Guest bio
- Co-founder and CEO of Addo, an AI company helping large enterprises and governments build smarter services with data and AI.
- Began her career building trading systems on Wall Street, and has spent over 20 years advising Fortune 500 chief executives on AI.
- Founded 21st Century Girls, a charity that has taught thousands of girls and young women coding, AI and robotics for free.
Dr Ayesha Khanna is the co-founder and CEO of Addo, an AI company that helps large enterprises and governments use data and AI to build smarter services, from financial institutions to smart cities. She began her career building data-driven trading systems on Wall Street and has spent more than 20 years advising Fortune 500 chief executives and public-sector leaders on AI strategy, innovation and governance. She founded Amplify, a venture-backed Singapore media and education company that teaches professionals to turn AI into everyday advantage, and earlier founded 21st Century Girls, a charity that has taught thousands of girls and young women coding, AI and robotics through free programmes. Forbes has recognised her as a groundbreaking female entrepreneur in Southeast Asia, and she is a LinkedIn Top Voice for AI.
Show notes
What happens when one of the world’s most respected AI entrepreneurs sits down with a veteran banker to talk about the future of work, banking, and inclusion in the age of intelligent machines? In this episode of Money Majlis, Suvo is joined by Dr Ayesha Khanna, co founder and CEO of Addo and founder of the new education and media platform Amplify, to explore how AI is moving from hype to hard results in boardrooms, smart cities, and everyday careers.
Across a wide ranging conversation, Ayesha shares the pivotal moments that shaped her journey from building data driven trading systems on Wall Street to advising Fortune 500 CEOs and governments on AI strategy and governance, and now to creating role specific AI learning journeys for professionals around the world. She explains why only a small minority of organisations manage to escape “pilot purgatory,” how the best banks are turning AI into tangible gains in risk, compliance, and customer experience within 12-18 months, and what practical guardrails boards and regulators need to put in place to stay ambitious without being reckless.
The episode digs into Ayesha’s core belief that the purpose of AI is to amplify human potential, not replace it. She argues that critical thinking and domain expertise will matter more, not less, as AI diffuses through financial services, and lays out how leaders should redesign talent strategies so people can confidently challenge and supervise AI, rather than blindly follow it. She looks ahead five years to paint a vivid picture of how a typical banker, risk manager, or product manager will actually work alongside intelligent assistants in a “Hybrid Age” of human AI teamwork.
A powerful part of the discussion centres on women and under represented groups in technology. Ayesha reflects on more than a decade of work with 21st Century Girls and now Amplify’s programs for mid career women, sharing moving stories of girls who discovered their confidence in a coding class and women who have transitioned into AI enabled roles. She also offers concrete ideas for policymakers and corporations in Asia to shift from inspirational campaigns to systemic change.
Whether you are a bank CEO, fintech founder, or a 40 something professional wondering how to future proof your career, this conversation will leave you with a clear message: do not wait for the future of work to happen to you; design it yourself, with AI as your partner, and make sure you bring others along.
If you believe AI should enlarge human potential rather than diminish it, this conversation will feel like a clear-eyed, warm-hearted call to action.
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