Tech Ascension Awards Announces the 2024 FinTech Winners, Recognizing Innovation and Leadership in Financial Technology

The Tech Ascension Awards are proud to announce the winners of the 2024 FinTech Awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in the financial technology sector. These organizations have demonstrated exceptional vision and accomplishments in their respective fields, leading the way with groundbreaking solutions that set new standards in the industry.

"Fintech is at a pivotal moment, with AI and digital transformation redefining how we interact with financial services," said David Campbell, CEO of Tech Ascension Awards. "This year’s award winners exemplify the power of innovation to address complex challenges in fraud prevention, compliance, banking integration, and more. By pushing the boundaries of technology, these companies are setting new standards and driving the entire industry forward, making financial transactions more secure, efficient, and accessible for everyone."

2024 Tech Ascension FinTech Award Winners:

• Best Innovative FinTech Solution – BlackLine, BlackLine Studio Platform BlackLine’s platform centralizes financial operations, transforming record-to-report and invoice-to-cash processes. It combines seamless ERP integration with powerful automation and AI, offering finance professionals real-time financial visibility and strategic insight, enabling them to shift from manual bookkeeping to value-added analysis.

• Best AI / ML Powered Solution – Oscilar Inc., AI Risk Decisioning

  Oscilar’s AI Risk Decisioning platform is a groundbreaking, real-time solution for managing fraud, credit, and compliance risks. Leveraging machine learning and generative AI, Oscilar enhances decision-making agility and accuracy with features like advanced analytics, natural language AI Co-Pilot, and ultra-fast response times. This solution offers a 360-degree view of risk, empowering businesses across industries to protect against online fraud and compliance challenges.

• Best Banking Integration Solution – Xoriant, Xonnect Xonnect’s composable, white-labeled banking solution simplifies corporate-to-bank (C2B) connectivity. By integrating directly with ERP systems and bank accounts, Xonnect provides real-time access to account balances, automated reconciliations, and other digital banking innovations. This solution enhances productivity and reduces operational costs for banks while providing corporates with seamless, secure banking experiences.

• Best Point of Sale Payments Solution – Verifone, UX700 The Verifone UX700 is a robust, self-service POS device optimized for high-transaction environments. Designed for unattended and attended scenarios, the UX700 offers secure, reliable payments indoors and outdoors. Its Android OS compatibility allows for advanced integrations, multimedia interactions, and loyalty programs, enhancing customer experience and merchant flexibility.

• Best Compliance Solution – FloQast, FloQast Compliance Management FloQast Compliance Management addresses the challenges of outdated, manual compliance processes. With features like synchronized program files, embedded testing, and proactive risk management, this platform provides a centralized solution for compliance teams to efficiently manage, test, and optimize controls, ensuring a streamlined approach to organizational compliance.

• Best Fraud Prevention Solution – Veriff, Veriff Biometric Authentication Solution Veriff’s Biometric Authentication solution offers seamless, AI-powered verification, helping prevent account takeovers through biometric analysis. With its advanced matching algorithms, Veriff ensures high security for digital services, providing users with convenient, reliable access via facial recognition.

• Best Crypto Solution – Zenza Capital, RYO Coin The RYO Project is a comprehensive cryptocurrency solution, integrating LIFE Wallet, Global Mall, and a Crypto ATM Network to create an easy-to-navigate digital payment ecosystem. Built to high regulatory standards, RYO aims to make cryptocurrency transactions accessible and secure, bridging digital and physical finance for everyday users.

These winners illustrate the dynamic potential of fintech solutions to transform financial services through innovation, efficiency, and security. As the industry continues integrating cutting-edge solutions, these companies set the standard for the next generation of financial technology.

CEO of the Year Bill Wise on Leading Mediaocean, Driving Innovation, and Shaping the Future of Ad Tech

In this exclusive interview, we sat down with Bill Wise, CEO of Mediaocean, who was recently named 2024 CEO of the Year by The Tech Ascension Awards. With a career spanning pioneering work in online and programmatic advertising, Wise shares insights on his journey through tech leadership, Mediaocean’s mission, and his approach to fostering innovation and agility within an ever-evolving industry.

What inspired you to pursue leadership in the tech industry, and how has that journey evolved over time?

I always say that people are a company’s most important asset. And I’ve always been inspired by the people around me. When I worked at DoubleClick we were truly inventing online advertising and I was privileged to work with some of the brightest minds in the space trying to decode the format and future out what would get consumers to double-click on an ad. When I was at Right Media we were inventing programmatic advertising exchanges and again I worked with some of the smartest folks tackling some of the thorniest challenges with how ad campaigns are bought, sold, and delivering on the web. Today at Mediaocean, we’re redefining what independent ad tech can do for the world’s largest brands and their agencies across all channels from TV to TikTok. It’s incredibly exciting to put together all the pieces and create advertising infrastructure that’s become the industry’s mission-critical system of record.

