His story from being a mechanical engineering student at NITK to being hired by a bank and taught to code, training more than 500 TCS employees and over 100 SBI bankers converting the processes from distributed banking to the core banking environment, helping a Polish bank sell itself to a large Swedish bank and an Australian tech firm to get acquired by TCS, to being the co-founder of Fintellix, he redefined the traditional path of achieving success as a Mechanical engineer.He reflected on how financial scams exposed systemic flaws which led him to start iCreate and later on Fintellix, through this TED talk where he unraveled the pivotal moments that transformed him from an NITK graduate into a fintech pioneer driven by a quest to solve the gaps he witnessed in banking’s IT Infrastructure. He also highlights why India's "Tech-ade" demands more than copycat startups. From building systems that enabled online money transfers by 2002 to navigating the insecurities and ego trips of entrepreneurship, he reveals how success in the tech era comes from embracing non-linear growth. Anup Pai is a second-time entrepreneur and systems architect reimagining the future of money and value exchange. Since 2018, he has been pioneering models for digitally governed, shared-value enterprises that challenge the foundations of traditional financial systems. With over two decades of experience implementing technology for global banks across 50+ countries, Anup developed a deep, firsthand understanding of how the fiat money system operates and who it truly serves.What began as a childhood curiosity about the power of money evolved into a lifelong quest: from uncovering the structural flaws of fiat currency to exploring the rise (and co-option) of cryptocurrencies. Today, Anup is focused on building commerce-integrated monetary ecosystems designed to fuel regenerative, local economies. At the heart of his work lies a radical idea: that money can be decentralized, community-rooted, and in service to both people and planet. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx