• Shani Golov, VP of Sales at ThetaRay


• 27.01.2026 10:12 am

Interview by Tawney Kruger, Editor, Financial IT

For readers new to your work, could you briefly introduce yourself and ThetaRay’s operations in the EMEA region?

Shani Golov:

My name is Shani Golov, and I serve as VP of Sales at ThetaRay. We areSoftware development company with a suite of AI products focused on compliance, mainly transaction monitoring, screening, and customer risk assessment. What we offer is genuinely unique in the market, and I believe it is transforming the way institutions approach financial crime prevention.

You mentioned AI immediately. What would you say is the most misunderstood aspect of AI in AML today?

Shani:

Compliance teams often think AI is coming to replace them. In reality, it is here to empower and support them. Many compliance officers still do not trust AI, they see it as a black box, something they cannot explain to regulators, which some models are, but in ThetaRay's case a big part of our work is education.

AI is not replacing anyone, it is providing more sophisticated and intelligent recommendations and enhancing daily workflows.

Different AI solutions offer different levels of transparency; however, I can say confidently that ThetaRay’s AI provides full explainability for why a customer or transaction is flagged as suspicious. We work with model risk management teams to explain how the algorithms operate, and we have successfully passed numerous regulatory audits. This is an area we are very proud of.

Regulators in EMEA have become increasingly proactive. Which regulatory shifts are having the greatest impact on transaction monitoring and AI adoption?

Shani:

Regulators today are far more active than before. The FATF grey listing of several countries, the new EU AML directives, and the heightened expectations around explainability all play major roles. Institutions must demonstrate not only strong compliance, but real effectiveness and governance.

This regulatory pressure is pushing financial institutions to adopt more sophisticated solutions that keep them one step ahead. However, this must be paired with proper model risk management and governance frameworks.

Legacy systems often struggle with false positives and operational workload. How does ThetaRay address this challenge?

Shani:

Traditional rule-based solutions are black and white. If you are below a threshold, you are not suspicious; if you are above it, you are suspicious. Real life and real crime does not work this way. This leads to high false positives, and it also means real threats can slip through the cracks.

At ThetaRay, we do not rely on strict rules. We let the system learn what normal behavior looks like for each customer based on historical data. My normal behavior will be different from yours, my beneficiaries, my transaction sizes, the countries I interact with, all create my unique profile. The system detects anomalies rather than simply evaluating thresholds.

This reduces false positives and reveals sophisticated threats that rule-based systems will never catch.

Where do you see the biggest threats, and how do they typically arise?

Shani:

In traditional systems, the biggest challenge is the volume of false positives and the operational processes required to clear them. These processes introduce human error and bias. My assessment of a transaction may differ from yours, which exposes institutions to inconsistency and risk.

With AI, the technology itself is not the challenge. The real challenge lies in adoption. Financial institutions are traditionally rule-oriented, and they expect to see the same type of alerts they have always seen. AI introduces entirely new types of alerts, identifying behaviors that rules cannot. That shift requires a new mindset, new processes, and updated governance.

Looking ahead, how do you see AI and machine learning evolving within financial crime compliance?

Shani:

I believe that eventually everyone will use AI. There is no other way to fight crimes that are increasingly carried out using AI tools. AI will not replace analysts, it will empower them. And as institutions see their competitors gaining an advantage through AI, adoption will accelerate.

If I can dream a little, I imagine a future where AI does not operate in isolation within each institution; instead, it could monitor behaviors across the entire ecosystem. This would dramatically enhance detection capabilities. It will take time, but I believe we will get there.

ThetaRay has been expanding its partnerships with global banks, PSPs, and fintechs. What is driving successful adoption in EMEA?

Shani:

The fastest adopters are PSPs and fintechs, since they are more agile and innovation-focused. Banks, especially large ones, are more traditional and the transformation takes longer.

That said, we work with many major banks across EMEA, including Santander, Crédit Agricole, and leading institutions in Africa. The shift is happening; it simply moves at different speeds depending on the organization.

Remittance providers continue to face cross-border risks. Why is this, and how does ThetaRay support them?

Shani:

Cross-border transactions involve high complexity and high velocity, and they span multiple jurisdictions. There are often several intermediaries involved, sometimes four or five. Not all information is passed along the chain, so by the time a payment reaches its destination, critical data may be missing.

We have built a specific solution for cross-border and remittance flows. It enables institutions to track and monitor all intermediaries throughout the chain. This visibility is our “secret sauce”, and it is why remittance providers see a significant improvement in accuracy and regulatory compliance.

From a commercial perspective, what trends are shaping customer expectations in the region?

Shani:

Customers expect AI to improve their operational and commercial performance.

On the business side, they want faster onboarding and stronger client satisfaction. On the commercial side, they expect cost savings, efficiency, and clear ROI. These are the core expectations driving adoption.

Finally, what is next for ThetaRay’s expansion in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa?

Shani:

I cannot share all the details yet, but we are preparing to take our platform to the next level. This includes not only generating alerts through AI, but also introducing virtual assistants that can investigate alerts using all available data and then recommend next steps to analysts.

The decision will always remain with the analyst, they are the experts, but we aim to accelerate their work and make it more effective. This is the future of compliance: AI-powered insights, human-led decisions.