Code Story: Insights from Startup Tech Leaders

Today, we have a special episode correlated with Fraud awareness week, and brought to you by our friends at SEON - the command center for fraud prevention and AML compliance. SEON connects first party data signals to show you what other solutions can't - by enriching data, understanding context, and taking action from one place... to prevent fraud.In this episode, we are talking with Husnain "HB" Bajwa, SVP of Product & Risk Solutions. He has been a fraud and risk leader for 30+ years, and leads innovation in fraud prevention and compliance at SEON. HB is going to touch on important topics in the fraud detection and prevention space, such as AI, regulatory pressures, and the perspectives of startups that can get them into trouble.Questions:You’ve spent a lot of time in the world of fraud and compliance. What first drew you to solving these kinds of problems?Startups often focus on growth first and worry about fraud later. What’s the hidden risk in that mindset?Why do you believe fraud prevention and AML compliance are converging, and what are the benefits of them living in the same system?AI gets talked about a lot, but in your view, what are the real, practical ways it’s improving fraud and AML work today?We’re seeing more regulatory pressure globally. How can organizations prepare for 2026 to ensure they are taking a risk-based approach to compliance?I know your team’s been working on some big innovations, including a new compliance suite built on top of your fraud prevention stack and new AI-driven tools. How are these helping investigators connect the dots faster and uncover hidden relationships, especially when it comes to complex cases?What advice would you give to early-stage startups that might think they’re ‘too small’ to be targeted by fraudsters?Linkshttps://seon.io/https://www.linkedin.com/in/hbajwa/Our Sponsors:* Check out Incogni: https://incogni.com/codestory* Check out NordVPN: https://nordprotect.com/codestorySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story-insights-from-startup-tech-leaders/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Praveen Ghanta, a serial founder and CEO focused on fractional engineering talent and developer productivity, shares his entrepreneurial journey. He discusses discovering the value of fractional hires after his previous startup experience. Praveen explains how client demand influences his business's direction and offers insights into scaling operations effectively. He reflects on balancing no-code solutions and custom engineering while also providing valuable advice for young entrepreneurs seeking early customer feedback.

Nika Tamayo Flores, Product Lead at Railsware, brings a wealth of experience building data-driven products. She dives into the transformative power of conversational analytics, contrasting it with traditional static dashboards. Nika discusses the integration of AI into data analytics, emphasizing how it enhances understanding and user experience. She shares challenges faced during implementation and reveals how AI Insights in Coupler summarizes data and suggests actions. Nika also suggests that conversational analytics will complement, rather than replace, existing BI dashboards.

Chris Wallis, founder and CEO of Intruder, transitioned from ethical hacking to creating an exposure management platform that identifies internet security weaknesses. He shares the journey of starting with a lean MVP—providing PDF security reports—and evolving to a more automated product. Key discussions include his hiring philosophy emphasizing culture fit, scaling strategies to avoid over-engineering, and the importance of candid feedback in leadership. Wallis also offers valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs about the realities of startup life.

Erez Druk, Co-founder and CEO of Freed, is on a mission to revolutionize healthcare with an AI clinician assistant. He shares his journey from Israel to the Bay Area and how witnessing the challenges faced by medical professionals inspired him to create a solution that reduces their administrative burden. The conversation highlights the importance of HIPAA compliance, evolving product features based on user feedback, and the impact of personalized hiring practices. Erez emphasizes the significance of deep user care and a long-term approach to entrepreneurship.

Sergiy Korolov, Co-CEO of Railsware and co-founder of Mailtrap, shares insights on value-focused product development. He emphasizes the crucial distinction between shipping features and genuinely delivering value, urging teams to prioritize user problems over mere feature lists. Sergiy introduces the BRIDGeS framework, which helps clarify problems before solutions and guides effective strategy pivots. He discusses the importance of user research and validation, demonstrating how real-world examples like Mailtrap highlight demand before feature development.

Mrinal Wadhwa, CTO and co-founder of Autonomy and creator of the Ockam Rust toolkit, shares insights from his tech journey. He reveals how customer feedback inspired the creation of Autonomy, a platform for scalable AI products. Mrinal discusses the architectural benefits of using an actor model for efficient agent management and lessons learned from early mistakes with LLMs. He emphasizes the importance of perseverance for aspiring entrepreneurs and reflects on personal influences that shape his innovative mindset.

Shamba Chowdhury, Co-founder and CTO of DeForge, has a passion for tech that began in childhood. He discusses his innovative no-code platform designed to simplify AI agent creation. Shamba shares how user feedback and market trends shape their development process. He highlights the importance of modular design for scaling and details the proprietary engine that enhances functionality. Shamba also offers wisdom for aspiring founders, emphasizing the joy of solving problems and the importance of marketing.

Sergiy Korolov, Co-CEO of Railsware and co-founder of Mailtrap, explores the emerging trend of vibe-coding versus traditional software development approaches. He defines vibe-coding, discussing its potential influence and limitations. The conversation delves into why vibe-coding has surfaced, the role of AI tools in enhancing development, and engineers' reactions to this innovate method. Sergiy also shares best use cases, highlighting that while vibe-coding can help with prototypes, it struggles to scale for complex products.

Zohar Bronfman spends most of his time in Tel Aviv, Israel these days. He has a focused academic background, specifically in philosophy and neuroscience. He was always intrigued by the question - how do we know what we know? - which led him to get a PhD in Philosophy. While doing that, he also became fascinated with he human mind and empirical decision making, which took him down the road of obtaining another PhD in AI & Neuroscience, essentially emulating brain processes. Outside of tech, he has 3 kids and a startup. He loves a good book in the philosophy or neuroscience space, and is a big fan of sports. Specifically, he loves the NBA and claims to be a Knicks fan.Zohar and his now co-founder were digging into predictive models, as an extension of their academic studies. They were curious as to why companies, though they were running predictive models, were not making accurate predictions. They soon realized that this was because the AI modeling expertise was centralized at couple of well known companies.This is the creation story of Pecan AI.SponsorsVentionCodeCrafters helps you become a better engineer by building real-world, production-grade projects. Learn hands-on by creating your own Git, Redis, HTTP server, SQLite, or DNS server from scratch. Sign up for free today using this link and enjoy 40% off.Full ScalePaddle.comSema SoftwarePropelAuthPostmanMeilisearchLinkshttps://www.pecan.ai/https://www.linkedin.com/in/zohar-bronfman/https://demandforecast.ai/Our Sponsors:* Check out Incogni: https://incogni.com/codestory* Check out NordVPN: https://nordprotect.com/codestorySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story-insights-from-startup-tech-leaders/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy