FinTech@CSAIL Initiative

FinTech- Financial Technology- is disrupting many aspects of financial services, banking, insurance and other industries. Not only will infrastructure and operations be disrupted, but new technologies, business models, services and even industries will be launched. FinTech holds promise not only for verified transaction systems such as block-chain, but also for technologies involving AI, security, data analytics/value extraction, machine learning, trust verification, risk management and privacy advances as well.

The Problem -- The Financial Sector has many unique attributes and at the core of a company’s success in this sector is trust, security, value and efficiency. Current technology roadmaps aren't perceived as providing sufficient guidance for FinTech, and new players and technologies are constantly emerging. The shifting demands of customers are evident and pose both risk and opportunity. To stay competitive and stay ahead, companies need access to innovation, thought leadership, new technologies, and high caliber talent.

FinTech@CSAIL will bring together industry, thought leaders, innovators, academics,
disruptive technology development, and start-up companies that are reinventing global financial
services.

Through FINTECH@CSAIL, we will work closely with industry partners in leveraging
innovation from cutting edge research to develop the next generation of impactful technologies that will open up new business models, broaden access, gain new data insights, and improve security.

Research will focus on several key areas across CSAIL:
Advanced Data Analytics
Artificial Intelligence
Cybersecurity/Secure Computation
Financial Policy
Machine Learning/Pattern Recognition
Natural Language Processing (NLP)/Speech Recognition/Conversational Engines
Privacy/Anonymity
Replacement Technologies and Legacy Systems
Risk Management
Robotics
Trusted Shared Public Ledger Systems

This breadth of research uniquely positions CSAIL to address a wide variety of challenges in the space. FinTech@CSAIL will include the world-class faculty of MIT CSAIL, who have pioneered the fields of secure computation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and risk management. The goal is to advance the state-of-the-art in collaboration with select industry partners to address the hardest problems facing the finance industry today.

Through the rigorous research of our faculty coupled with our tradition of collaborating with industry, FinTech@CSAIL will address relevant business problems with long-term vision. Additionally, FinTech@CSAIL will draw from across the lab as well as other focused research initiatives in Cybersecurity@CSAIL and SystemsThatLearn@CSAIL (AI)- all of which come together for a very powerful collaboration to address the challenging issues that are emerging.

We anticipate many opportunities for direct, active collaboration and knowledge sharing though events, projects and directed research.