What is Mediaocean's mission? How do you help drive that mission in your role?

Our mission is to power the future of the advertising ecosystem through technology solutions that empower brands and agencies to deliver impactful omnichannel marketing experiences. Parsing out some key words from that, I try to keep us focused on future-proofing our company and our customers by anticipating market trends. And I’m super passionate about delivering impact, however that’s defined in a micro or macro context. Omnichannel is a crusade I’ve been on since I first got into the ad tech space, always looking for ways to bring people, processes, and platforms together for marketers to meet consumers in the moment whatever screen or device they’re on.

How do you foster innovation within your teams while maintaining a balance between creativity and operational efficiency?

Innovation is codified into our core values at Mediaocean. We’re relentless in deploying technology to solve customer and market challenges. And we empower our teams to operate as leaders at every level to run the business so there is accountability and trust. As a hybrid workforce, we have teams in person and virtually collaborating across the globe with an emphasis on frequency and transparency. We use workflow tools like Jira and Asana to keep us centralized in our project management and communication tools like Zoom and Slack to stay connected on a human level. More and more, we’re leveraging generative AI to be even more productive and free up our people to bring their best brainpower and creativity to driving innovation.

In a fast-paced industry like tech, how do you ensure your organization remains agile and adaptable to change?

Another attribute that’s baked into our organization through one of our core values is fostering a learning culture. We’re intellectually curious and embrace a growth mindset. When I co-founded Mediaocean in 2011, we brought together teams (and customers) from MediaBank and Donovan Data Systems that had been working on different systems to solve similar customer needs. We asked everyone to get comfortable being uncomfortable as we transformed ourselves and the industry and we’ve never looked back. Since then we’ve done more than 10 more acquisitions to add capabilities and build our geographic footprint and, with each new injection of talent and customer commitments, we count on our team’s ability to be agile and catalysts for change.

What advice would you give to aspiring tech leaders looking to make a significant impact in their fields?

Surround yourself with A-players at each position. At Mediaocean, I could not do any of the jobs that my executive team does. The only one I’m qualified for is CEO. It’s about setting the North Star and clearing hurdles so people can do their best work. And trying to have a little fun along the way!

Tech Ascension Awards Announces 2024 Leadership Winners

The Tech Ascension Awards are proud to announce the winners of the 2024 Leadership Awards, recognizing outstanding leadership in technology. These individuals have demonstrated exceptional vision and accomplishments in their respective fields, leading their organizations through groundbreaking transformations and setting new standards in the tech industry. "Leadership is about more than just guiding a company -- it’s about driving innovation, fostering growth, and setting an example for others in the industry to follow. These winners exemplify what it means to move their companies and entire sectors forward," said David Campbell, CEO of Tech Ascension Awards. "Their vision and dedication to pushing boundaries have not only transformed their organizations but have also had a lasting impact on the industries they serve."

2024 Leadership Award Winners -- Tech Ascension Awards:

• Woman in Tech Leader of the Year – Louise K. Allen, Chief Product Officer, Planview: Louise K. Allen has excelled as the Chief Product Officer at Planview, driving a product vision that has redefined the company’s portfolio management solutions. Under her leadership, Planview has launched innovative tools that enhance business agility, enabling organizations to streamline operations and adapt to market changes. Louise's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has fostered a culture of inclusivity, making her a trailblazer for women in technology.

• CEO of the Year – Bill Wise, CEO, Mediaocean: As the founding CEO of Mediaocean, Bill Wise has steered the company to the forefront of the marketing technology industry. His strategic vision has led to the development of Mediaocean's end-to-end omnichannel advertising platform, which is now an essential tool for modern marketers. Bill's focus on innovation and his dedication to building a forward-thinking, inclusive company culture have solidified Mediaocean's position as a leader in its field.

• Women in Cyber Leader of the Year – Heather Ceylan, Deputy CISO, Zoom Video Communications, Inc.: Heather Ceylan, as Deputy Chief Information Security Officer at Zoom, has been a leader in fortifying the company's security infrastructure, especially in response to the increasing demand for secure video communications. Heather has led critical cybersecurity initiatives that ensure Zoom’s platform remains trusted and secure for millions of users worldwide. Her leadership in cybersecurity and her efforts to mentor women in tech make her truly stand out in the field.

• Industry Innovator of the Year – Phil Calvin, Chief Product Officer, Delinea: Phil Calvin has transformed Delinea’s product suite with cutting-edge innovations in privileged access management (PAM). His leadership in developing next-generation PAM solutions has helped enterprises enhance security while maintaining seamless operational efficiency. Phil’s contributions to the cybersecurity industry, combined with his dedication to continuous product innovation, have made him a leader in protecting businesses from cyber threats.