Israeli AI-Powered Personalized Banking Platform Opens R&D Center In Nazareth

Personetics, an Israeli AI-powered solutions provider for banks, has announced the opening of a new research and development center in Nazareth, Israel.

The R&D center will support the company’s rapid growth and expanding customer base, which now includes more than 30 of the world’s leading banks. The R&D center also hopes to promote diversity, aiming to tap into a high concentration of Arab high-tech talent in the area.

“The opening of our R&D Center in Nazareth is an exciting development which will enable us to meet the growing demand for AI-powered self-driving finance solutions around the world,” said David Sosna, Personetics’ Co-Founder and CEO, in a statement announcing the launch. “We are acquiring new customers in North America, Europe, and Asia at a rapid pace, and are adding new hires in all of our offices across the globe – New York, London, Paris, Singapore, and Israel – to support our growth.” 

Personetics’ R&D center’s placement in Nazareth enables the company to “tap into a hotbed of highly skilled professionals” and expand their “R&D capabilities while maintaining proximity to facilitate close collaboration,” said Yishay Schwerd, VP of R&D. “Being in the same timezone and less than a two-hour drive away is a big advantage for our teams in Tel Aviv and Nazareth,” he continued to explain.

The opening of the Nazareth R&D office was promoted by Tsofen, a non-profit organization founded in 2008 by Jewish and Arab hi-tech professionals and economists. Tsofen aspires to integrate skilled Arab workers into the Israeli high-tech industry and bring high-tech companies to Arab cities. 

Since Tsofen’s establishment, the number of high-tech companies operating in Nazareth has jumped from one to forty, the statement said.

“A decade ago, there were about 30 engineers working in the city. Today there are more than 1,300, a fourth of them females. The city now offers a vibrant high-tech ecosystem that attracts employers from all over the country. This is nothing short of a revolution,” said Sam Saadi, CEO of Tsofen.

Founded in 2011 and led by a team of FinTech entrepreneurs, Personetics serves over 60 million bank customers worldwide. Personetics’ Self-Driving Finance platform harnesses AI to provide real-time personalized insight and advice, automate financial decisions, and simplify day-to-day money management.

In 2014, Personetics was named a Gartner Cool Vendor, and was recognized in 2016 as a “Top Ten FinTech Company” by KPMG, a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax, and advisory services and as a “Top Ten Company to Watch” by financial services daily American Banker. Personetics’ customers include six of the top 12 banks in North America and Europe and other leading banks throughout the world.

The Nazareth R&D center will be led by Fowzi Shakkour, a veteran software development and management executive with over 20 years of experience. “It is exciting to see a growing startup such as Personetics opening an office in Nazareth… creating new opportunities for a diverse range of people…[who] have been largely left out of the startup scene in Israel so far,” said Shakkour. “We are proud to be one of the first startups to establish [a] presence in this region and look forward to growing our team here,” she said.