An AMA With MyFi

Don’t use Finance Apps like Dating Apps, advises this CTO. And Vice-Versa, if we may add.

He calls it ‘India’s first conversation only’ AI powered-investment advisor for long term well-being’. 

Excerpts from an interview:

Why make GenAI and Investing meet? What happens?

MyFi takes guesswork & bias out of investing with ‘judgement free’ conversational AI. With MyFi, investors can gain access to powerful conversational AI investing assistant, search engine, on-demand data, and interactive planning tools. Leveraging the capabilities of GenAI, MyFi ensures conversational guidance for the Indian investor, thereby delivering personalised recommendations based on their unique needs.

What’s the technology recipe behind MyFi. How similar or different is it from its elder cousin from the US- Magnifi?

I started working in this area since 2013 when I saw gaps in financial literacy. We have worked for products for the US market but the heart was also in India. On one hand, a majority of Indian adults lack financial literacy; and on the other hand, there is a spurt in LLMs and GenAI advancements. What an interesting place to be in!

Our idea is to empower and change wealth management through technology. It is an entirely conversational experience where users can also compare financials, see holdings, check portfolios and look for recommendations. MyFi was built from the ground up and it kicked off in early 2024. It has taken some learnings from Magnifi. So they are not same but, conceptually, and in terms of the target market, they may be similar. 

Do you also use Agentic AI Systems?

It is autonomous, yes. We are using a combination of models. It is our own IP. It is quite autonomous with real-time market data and models in action. The recommendations are built on our own financial models with very less room for inaccuracies and hallucinations.

Any use of synthetic data?

Right now, we are looking at historical data. But forward-looking matrices and capital market assumptions are around- and built by many organisations. They are not incorporated in our recommendations yet, but we do see scope for that in the near future. 

When AI enables and sharpens personalisation, is it because of lower costs or does it shoot up costs?

The key is long-term wealth creation. Buy now and sell in three weeks- we do not do that kind of advice. Long-term mindset is all about building habits and creating consistency. We arm people with insights that back their decisions. It is a great time to do this- given the confluence of AI and the ripe stage at which Indian markets are at right now.

Do you use gamification to incentivise healthy financial habits?

Not yet and not purely - but we would like to bring in elements like social media or peer encouragement. We can tap data to help people understand things better. Community elements always help.

Does this app also cover taxation-help, and other adjacent areas in its ambit?

Taxation is high on our list but it is not there yet. We will add more models over time. The idea is to cover holistic financial health in a better and simpler way.

Even big firms like Morgan Stanley are coming in the fray with AI Assistants. How strongly would Robo Advisors change the Finance industry ahead?

Most companies – even JPMorgan- are trying to use GenAI to their advantage. Also, many Indian players are targeting a similar segment. We focus on creating better interactions for B2C segment with answers that are enriched with context. We are not developing LLMs from ground-up because that is another business in itself. But are verticalising LLMs for the financial use-case.

We have an edge from our learnings from what we have done in the US and we are transforming it for the Indian market. We understand the landscape and we can be faster and better. The Indian market is so vast. I don’t think that it is a ‘winner takes all’ battle- but something with a lot of room for many right players.

How is your app tailor-made for India? What parts?

MyFi is built grounds-up, in India, for the India market. The data we use to train the models, the type of questions– all that is tailored for the target audience in this region. Specially for young investors in the 25-35 year age bracket that we are expecting here.

When recommendations and unpredictability are a huge part of financial advice – where would humans fit in or fade out with these apps?

Like I said- Buying today and selling in 3 weeks- that kind of advice is not apt for long-term wealth management. That anyways is not our game. It is about building habits and being consistent. It is about making decisions with the information we provide.

We are looking to empower humans with data. We do the best we can but we do not replace humans but help them in taking better decisions. In the long run, the app would be augmented with the human touch- specially as complexity and hand-holding become more pronounced. 

Are recommendations based on gut-feel or a lot of research-and-reading?

Both work in their own ways. Computers, thankfully, can consume and process a lot of data and suggest actions that the user can use. Humans are inundated with a lot of information that they may miss if they do not use it well. With so much data out there- AI comes in quite handy to organize, digest and use all the data. It is, hence, not about replacing humans.

Any lessons from the recent regulatory actions in FinTech space in India- and from the feedback your users have given?

MyFi is SEBI registered and integrated with RBI’s Account aggregator framework to ensure your valuable financial data remains your own. Whether an investor is just logging in or syncing their portfolio on the app, the experience is protected. For us privacy and data security are very critical. From the beginning we have ensured that any PII transmission is secure. We can scale without compromising security.

All data resides in India. As to feedback, the best one I remember is a customer telling us- ‘You have actually helped me to improve my portfolio’. That encourages us. People also want stocks in this platform. We will add new parts in the coming weeks. We have just scratched the tip of the iceberg in the wealth management space. It is a huge opportunity and I hope we can make a small dent. 

How do you differentiate a financial app from a food app or a dating app in terms of behaviour?

Any financial app is very unlike a dating app- it’s the opposite. You cannot scroll mindlessly here. My advice to users is to check only monthly or maybe weekly. Invest for the long term and do not react to markets on impulse.