The co-founders of Silent Eight, from left to right: Michael Wilkowski, Julia Markiewicz, and Martin Markiewicz.
Silent Eight
WARSAW — Financial institutions are often “one decision away from a huge mess” when it comes to financial crime, according to Martin Markiewicz, CEO of Silent Eight. The risk of fines and reputational damage is significant if banks fail to address issues like money laundering and terrorist financing effectively. However, investigating and preventing such activities requires substantial time and resources.
Markiewicz’s company, Silent Eight, utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to assist financial institutions in combating these issues, reducing the resources needed to tackle crime and maintaining positive relationships with regulators. “Our grand idea for a product is that AI should be doing this job, not necessarily humans,” Markiewicz stated in an interview. “We should have the capacity of a million people to conduct millions of investigations, without the limitation of the size of our team.”
With Silent Eight’s revenue expected to triple this year and achieve profitability for the first time, Markiewicz aims to position the company for a public listing in the U.S.
How AI can catch criminals
Silent Eight’s software utilizes generative AI, the same technology behind the viral ChatGPT chatbot. However, the training methods differ.
While ChatGPT is trained on a large language model (LLM), Silent Eight’s model is trained on specific smaller models for each task. For example, one AI model focuses on translating names across different languages, which can identify individuals opening accounts with varying name spellings worldwide.
These smaller models combine to form Silent Eight’s software, which major banks such as Standard Chartered and HSBC employ to combat financial crime.
According to Markiewicz, Silent Eight’s AI models were trained based on the processes conducted by human investigators within financial institutions. Standard Chartered was the first bank to adopt the software in 2017, providing Silent Eight with access to risk management data to develop its AI.
“That’s why our strategy was so risky,” Markiewicz explained. “We knew we had to start with some large financial institutions for others to follow suit.”
As Silent Eight attracts more banks as customers, its AI becomes more advanced. Markiewicz highlighted that the software is “orders of magnitude” cheaper than hiring enough human investigators to perform the same tasks.
Silent Eight’s headquarters are in Singapore, with offices in New York, London, and Warsaw, Poland.
IPO ahead
Markiewicz projected that revenue would grow more than three-and-a-half times in 2023 compared to the previous year. HSBC, Standard Chartered, and First Abu Dhabi Bank are among Silent Eight’s customers.
The CEO also noted that the company does not plan to raise further funds after a $40 million funding round led by TYH Ventures and including HSBC Ventures and other existing investors. Instead, Silent Eight is preparing for a potential initial public offering (IPO) by the end of 2025, with aspirations to list on the Nasdaq. However, Markiewicz clarified that this does not guarantee a 2025 IPO and emphasized the importance of positioning the company to meet the reporting requirements of a public firm.
“It’s an option that I want to have, not because of any obligation or investor agreement,” Markiewicz stated.
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