Global FinTech Interview With Patrick Blanc, Chief Technology Officer at Flywire

Patrick Blanc, Chief Technology Officer at Flywire chats about the global paytech landscape and what’s influencing software enabled payment cycles in this fintech interview:

 __________

Take us through your role as Flywire’s new CTO and what’s the most exciting part of it?

As Flywire’s Chief Technology Officer, I lead the critical “how” of our technical execution, making decisions around architecture, infrastructure, and technical strategy required to scale our software and global payments platform.

I lead the Engineering, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)/Infrastructure, Technical Support, and Implementation teams to ensure we build a foundation that can continue to support significantly higher transaction volumes. Together with Chief Product Officer David King and Chief Payments Officer Mohit Kansal, my team is responsible for the technical execution that brings their visions to life. We build highly scalable, software-enabled payments technology that solves complex payment flows for our customers.

The most exciting part of this role is working with a global team to build new, AI-enabled payment experiences. This global perspective on AI is deeply embedded in our engineering culture and product builds. We aren’t just racing to add new features. We are fundamentally evolving our product in line with real customer needs to stay ahead of global demand and ensure long-term competitiveness.

How is the global paytech landscape evolving today? What are some of the most innovative features from the global fintech landscape that are reshaping the payments ecosystem?

We’ve perhaps never been at a more complex time technically. As agentic commerce automates even more of the transaction process, ensuring the underlying payment infrastructure is efficient, secure and compliant will be critical.

In 2026, innovation in payments hinges on good data, AI-enabled payments orchestration and hyperlocalization. For years, innovation in global payments meant adding more options – more methods, more currencies, more local rails, and more wallets. Now, AI will dynamically route payments across the best rails, ‘making decisions’ on the most efficient methods, the most cost-effective and most reliable path for the payer and receiver. AI-enabled payment platforms will detect risk in real-time.

By thoughtfully and securely innovating our payments engine, we in turn set our customers up for success with AI, allowing them to seamlessly adopt and embed AI efficiencies into their business workflows.

Read More on Fintech : Global Fintech Interview with Kristin Kanders, Head of Marketing & Engagement, Plynk App

As a fintech CTO, what thoughts come to mind as more tech teams use AI to build products that drive quicker processes? When it comes to fintech and paytech, what should innovators keep in mind as AI is used to transform paytech workflows?

One thing that is important to me is for my team to be proud of what they do. And by proud, I mean, drive the business, but also, the type of technology and how we implement it. The ‘how’ we build it is equally as important as what we are building. We take very seriously this responsibility to build a scalable platform capable of handling more transaction volume in a secure and compliant way.

The goal is to move beyond digitizing transactions toward intelligent orchestration. As more tech teams leverage AI to accelerate product development, we have more time to work with customers and solve complex payment problems to drive value for their businesses.

What best practices would you share for tech leaders looking to strengthen their AI first engineering approach in 2026?

You see a lot written and spoken about it in this space, but there is no reason to be afraid of change. Instead, be courageous and be bold. We need to embrace it.

AI is constantly evolving so, there is no one way or one recipe for approaching AI engineering. It is just as important to remember that what was true yesterday may not be tomorrow.

AI is a personal journey for many, but teams make it better. A few champions in an organization can make a huge difference on how fast and how successful AI will become embedded in your organization, and, by extension, your products. Look for creative ways to bring people along by making this a fun and interesting journey – through generating cartoons, songs and even poetry.

A few thoughts on what will define fintech and paytech in the near future in terms of trends, technologies, etc.?

After more than 20 years in payments, I still think this is the most exciting space to be in. Connectivity, mobility and now AI have ensured that change and innovation are constant. Quantum computing will define new frontiers for security.

People will continue to expect better and faster experiences with “headless or hidden” AI help. Social responsibility and ethics related to AI usage will add to the complex puzzle that resiliency, security and compliance have shaped for decades. AI will also help the fraudsters come up with new ideas, and the cat and mouse game will get more interesting. Newer payment rails such as instant payments, crypto and stablecoins will continue to grow, bringing more choices to consumers.

Catch more Fintech Insights : Real-Time Payments and the Redefinition Of Global Liquidity

[To share your insights with us, please write to psen@itechseries.com ]

The post Global FinTech Interview With Patrick Blanc, Chief Technology Officer at Flywire appeared first on GlobalFinTechSeries.