🤑 When AI passed the CFA

What $100K visas mean for founders, how AI aced finance’s hardest test, and why 94% of consumers already trust AI agents.

Author

Nicole Casperson
September 25, 2025

Hey, fintech fam! 💜

Today I had the honor of moderating a women’s luncheon at Cloudera’s big tech conference in NYC. (Ladies who lunch, iykyk.)

And here’s the thing: when I’m on stage with women leaders, I’m not asking them to talk about being women.

I’m asking them to talk tactics, expertise, and the strategies that actually move companies forward.

That’s exactly the ethos behind Fintech Is Femme — our content, our conversations, and our summits. We go past the surface and get into the substance.

With the AI Summit just weeks away, here’s your reminder: the Startup Pitch Competition (powered by Stripe) is almost full.

Only 3–4 founders will be selected to pitch live — so if you’re building the next wave of fintech, apply now here. 🚨

And if you’ve been wondering who’s in the room this year? Scroll all the way to the bottom — I’ve dropped the full star-studded lineup of speakers, their LinkedIn profiles, and companies.

Spoiler: it’s powerful. 💫

#TRENDING

What’s Up In Fintech

#1 H-1B Visa Fees Skyrocket — What It Means for Startups and Fintech

As of this week, U.S. companies that want to hire workers through the H-1B visa program now face a $100,000 fee per worker — up from about $10,000 previously.

The change, issued by President Trump via executive order, dramatically alters the math for businesses that rely on international talent.

The H-1B program has long been a pipeline for specialized skills that drive innovation in tech and finance.

Roughly 85,000 new visas are granted each year, with nearly 500,000 applications filed in 2024, according to data reported by The New York Times.

By pricing out smaller firms, the new rule risks consolidating talent at the top — while starving startups of the expertise they need to grow.

The Numbers

  • Only 5% of H-1B applications last year were for jobs paying more than the $225,000 “break-even” salary under the new rules.

  • Amazon filed 21,600 applications, but just 4% were above that threshold.

  • Tata Consulting applied for 9,600 roles, all under $225,000; the average salary was ~$89,000.

  • Historically, visa sponsorship was ~$10,000 in legal/admin fees — meaning the new system is a 10x increase.

Why It Matters

  • Startups will be squeezed. A $100K ticket is pocket change for Big Tech, but an impossible barrier for early-stage fintech founders who depend on global talent. This will tilt the field further in favor of incumbents.

  • The innovation chokehold. Research has shown startups hiring H-1B workers are more likely to secure funding, go public, and make breakthroughs. Cutting off this pipeline doesn’t just hurt founders — it could slow the entire venture ecosystem.

  • Global fintech networks at risk. Many founders leverage international hires not only for skills but also to build bridges into overseas markets. Fewer visas = fewer global connections at exactly the moment fintech is scaling cross-border.

The Bigger Picture

This isn’t just an immigration story — it’s a fintech competitiveness story. Fintech has always thrived on scrappiness: hiring global engineers, compliance officers, and product talent that incumbents overlook. If that door closes, startups will either:

  1. Build abroad (increasingly likely).

  2. Double down on automation/AI to fill skill gaps.

  3. Lose out to incumbents who can afford the fee.

My optimistic take: fintech has always been built with constraints.

When doors close, founders find new ones. Whether that’s designing AI systems that augment smaller teams, creating remote-first cultures that scale globally, or lobbying for smarter immigration policy, this community has a track record of turning barriers into breakthroughs.

Bottom line: The U.S. says it wants to “protect American workers,” but this policy could end up protecting incumbents instead — unless fintech leaders push for innovation, equity, and smarter paths to global talent.

#2 AI Just Passed Finance’s Hardest Test: New Goodfin Study

Anna Joo Fee, Co-Founder & CEO, Goodfin

This week, Goodfin — co-founded by Chief Technology Officer Shilpi Nayak and Chief Executive Anna Joo Fee — made headlines with NYU Stern for co-authoring a landmark study: large language models can now pass the CFA Level III exam.

