The Finance Frontier 2026: Ramesh Murthy, Senior Executive Officer, CUSP Wealth

With over 32 years of experience in banking and financial services, Ramesh Murthy’s role as Senior Executive Officer at CUSP Wealth, a Dubai-based WealthTech platform, has been instrumental in advancing the company’s vision to redefine how individuals build, manage and grow their wealth by offering them a combination of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered analytics and human expertise. “The original problem was the accessibility gap in wealth management: high fees, high minimums and fragmented advice that made investing difficult for everyday professionals,” Murthy notes. “The biggest challenge, however, isn’t technology; it’s trust at scale. At its core, CUSP Wealth aims to build confidence and provide clarity in long-term decision-making. Our mission is to make investing clear, accessible and efficient for everyone.”

To address the aforementioned challenges, CUSP Wealth combines AI-driven portfolio optimization with access to human financial advisors, while offering low investment thresholds, transparent pricing, and Shariah-compliant investment options designed to make long-term investing more accessible to a wider range of investors. Regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the platform also provides access to more than 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, alongside bilingual support in English and Arabic.

“Access and understanding are important enablers, but the ultimate objective is helping investors feel reassured that they are making structured, informed choices aligned with their future goals,” Murthy emphasizes.

Today, as AI continues to reshape the wealth management industry, Murthy believes it has shifted the sector from reactive decision-making to predictive models. “Portfolios that once required a team of analysts can now be constructed, monitored and rebalanced in real time, at a fraction of the cost,” he explains. “At CUSP Wealth, AI isn’t a feature; it is the foundation.”

For Murthy, however, the real opportunity lies in making wealth management more personal. He believes the future of investing will be shaped by solutions that better reflect each individual’s goals, risk tolerance, and values.

“The next chapter of wealth management is about personalisation at scale; it’s about understanding an individual’s goals, risk tolerance and values deeply enough to build a portfolio that genuinely reflects who they are,” Murthy says. “Investors, particularly younger ones, are no longer willing to separate who they are from how they invest. Faith, ethics, sustainability, these are no longer niche overlays. They are becoming the baseline expectation. At CUSP Wealth, we built for that reality for Shariah compliance at scale from day one.”

Indeed, alongside its focus on transparency and innovation, CUSP Wealth offers more than 1,300 Shariah-compliant investment options for individuals seeking to align their financial decisions with their values. Notably, in 2026, the company became the first AI-powered WealthTech firm in the UAE to receive an official Fatwa.

Murthy shares that much of CUSP Wealth’s innovation strategies have been spurred on by the nation’s own ambitious goals in both conventional and Islamic finance. “The UAE has done something rare – it has built regulatory infrastructure that actively invites innovation,” he says. “Choosing regulation under the DFSA was a deliberate decision to prioritize credibility, investor protection and institutional-grade governance from day one. That alignment is not incidental; it’s strategic. The UAE’s vision is to be the world’s leading hub for financial services, and specifically Islamic finance. The country is building the infrastructure; we’re building the retail layer that puts it in people’s hands. When a government’s ambitions and a company’s mission point in the same direction, the only question is how fast you can move.”

But to operate in such a fast-moving ecosystem, Murthy shares that there are certain traits that will separate the excellent business leaders from the mediocre ones. “Clarity above everything,” he declares. “In a fast-moving environment, the leaders who create calm environments are the ones who can distill complexity into clear decisions, for their teams and their clients. Beyond that, intellectual honesty: the willingness to say what the data shows, even when it’s uncomfortable. Finance has a long history of telling people what they want to hear. The leaders who will matter in the next decade are the ones building genuine conviction: in their products, their governance and their people. And finally, cultural intelligence. The clients of tomorrow are global, diverse and increasingly values-driven. Leaders who understand that identity and finance are inseparable will build the institutions that last.”

Disclaimer: This material is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any financial product. Any reference to advisors, tools, or portfolios is subject to T&Cs. Advisory calls are only available to clients who meet the suitability assessment required by Cusp Wealth. Investments involve risk and may result in loss of capital. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Cusp Wealth Ltd is regulated by the DFSA, reference number F011420. Cusp Wealth Ltd is registered in DIFC with license number 10863. Services are available only to DFSA-classified DIFC retail clients and are not offered outside the DIFC.

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