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Pat Patel
Chief Executive Officer, MEA, USA, LATAM & Forums
Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)
View LinkedIn profilePat Patel is the business CEO driving GFTN’s growth in the USA, LATAM, Middle East and Africa and jointly leads on GFTN’s Forums around the world.
During his time at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) between 2019-2022, he led the spinout of Elevandi Ltd in 2021, the first iteration of GFTN, building the strategy, plan, team and securing the seed capital. At MAS he led the International FinTech Office, a team which was responsible for building relationships in different jurisdictions between the public and private sectors and driving both FinTech and investment growth.
Pat serves on the board of Mojaloop, an open-source software project of the Mojaloop Foundation. It was created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Level One Project in 2017.
Prior to MAS, Pat led the growth and launch of Money20/20 into Europe in 2015 to become the most the successful and profitable FinTech event in the region and subsequently led the product launch into Singapore and China. In his early career he worked at VocaLink on the world’s first national retail real-time payments system, the UK Faster Payments Service, and built the international strategy for the product and drove opportunities across Asia and Europe.
A seasoned international leader with experience of building products, teams and launches into new markets and leveraging networks to drive positive outcomes.
Speaking at SFF 2026
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1:30–2:10pmWed 18 NovFutureMatters StageHall 5, Singapore EXPOPremiumModerator
Technology Rewiring
How Can Agentic AI Create a Commercial and Competitive Advantage?
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Himal MakwanaGlobal Head of Corporate & AI StrategyFIS
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Melvyn LowGroup Chief Strategy & Transformation OfficerOCBC
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Derrick GohGroup Chief Operating OfficerDBS
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Pat PatelChief Executive Officer, MEA, USA, LATAM & ForumsGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)Moderator
About this session
As AI capabilities become more widely available, financial institutions face a harder question: what will make their use of the technology difficult to replicate? Access to models alone offers little assurance of lasting differentiation.
Where can agentic AI generate additional revenue, improve pricing or make previously uneconomical services viable? Does advantage come from proprietary data, distribution, partnerships or the ability to redesign a business proposition?
This conversation examines which strategic choices could create defensible value, and what evidence would justify committing capital to them. -
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4:30–5:10pmWed 18 NovFutureMatters StageHall 5, Singapore EXPOPremiumModerator
Technology Rewiring
Inclusive Instant Payments: Building a Commercially Sustainable National Roadmap
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Jean Bosco IyacuChief Executive OfficerMojaloop Foundation
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Kosta PericDeputy Director, Inclusive Financial SystemsGates Foundation
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Sateesh PalagiriChief of Mobility SolutionsNational Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI)
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Pat PatelChief Executive Officer, MEA, USA, LATAM & ForumsGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)Moderator
About this session
Instant payments can reach millions of the unbanked—but only if the economics work for everyone building the rails. Around the world, national real-time payment systems are proving that speed and inclusion can coexist, yet many struggle to balance universal access with commercial viability. Getting that balance right is now a defining test of payments strategy.
You will learn: how to design instant payment schemes that serve the underserved without eroding sustainability; which governance and pricing models drive long-term adoption; and what lessons successful national roadmaps offer to markets still building theirs. Miss this session, and you risk designing a system that scales in usage but never in value. -
