For fintech companies, expansion is just part of the job. You grow, or you get left behind. However, entering new markets (especially in Europe) is rarely smooth sailing. Most fintechs start out in friendly ecosystems — places like France or Germany — where there is access to capital, infrastructure, and the kind of talent that knows how to get things off the ground.
But once you try to move beyond those first hubs, things start to shift.
Regulatory challenges pile up. Customer behavior is not uniform. Operations that once ran smoothly now start to crack under pressure. You cannot scale on enthusiasm alone. And that is where technology, especially AI, gets called in. But it is important to note that AI is not some magic bullet: it does not run your company — it supports it. And without sharp human judgment, it is just a very expensive guessing machine.
To ignore AI is to build a 20th-century business in the 21st
Just a few years ago, AI was a novelty. Now? It is baked into how modern companies operate. Already, 82% of all companies in the world are using AI in day-to-day operations. And it is, of course, not only relevant to small- or middle-sized companies as 92% of Fortune 500 firms (such as Walmart or Netflix) have adopted AI as well. McKinsey’s survey also found that 78% of companies are deploying AI across functions like IT, sales, marketing, and ops.
In other words, AI is not a nice-to-have, it is a necessity to stay competitive.
What has changed is that today’s AI tools go way beyond automating the basics. They are helping teams refine sales strategies, pick the right vendors, optimize go-to-market plans, and even spot compliance issues before they become costly. Generative AI, like ChatGPT, has changed how teams gather insights, replacing hours of desk research with real-time, contextual answers. When entering new markets, companies are using AI to instantly assess suppliers, simulate customer journeys, and size up the competitive landscape.
That all might not sound very impressive as we all are already used to it. However, for companies it is in fact a very big change — while before expanding into a new region used to take months of prep work, now, thanks to AI, companies can make faster, smarter decisions with much fewer missteps. It is like upgrading from a hand-drawn map to real-time GPS.
Put simply, trying to scale without AI is like launching a modern business with 19th-century tools. AI compresses timelines, cuts through complexity, and delivers insights that used to be out of reach. It has become the silent co-founder every fintech team relies on.
But AI doesn’t lead — Vision does
AI can do a lot — but it cannot lead (and I doubt that it ever will). Strategy still starts and ends with people, as vision is not something you can feed into a model. Good founders and leaders make calls based on timing, instinct, and a deep feel for context. That is something no dashboard can replicate. So, while AI can assist, it cannot replace the foundational human traits of creativity, empathy, and, of course, leadership.
As companies push into new markets, the real challenge is knowing when to push and when to hold. There is a constant tension between running the core business and chasing growth.
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- Lean too hard into expansion, and you risk burning cash.
- Stay too focused on the status quo, and it stagnates.
The best leaders know how to maintain this balance — with AI as an amplifier, not a substitute.
That is the big takeaway from RwC’s 2025 Prediction Report: “AI strategy is about value that starts right now — and that value is not just productivity. It is about systems that can reason, understand impact, and self-correct.” Top-performing companies are twice as likely to get real returns from generative AI — not because they use it everywhere, but only because they use it wisely.
What modern market entry really looks like
The digital revolution changed everything, we no longer need a massive physical footprint to test a new market. With the right product, global demand can be activated almost instantly. But that does not mean expansion is easy. It just means it is different.
Today, successful fintech expansion requires a smart blend of digital scale and local depth. First, regulatory assessments are non-negotiable — they are the gatekeepers of market entry. If the licensing or compliance frameworks are manageable, only then does the go-to-market engine switch on. But even with digital tools in place, companies still need local partners — legal teams, marketing specialists, compliance experts who understand not just the letter of the law, but the cultural subtext that shapes customer expectations.
Innovation is great, but it must meet real demand. Many companies overcomplicate expansion by chasing “cool” rather than solving meaningful problems. The right question is not “Is our solution innovative?” — it is “Is our product aligned with local market needs?” If the answer is yes, then market entry becomes executional. If not, no level of AI can fix a product-market mismatch.
And do not underestimate legal readiness. Despite global standards like IOSCO or FATF, every country is unique in its approach to financial services. Tax regimes, licensing classes, and permissible instruments vary widely — and mistakes here are costly. The solution? Legal teams that are not just consultants, but integrated, cross-functional players who understand the company’s operations end to end.
That is why the most effective fintechs build regional teams with embedded legal, marketing, compliance, and operational capabilities. So, forget the days when one general counsel could support 30 markets — local knowledge, native language fluency, and jurisdiction-specific experience now define legal success.
Expanding a fintech business today feels like a paradox
On one hand, it has never been easier as AI removes many operational roadblocks — building infrastructure, testing ideas, streamlining operations. What used to take months now happens in weeks, sometimes days. But on the other hand, it has never been harder. Regulators are raising the bar. Customers expect more — faster, smarter, safer. There’s no room for half-measures or clunky rollouts.
And that is where the real edge comes in: combining the best of both worlds. Let AI handle the scale, speed, and precision, but keep the human touch where it matters — in vision, leadership, and bold calls that data alone cannot make.
The future belongs to the teams who get this balance right: machines that do not sleep and humans who think big. That is the formula of success.
