Rukayyat Modupe Kolawole on the Behaviour and Culture Behind Wealth Management – Fintech Garden Episode 129

Podcast #129: Rukayyat Modupe Kolawole on the Behaviour and Culture Behind Wealth Management

Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea team up on this special episode of the Fintech Garden Podcast to interview a one-of-a-kind fintech entrepreneur, Rukayyat Modupe Kolawole. As the founder of PaceUP Invest GmbH and Executive Board Member in the European Women Payments Network (EWPN), Kolawole provides a unique perspective on how technology and empathy can finally coexist in wealth management.

With a background in behavioral science and finance, she explains how her company is redefining financial planning by considering emotions, culture, and personality alongside data. The conversation dives deep into how AI can empower, not replace, the human side of finance.

The Human Side of Money:

Kolawole challenges the idea that wealth management is purely mathematical. She argues a point that emotions drive financial decisions more than numbers do, and that empathy is a missing core competency in most financial products.

Behavior + AI = Inclusion:

PaceUP blends AI and behavioral science to make investing personal and accessible. By identifying emotional patterns, it helps users make smarter, calmer financial choices.

The Cultural Lens:

Rukayyat emphasizes that money means different things across cultures, from community-driven saving in Africa to individual-focused investing in Europe. The platform adapts to these nuances to build true financial confidence.

Technology for Everyone:

Instead of serving only high-net-worth clients, her vision is to make personalized financial planning available at scale through intelligent automation.

Balancing Human and Machine:

Using the “elephant and rider” metaphor, she illustrates how emotion (the elephant) and logic (the rider) must move together: AI assists, but empathy leads.

Why This Episode Matters

This episode reframes financial innovation around trust, diversity, and emotional intelligence. For fintech founders and investors, it’s a reminder that the next generation of financial tools won’t just predict behavior, they’ll understand it.