This interview is the ninth in a series spotlighting the ten winners of the WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs Competition 2024. WeXchange is an initiative of the IDB Lab, the innovation and venture arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, to unlock growth opportunities for women entrepreneurs in STEM in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In this conversation, we speak with Tatiana Pomar Founder & CEO of Sofi. With over 30 years of experience in debt collection across Latin America and the U.S., Tatiana has seen firsthand the inefficiencies of traditional recovery methods—outdated call centers, rigid scripts, and impersonal tactics that lead to low recovery rates and high customer churn. Sofi was created to address these challenges. By leveraging AI, automation, and a customer-centric approach, Sofi is transforming debt recovery, making it smarter and more efficient.
From debt collection to fintech innovation
I started in debt collection at 16, gaining hands-on experience in the industry. Over the years, I worked in several countries across Latin America and the U.S., tackling major challenges in the financial sector.
I saw a clear gap—collections remained outdated, relying on aggressive calls and disconnected processes that lacked intelligence, personalization, and a customer-focused approach.
Sofi was born to reimagine debt collection, reduce churn, and improve the payment experience. I realized traditional methods pushed customers away instead of bringing them back, which presented a huge opportunity. Our approach connects collections with customer success, making the process smarter, more empathetic, and frictionless—boosting recovery rates while enhancing the customer experience.
Solving industry inefficiencies
Sofi is an end-to-end, AI-powered debt recovery platform that automates collections and enhances customer engagement. We replace outdated methods with:
- AI-Driven Communication: Engaging customers via WhatsApp, SMS, and email with personalized automation.
- Predictive Analytics: Machine learning prioritizes and tailors collection strategies.
- Self-Service Portal: A branded platform for customers to manage payments and agreements.
- Real-Time Dashboards: Actionable insights to optimize recovery rates and reduce costs.
By increasing recovery rates sixfold and cutting operational costs by up to 45%, Sofi turns collections from a reactive task into a proactive strategy.
Sofi is the only platform integrating all debt recovery processes into a seamless, AI-driven experience. Unlike:
- Legacy systems: Sofi offers a modern, AI-powered approach for seamless digital collections.
- Call Centers & Debt Agencies: We replace manual, labor-intensive methods with automation, delivering faster, smarter, and more scalable recovery.
- Generalist Marketplaces: Sofi delivers brand-specific strategies with higher recovery rates.
Sofi is not just a debt collection tool—we are redefining the industry with AI, automation, and customer-first innovation. Our approach includes:
- Prevention-First: Reducing delinquency before it starts.
- Superior UX: A digital-first experience for higher engagement.
- Performance-Based Pricing: We win when our clients win.
The Future of Fintech and Sofi’s Role
Fintech is moving toward hyper-automation, embedded finance, and AI-driven decision-making. Sofi leads this transformation by replacing manual collections with AI-powered, customer-first recovery strategies.
The future of debt recovery is:
- Proactive: Preventing delinquency through early engagement and behavioral insights.
- Customer-First: Making collections a frictionless experience.
- AI-Driven: Optimizing strategies with machine learning and automation.
As fintech prioritizes efficiency and automation, Sofi is poised to become the go-to solution for modern debt recovery.
What’s Next for Sofi
As a trailblazer in AI-driven debt recovery, Sofi is reshaping collections across Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and Uruguay, establishing itself as Latin America’s leading intelligent collections platform. In 2025, we continue our strategic expansion—having successfully launched operations in Colombia, we are now setting our sights on Argentina, further extending our transformative approach to new markets.
At the heart of this evolution are our Vertical Agents, which have been fully operational since December 2024 and have quickly emerged as Sofi’s most dynamic and high-impact channel, now driving over 64% of all negotiations. These cutting-edge AI agents, available in both voice and text, enable consumers to navigate a fully automated, seamless end-to-end experience, where negotiation and payment occur effortlessly within a single, intuitive interface.
By delivering hyper-personalized, human-like interactions, seamlessly integrated into WhatsApp, Vertical Agents are not just enhancing collections—they are revolutionizing engagement, efficiency, and financial accessibility at scale.
As we continue to push the boundaries of automation, intelligence, and user experience, Sofi is redefining the future of debt recovery—a future that is proactive, digital-first, and centered around the customer.
Connecting with Sofi
For more information visit Sofi’s website or or connect with Tatiana on LinkedIn