Pei Ling Tin on Building a Governance Framework for Agentic Finance

In Episode 35 of The Exponential Show, host Mayank Singh sat down with Pei Ling Tin, Co-President of MetaComp, during Money20/20 Asia in Bangkok for a timely conversation on digital finance, agentic AI, governance, partnerships, and women empowerment.

The conversation explored MetaComp’s evolution, its work at the intersection of fiat and digital assets, and why the next phase of finance will require not just innovation, but stronger frameworks for trust, accountability, and responsible adoption.

A career shaped by public service, technology, and finance

Pei Ling’s career has not followed a traditional path. She began in advisory at Ernst & Young before moving through several technology and business leadership roles, including time at Grab and Business China, a Singapore-based nonprofit focused on building bilingual and bicultural connections between Singapore, China, and the wider world.

Over time, her work moved closer to finance, especially payments and on-chain finance. Her entry into MetaComp came through a shared belief in the importance of hybrid payments, connecting the traditional fiat world with digital assets and stablecoins.

At the heart of MetaComp’s work is a practical problem: how can businesses settle cross-border payments faster, more securely, and in a compliant manner?

For enterprises operating across markets, especially in fast-growing regions like Southeast Asia, that is not a small challenge. Speed matters, but so do trust, interoperability, and regulatory confidence.

MetaComp’s move into agentic finance

MetaComp is a MAS-licensed Major Payment Institution with capabilities across digital payment tokens, digital assets, fiat, and cross-border payments. Building on that foundation, the company is now moving into agentic finance.

For Pei Ling, the opportunity is clear. Generative AI has already changed how people interact with information, but agentic AI could change how people access and use services. Instead of navigating complex portals or multi-step processes, users may soon interact through prompts, messaging apps, or autonomous agents that can act on their behalf.

In financial services, that opens up powerful possibilities. Payments, onboarding, wealth services, and transactions could become more seamless and accessible. But Pei Ling was equally clear that convenience cannot come at the cost of compliance.

When agents can take autonomous actions, including potentially material financial decisions, the governance layer becomes essential.

Why “Know Your Agent” matters

One of the most important ideas discussed in the episode was MetaComp’s StableX “Know Your Agent” framework.

In today’s financial system, frameworks such as KYC, AML, and CFT are built around people and organizations. They help financial institutions verify identity, assess risk, prevent misuse, and assign accountability.

But agentic finance introduces a new type of actor: autonomous digital agents.

These agents may interact with systems, other agents, platforms, and financial institutions. They may assist with onboarding, process transactions, make recommendations, or act within certain authority levels. For that to work safely, Pei Ling believes agents must also become identifiable, verifiable, and accountable.

MetaComp’s framework is structured around four pillars.

The first is agent identity and registration. Every agent, whether personal, enterprise, assistive, or fully autonomous, needs a unique identity that can be linked back to its owner.

The second is authority and permission. Once an agent is identified, the system must define what it is allowed to do, what it cannot do, and where human approval is still required.

The third is behavioral monitoring. Just as customers can carry risk ratings in financial systems, agents may also need dynamic risk ratings based on their actions and behavior over time.

The fourth is ecosystem governance. As agents interact with other agents, platforms, and institutions, there must be rules to ensure that those interactions are traceable, permissioned, and auditable.

Together, these pillars aim to create a financial environment where agentic AI can be adopted without losing sight of responsibility.

Responsible technology as the real unlock

A recurring theme in the conversation was that technology should ultimately improve lives.

Pei Ling’s view is not simply that AI should be adopted because it is new. Instead, she emphasized that financial institutions, technology companies, regulators, and ecosystem partners need to think carefully about how these tools are deployed.

That includes human accountability. Even in highly autonomous systems, there should still be human oversight at critical points. For example, even if an agent completes compliance checks, a compliance officer may still need to provide final approval.

This balance between automation and accountability may become one of the defining questions in the future of finance.

Why Southeast Asia and Thailand matter

The conversation also touched on partnerships and the importance of Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, in the future of digital finance.

Pei Ling noted that MetaComp’s ultimate beneficiaries include SMEs, exporters, and overseas-venturing companies that need better cross-border payment and settlement solutions. These businesses often operate across regions such as Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, where payment friction can slow down growth.

MetaComp is open to working with payment service providers, financial institutions, e-commerce platforms, and other like-minded ecosystem players.

For Thailand, this is particularly relevant. The country already has a rapidly evolving digital payments landscape, a strong SME base, and growing interest in fintech, cross-border trade, and digital transformation. With the right partnerships, there is room for solutions like MetaComp’s to support businesses that want to move faster and operate with greater trust.

Women empowerment and the future workforce

Beyond finance, Pei Ling also spoke about a cause close to her heart: women empowerment.

Her involvement began through volunteer work during university, where she was exposed to different segments of society and the challenges people face in daily life. Over time, this shaped her interest in helping women and girls access better opportunities.

She spoke about three important areas of focus.

The first is creating capacity. Many women continue to carry a large share of caregiving responsibilities, which can limit their participation in the workforce.

The second is building capabilities. Whether it is helping women return to work, adopt future skills like AI, or build small businesses from home, training and networks can make a meaningful difference.

The third is breaking ceilings. For women who want to rise further in their careers or entrepreneurial journeys, society needs to address stereotypes, biases, and structural barriers that still exist.

Pei Ling also highlighted the role of digital fluency in narrowing the gender gap. If women are equipped with the right digital skills, they can access more opportunities, build confidence, and participate more fully in the future economy.

A message for finance leaders and entrepreneurs

Pei Ling’s closing message was simple but important: as we continue to digitalize and embrace AI, we must deploy technology responsibly.

For finance leaders, payment providers, SMEs, and ecosystem builders, that means innovation cannot be separated from trust. The promise of agentic finance is real, but so are the risks if systems are not designed with governance, accountability, and human oversight in mind.

For entrepreneurs, the lesson is equally relevant. Technology should not be adopted for its own sake. It should solve real problems, improve lives, and create systems that people can trust.

This episode was recorded during Money20/20 Asia in Bangkok. A special thank you to Money20/20 Asia for having Exponential as one of the media representatives, and to Midas PR for making this conversation happen and supporting the production behind the scenes.