For context: Level III is the gold standard in finance certification. It tests not just knowledge but reasoning, synthesis, and judgment.

Until now, AI could handle Levels I and II. Passing Level III is a leap — it suggests AI can perform at the same benchmark used to certify human financial expertise.

The study, co-authored with Professor Srikanth Jagabathula of NYU Stern and featured in the Financial Times, benchmarked 23 leading LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, etc.) across multiple-choice and essay questions.

Both CFA graders and AI evaluators assessed the results. The verdict: frontier models passed.

Why It Matters

  • AI is crossing from prediction to reasoning. Passing CFA III isn’t about regurgitating facts. It’s about weighing tradeoffs, explaining strategy, and navigating ambiguity. That’s the core of financial advising, compliance, and risk.

  • The talent equation changes. Startups have historically competed with incumbents by hiring niche experts. If AI can replicate some of that expertise, the question shifts: what proprietary data, distribution, and trust do you bring that AI can’t?

  • New jobs will emerge. Think AI compliance officers, agent workflow designers, trust architects. The firms that thrive won’t be the ones cutting headcount — they’ll be the ones creating the next generation of roles.

  • Trust + accountability. A model passing an exam is different from a model guiding someone’s life savings. But the fact it can clear the bar forces regulators, firms, and founders to decide how they deploy AI responsibly.

  • Equity + access. Who builds this matters. With women founders leading Goodfin’s work, it highlights a bigger point: the design of these systems will decide whether AI expands inclusion — or calcifies old inequities.

And here’s where the expansion factor gets exciting:

Scaling expertise downmarket.

Traditionally, CFA-level expertise is reserved for wealthy clients paying top-tier advisory fees. If AI can reason at that level, fintech products can deliver elite guidance to everyday consumers. That’s a literacy unlock — and a market expansion.

 Personalization that feels human.

Financial literacy has always struggled with the “worksheet problem” — generic, one-size-fits-all programs. Now, AI agents can tailor advice to someone’s exact debt load, income volatility, or savings goals. That’s literacy that feels like coaching, not homework.

Trust through clarity.

Consumers don’t want more data; they want decisions they can understand. Should I refinance? Should I invest here? CFA-grade AI can translate complexity into clear answers — boosting literacy and product trust at the same time.

A bigger market for fintech builders.

When more people understand money, they make smarter financial decisions — which means a larger, more loyal user base for fintech. Literate consumers don’t just use your product; they champion it.

Fintech has always been about expanding access. This research proves AI can now meet the bar of expert reasoning. But that doesn’t mean replacing experts — it means reimagining what expert work looks like.

If AI can pass the test, our test is bigger: Will we use this breakthrough to make financial work more human? More empathetic? More inclusive? More fulfilling?

Passing the exam is one milestone. Embedding that expertise into real-world systems — with all their biases, regulations, and cultural nuance — is the next.

#3 Salesforce Data Shows AI Agents’ Role in Financial Services

On Tuesday, I dropped a deep dive column in partnership with Salesforce’s new Agentic Enterprise Index — and the data honestly made me more optimistic about the AI + fintech future than I expected.

There’s plenty of hype in this space. But Salesforce’s dataset comes from real businesses that ran agents in production every month for six months, plus surveys of 2,000+ leaders and consumers. In other words: receipts, not vibes.

Here’s what stood out:

  • 119% growth in AI agents deployed in H1 2025

  • 80% MoM growth in agent actions

  • In financial services, agent activity grew 105% MoM

  • Consumers who regularly use AI agents are 222% more likely to say their FS experience improved

  • 94% of consumers choose AI-powered interactions when given the option

Yes, adoption is happening at a staggering clip. But here’s the nuance: escalations to humans increased — from 22% in Q1 to 32% in Q2. That’s not failure. That’s design. Agents are learning their limits and passing complex, sensitive cases to humans.

That’s trust in action.

