Good morning. CFOs are increasingly involved in AI strategy. For Seun Sodipo, CFO at Plaid, the fintech startup that connects financial institutions, her coding experience has become a foundation for experimenting with large language models and AI.
“AI in its best form, should be an accelerant to a business achieving their goals,” said Sodipo, who has a degree in applied mathematics, an MBA, and has worked at Stripe, Glossier, as well as stints in investment banking and private equity before joining Plaid as finance chief last October.
Plaid, led by co-founder and CEO Zachary Perret, connects consumers’ financial accounts to third-party apps and services, providing infrastructure that powers a range of fintech apps, including payments and money-management tools like Venmo. In April 2025, Plaid completed a $575 million funding round led by Franklin Templeton that valued the company at about $6.1 billion. After Visa’s acquisition of Plaid fell through in 2021, the company continued operating independently.
In February 2026, Plaid reached an $8 billion valuation, marking a 31% increase from the prior year. The fundraising was structured as a secondary share sale, allowing long-standing employees to cash out equity rather than raising fresh capital for the company’s balance sheet.
