Highlights

  • UCF鈥檚 FinTech AI Lab transforms classroom learning into more than a year of hands-on research experience, equipping graduate students with the technical expertise, industry connections and problem-solving skills needed to lead in the rapidly evolving financial technology field.

  • Through partnerships with global industry leaders such as Equifax, students are developing AI-driven solutions for real-world business challenges, from synthetic identity fraud to consumer default risk.

  • The lab is preparing to welcome its third cohort this fall, and the UCF Master鈥檚 in FinTech program is currently accepting applications for Fall 2027.

What happens when graduate students go beyond the classroom to tackle real-world artificial intelligence (AI) challenges facing the financial industry?

色花堂鈥檚 , that experience comes to life in the FinTech-AI Lab.

The lab puts fintech master’s students to work on complex AI and machine learning problems alongside faculty researchers and industry mentors. Beyond technical expertise, the experience gives students a front-row seat to how AI is being used to solve business challenges and the opportunity to contribute to what comes next.

Established to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry innovation, the lab pairs selected students with leading industry organizations to develop solutions with the potential to influence products, improve decision-making and drive innovation across financial technology.

Each semester, just two to four students are selected through a competitive process based on academic performance and faculty interviews. Instead of completing a traditional capstone project, they join a faculty-led research team conducting applied AI research for industry partners.

Partnership Powering Innovation

One of the lab’s most impactful collaborations is with Equifax, a global leader in data, analytics and technology.

Together with Miller College of Business faculty, Equifax identifies high-impact business challenges, provides resources and mentors students throughout the research process. Fintech faculty members, Associate Professor Cuneyt Akcora and Assistant Professor Yafei Zhang, lead the lab鈥檚 research initiatives, meeting weekly with student teams and collaborating with Equifax to review progress and refine projects.

Students spend more than a year working on AI research, gaining an experience that closely resembles a part-time industry internship.

鈥淭he partnership shows what makes UCF鈥檚 master鈥檚 in fintech distinctive,鈥� Zhang says. 鈥淪tudents not only learn finance, AI and data science in the classroom; they apply these tools to real industry problems with guidance from faculty and industry mentors. In the AI era, that kind of hands-on, corporate-partnered experience is essential.鈥�

Turning AI Skills Into Industry Solutions

The impact of the FinTech-AI Lab comes to life through the work of its students, whose research tackles real challenges facing the financial industry.

Fintech graduate student Michael Azzi set out to help address synthetic identity fraud, the fastest-growing financial crime in the United States.

Azzi developed an address-intelligence framework that combines Google’s Gemini large language model, the Google Places API and a rule-based risk engine to identify high-risk addresses, including virtual offices and private mailbox services. The approach could help improve fraud detection within consumer credit files.

“Working on synthetic identity fraud detection at Equifax showed me how AI can be applied to real-world business challenges,鈥� Azzi says. 鈥淏eing able to combine large language models with live address intelligence to help protect consumers made this one of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on.”

Another fintech graduate student, Clare Anandra Eric Hamissi, investigated how government intervention programs, including stimulus payments and loan forbearance, influenced consumer default risk.

Her findings revealed that lower-income consumers and those with lower credit scores experienced the greatest reductions in default risk.

The projects don鈥檛 necessarily end when the research does. When a project demonstrates strong business potential, Equifax evaluates the results for possible productization or internal implementation, giving students the opportunity to contribute to solutions that could make a measurable impact across the financial industry.

Opening the Door to Experiential Learning

The FinTech-AI Lab demonstrates the Miller College of Business鈥� commitment to experiential learning while providing students with a new way to prepare for and help shape an AI-driven future.

Students gain experience working with enterprise-scale data, collaborating with faculty researchers and industry professionals, and solving problems at the intersection of finance, AI and data science.

As the lab prepares to welcome its third cohort of fintech student researchers this fall, it continues to set UCF鈥檚 Master鈥檚 in FinTech program apart. Students don鈥檛 just learn about AI, machine learning and financial technology 鈥� they put that knowledge to work alongside faculty and industry experts, solving real business challenges with the potential to influence products and business decisions.

The UCF Master鈥檚 in FinTech is a STEM-designated graduate program that prepares the next generation of fintech leaders through AI, data analytics and emerging financial technologies. The first program of its kind in Florida, the program is offered each fall with in-person and online options.

聽Applications are now open for Fall 2027.