And this is why I keep saying: AI agents aren’t apps, they’re infrastructure. Like railroads, once you lay the tracks, they determine where commerce flows. 

If we design them only for margin-maximization, money will consolidate where it always has. But if we design for access? That’s where things get revolutionary.

Why It Matters

  • For enterprises: Agentic workflows aren’t optional anymore. Adoption is inevitable. If you’re not experimenting, you’re already behind.

  • For financial inclusion: Equity is optional — unless we demand it. Agents trained on diverse data can expand access, literacy, and opportunity at scale.

  • For customer trust: Consumers using agents are 200% more likely to report improved FS experiences. That’s not just satisfaction — it’s loyalty.

Bottom line: We’re at an inflection point. AI agents will decide who gets access, who builds wealth, and who gets left behind.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Join us every Thursday to keep up with fintech events!

[SAN FRANCISCO] Fintech Is Femme AI Summit

I’ve been getting a ton of messages from you all asking for the full agenda and speaker details — so here it is. Meet our star-studded lineup (in order of appearance):

  1. Nicole Casperson, Founder & CEO, Fintech Is Femme

  2. Asya Bradley, VC Partnerships Lead, Stripe 

  3. Anna Joo Fee, Founder & CEO, Goodfin

  4. Luan Cox, President & CEO, FinMkt 

  5. Megan Gross, Founder, The Bon Soir

  6. Drew Glover, Co-Founder, Fiat Growth

  7. Laurel Taylor, Founder & CEO, Candidly 

  8. Jackie Wylie, Head of Marketing & Sales Dev, Middesk

  9. Rina Jariwala, Chief Operating Offier, Fundbox

  10. Anne Cocquyt, Founder, The Guild Studio

  11. Brittany Mosley, Co-Founder, Rosy Fintech MC

  12. Shashank Singh, Founder & CEO, Kroolo

  13. Jennifer Tan, SVP, Managing Director, Head of Marketing, Bank of Hope

  14. Sibongile Ngako, Chief Compliance Officer, Brex

  15. Melissa Magner, Head of Legal, Versana

  16. Trisha Kothari, Founder & CEO, Unit21

Start connecting, reaching out, and getting to know these experts you’ll be in the room with!

[SAN FRANCISCO] Women Driving the Fintech Revolution

Why settle for one event during SF Tech Week when you can catch me at two? The night before our big AI Summit, I’ll be joining community member Sandra Wasicek’s women-in-fintech event.

I’m kicking things off with a 20-minute AMA on branding and content — quick, tactical, and packed with the good stuff.

[VIRTUAL] The Future of Fintech: Best in Show

Fintech Is Femme and Empire Startups are teaming up to spotlight the next generation of builders redefining money as we know it. From lending to payments, wealth to insurance, capital markets and beyond — these are the founders creating the future.

At each event, five early-stage companies will take the stage. A panel of sharp investors will weigh in. And together, we’ll crown fintech’s Best in Show.

This isn’t just a pitch event — it’s where ideas meet capital, culture, and community.

✨ Save your spot:

FINTUNES

New music alert with queens collaborating!

LET’S CONNECT

📰 Share this newsletter with a friend and start growing your network.

🔗 Connect with me on LinkedIn for daily insights on leadership.

🤝 Meet the industry leaders who can change your career at the Leadership Summit.

📣 Promote yourself to 50,000 subscribers by sponsoring this newsletter.

🎤 Host an epic event by booking me as a speaker, moderator, or emcee.

📚 Increase your expertise by ordering your copy of my book, Fintech Feminists: Increasing Inclusion, Redefining Innovation, and Changing the Future for Women Around the World.

⭐️ P.S. If you’ve read Fintech Feminists (or listened to the audiobook!), I’d be so grateful if you could take 30 seconds to leave a review or rating on Amazon here. Your support means the world to me. A million thanks in advance!

That wraps up today’s edition—thanks for reading! Until next week, keep innovating and challenging the status quo. See you Tuesday!

Love,

Nicole 💜