significant companies founded in Germany to achieve unicorn status.

Speaking to Frank at Money 20/20, FinTech Magazine learns how Mambu is setting itself apart from its competitors by embracing enterprise AI.

Embracing AI

One of the biggest components of AI within cybersecurity that sets Mambu apart is that the company is seeking to embrace AI itself. 

“We understand the risk associated with AI, both from a business perspective and also from an adversarial perspective,” Frank says. “This is only going to get worse. AI tools that we use are available to our adversaries. They understand what we're doing, but we can't see what's going on in that space.”

With this in mind, Mambu is operating with AI from a detection and response perspective to keep up-to-date with the latest threats. Frank says: “We are taking AI and embedding it within our fraud prevention areas. We will have to continue to upgrade our AI against our adversaries' AI.”

He advises other businesses: “Definitely involve yourself now, especially in detection and fraud prevention - know your customer type activities. AI is phenomenal in these spaces.”

Using technology to prevent fraud

Frank also explains how incoming guidelines coming in to support fintechs will be beneficial, particularly as technology is moving faster than the regulatory landscape. Currently, there are several different justifications that are using different approaches to manage AI and its complexities, including the EU AI Act.

“I think that the regulations that are coming are a good start,” he says. “We're looking for guidelines. We're looking for guidance from various stakeholders, especially government entities and regulators. We want to understand what they want to understand. We're not specifically looking for prescriptive type activities, but we definitely really are looking for guidelines as to how we should be doing it. 

“Understanding what the AI is actually doing is really important because a lot of folks approach AI as though it's going to solve all of your problems. But understanding what it’s doing and why is very critical to actually getting the outcomes.”

Notably, Frank explains how AI is being used within the cybersecurity sector to improve detection and fraud prevention worldwide. 

“[AI] is being embedded in a lot of the products that we use already today, and we're seeing immense improvements already,” he explains. “What we'll start to see is orchestration of various AI, as opposed to just providing information in one place and still letting humans do it. 

“I think that's really going to be the next big piece.”

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