Governor of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), Natia Turnava, participated in the international Fintech Hackathon jointly organized by the NBG and Georgia's Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA). During the demo day held within the framework of the "Tbilisi Finance Summit 2026," finalist teams from Georgia and neighboring countries presented technological solutions to challenges in the financial sector, after which the jury announced the winning teams.

Team "Goni" emerged victorious in the "AI Application in the Financial Sector" track. The team members secured a 20,000 GEL prize from GITA for the further development of their prototype. Furthermore, with the support of Tether and Pave Bank, Goni will travel to Dubai to attend the global technology exhibition, GITEX Global 2026.

Team "Faeda AI" was named the winner in the "Open Banking APIs Diagnostics and Benchmarking" track. The team won a trip to attend Asia's leading fintech event, the Singapore FinTech Festival 2026, where they will present their project on the international stage.

The Fintech Hackathon combined the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Open Banking. Participants worked on solving pressing issues for the financial sector, including API diagnostics and benchmarking, credit risk assessment, fraud detection, and the improvement of operational processes.

In her address during the Hackathon Awards, Natia Turnava noted that fostering innovation requires creating an environment that supports testing new ideas and developing technological solutions to real-world problems.

"Innovation gains meaning when it moves beyond an idea and begins solving a real problem. Open banking and Artificial Intelligence are critical directions in the transformation of financial services. Open banking, by enabling secure access to financial data with customer consent, lays the groundwork for enhancing competition, developing innovative products, and offering better services to consumers. Artificial Intelligence, in turn, helps financial institutions process information more efficiently, assess risks, and detect fraud. At the same time, technological progress must be based on a responsible approach, security, and transparency," stated Natia Turnava.

The Governor of the NBG also highlighted the role of the regulator in the development of financial innovations. According to her, it is crucial that the regulator does not merely observe technological changes but actively develops corresponding knowledge and practical experience.

The Fintech Hackathon, integrated into the summit program, aimed to promote the creation of innovative and scalable products in financial technologies, empower local and international tech talent, and advance AI and open banking within the financial sector.