Meet Roman Eloshvili, Founder of ComplyControl

Tell us About Yourself

 

I am Roman Eloshvili, the founder of ComplyControl, a cutting-edge provider of AI-powered compliance and risk management services. I’ve had an extensive career in IT and FinTech, having worked closely with major European financial organisations for many years.

My experiences led me to the creation of ComplyControl in 2023, with the core idea behind it being to provide more efficient compliance solutions to banks and other financial firms. We make use of artificial intelligence to address the problems that have been historically prevalent in traditional compliance services.

 

Can you tell us more about what ComplyControl does?

 

ComplyControl’s mission is to make regulatory compliance for financial companies smarter, faster, and more cost-efficient. To this end, we offer robust AI-based services in place of old-school manual processes and legacy systems that can no longer keep up with the growing demands of the modern world.

ComplyControl’s services include real-time anti-money laundering fraud detection, adverse media checks for counter-terrorist financing, and sanctions screening with AI validation. All this is done at speeds far greater than those of other solutions available on the market, making fraud detection faster and more reliable.

 

 

What led you to start ComplyControl? What makes it unique in your view?

 

As I mentioned in the beginning, I’ve worked closely with European banks for many years. Spent over 10 years in the financial markets, in fact. And during that time, I couldn’t help but notice that there was — and still is — a significant gap in the adoption of more advanced banking solutions. Especially when we compare Europe against some of the prominent fintech hubs around the world.

Moreover, financial compliance has always been a notoriously complicated field to navigate, and has only grown more so as the digitisation of the financial world kept advancing. The old ways of doing things just weren’t going to cut it anymore.

As I explored different ways of addressing these problems, I realised that AI held tremendous potential in the financial sector. This led me to launch ComplyControl in 2023, with a focus on helping banks and fintechs navigate the complexities of compliance and risk management using AI.

As for what makes us unique: I would argue that it’s our dedication to providing solutions that are not just effective but also accessible. Our AI-powered system enables banks to process payments with a fee as low as 2 cents per transaction checked. This means that even smaller banks and fintech startups that may not be able to afford the mainstream compliance tools can make use of ComplyControl’s services.

 

How has your company evolved since its inception?

 

We officially launched in early 2023, and in 2024, we expanded to the UK market, which is known as a prominent global fintech hub which suited our purposes. This was a strategic move, as it’s the ideal place for innovative solutions like ours.

At ComplyControl, we believe in a focused, quality-first approach. Over 20% of startups collapse within the first year, and one of the most prominent reasons for this is the lack of a proper product-market fit. For this reason, my personal belief has always been to do things right, not just do them fast.

Instead of rushing to scale quickly, our team decided to take the slow but sure road towards growth. We’ve spent the last year refining our products based on client feedback to ensure we’re delivering the right solutions that address the real needs of the market.

One of our key innovations is the AI-powered visual compliance rules editor that we launched in late 2024. It allows compliance officers to create and customise transaction monitoring rules without needing any in-depth programming skills. A no-code visual interface means that there’s no need to rely on programmers or IT teams anymore. This makes the workflow of compliance officers a lot easier to deal with, and the AI also analyses the effectiveness of these rules, making sure that they stay relevant.

 

What excites you most about the work ComplyControl is doing?

 

I’m particularly excited about the potential of AI and how we can use it in the future in new services. Artificial intelligence has the power to revolutionise many industries, and finance certainly counts in that list. At ComplyControl, we’re always looking at how we can apply this technology in real-world scenarios to drive valuable improvements in compliance and financial services as a whole.

The more practical use cases we develop for AI, the faster the sector will grow, not just in terms of investments and the number of players, but also in terms of the AI technology itself rising to new levels. The more we demonstrate the practical benefits of AI, the closer we get to unlocking its full transformative power.

 

What can we expect from ComplyControl in the future?

 

Our team is constantly working on enhancing our services for greater client convenience. As previously mentioned, last year, we launched a visual compliance rules editor, and we plan to add even more features to it in the future. For example, the editor will soon support the ability to create rules using natural language — similar to how we already interact with tools like ChatGPT. This will make the process even more user-friendly and less time-consuming.

Aside from that, another major focus is going to be on developing an AI-driven system that tracks regulatory changes globally. Financial companies often struggle to keep up with ever-changing regulations across various jurisdictions, so our system will help by providing tailored advice for businesses, ensuring they stay compliant in the regions relevant to them.

 

Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

 

My advice is simple: when you build a business, make sure that it solves a real problem. In the fintech space particularly, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype of innovation and hot trends like AI. But the key to long-term success lies in addressing genuine market needs.

In order to stand out in a competitive market, you need unique advantages. If you’re not answering a real demand, it’s unlikely that either investors or regular users will consider you above other companies.