Felix Simard
Founder, Dimedove
Ilyas Zakiat
Founder, BIASafe
Station Fintech Montréal spotlights two innovators using agentic AI to transform workflows in regulated financial services.
Financial institutions are evaluating how agentic AI can reshape workflows, strengthen controls, and accelerate decision-making. We spoke with two Station Fintech Montréal founders — Felix Simard of Dimedove and Ilyas Zakiat of BIASafe AI — about deploying AI in regulated industries.
What problem were you originally trying to solve, and how has it evolved?
Felix Simard: We began by adding conversational intelligence to personal finance, but saw the real need was scalable qualification. Firms must manage inquiries efficiently, so we built a qualification platform.
Ilyas Zakiat: Asset-management teams were slowed by fragmented workflows. We built BIASafe so a non-technical manager could design, test, and launch portfolios rapidly.
What prompted your pivot, and what did you learn from financial institutions?
FS: Human-driven qualification becomes a bottleneck as volume grows. Agentic systems remove that. Seeing firms ready for this shift directed our focus.
IZ: Users wanted predictions, while institutions needed AI-native operating systems. The pivot realigned us with our mission.
What have been the biggest regulatory challenges?
FS: Compliance expectations shape everything we build. We apply strict privacy, security, and data-governance practices.
IZ: Institutions expect built-in security. We invested in hardened cloud controls.
What are financial institutions most concerned about?
FS: Consistency: a system that reflects the brand, communicates clearly, and stays accurate with low latency.
IZ: Data security, output reliability, and explainability.
What early results are you seeing?
FS: Our platform handles repetitive qualification, letting teams focus on higher-value prospects.
IZ: Managers can describe strategies in plain language and generate production-ready portfolios in minutes.
Where is agentic AI headed?
FS: Businesses will become agent-first, with agents working across channels.
IZ: Agentic AI will become the operational backbone, automating manual workflows and reducing risk.
Learn more at stationfintech.com/en.
