In this episode, Laurent Cochet interviews Shivi Sharma, co-founder and president of Kaaj.ai an AI-powered underwriting platform, about how AI is transforming financial services, especially in credit risk analysis and underwriting. They explore the practical applications, challenges, and future potential of AI in high-stakes financial decision-making.

key topics

AI's role in credit underwriting

How Kaaj simplifies loan processing

Balancing AI automation with human judgment

Building trust and transparency in AI models

Scaling AI solutions in financial institutions

Challenges in AI adoption for high-stakes decisions

Market education and customer trust in AI products

Future opportunities in small business lending

sound bites

”AI should help organize workflows, not replace judgment”

”Garbage in, garbage out in AI models”

”AI gives leverage, not job replacement”

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to AI Interconnect and Guest

00:29 Guest background and journey into AI

01:29 Shivi's experience in credit and fraud risk

02:14 Understanding the problem Kaaj solves in lending

03:16 How Kaj simplifies the loan application process

04:40 The human role in underwriting with Kaaj

06:47 Where AI can automate and where human judgment is essential

08:14 Building trust and evidence-backed AI analysis

10:40 Scaling challenges and market education

12:09 The importance of trust and customer relationships

15:40 Market misconceptions about AI in finance

16:00 The importance of data quality and infrastructure

17:07 AI's role in improving economics of small loans

20:22 Next steps and deeper customer engagement

22:33 Expanding into other lending segments

23:45 Key constraints and hiring challenges

26:41 High-stakes AI and the need for caution

27:50 Lessons learned and underestimations

28:24 Advice to younger self and startup founders

29:45 Closing remarks and contact information

keywords

AI in finance, underwriting, credit risk, financial technology, AI adoption, risk analysis, fintech innovation, AI trust, small business loans, AI scaling, AI underwriting, underwriting automation, AI in financial services, AI in fintech, SMB lending, small business lending, equipment finance, credit risk, credit risk automation, automated underwriting, human judgment in AI, AI lending, commercial lending, lending operations, financial services AI, AI credit analysis, credit underwriting, underwriting technology, lending technology, AI adoption , Shivi Sharma, Kaaj.ai,

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Shivi Sharma, Co-Founder & President of Kaaj.ai, joins AI InterConnect to explore how AI underwriting can make SMB lending faster and more efficient without removing human judgment from credit decisions.

Shivi explains how Kaaj uses AI to analyze borrower documents, identify inconsistencies, organize evidence and prepare information for underwriters. She discusses why trust and explainability matter in financial services AI, why buyers care about business outcomes rather than AI itself, and how automation can help lenders scale without proportional headcount growth. She also explores how better underwriting economics could make smaller commercial loans more attractive to lenders.

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