Credit where credit’s due: Inside Experian’s AI framework that’s changing financial access

While many enterprises are now racing to adopt and deploy AI, credit bureau giant Experian has taken a very measured approach.

Experian has developed its own internal processes, frameworks and governance models that have helped it test out generative AI, deploy it at scale and have an impact. The company’s journey has helped to transform operations from a traditional credit bureau into a sophisticated AI-powered platform company. Its approach—blending advanced machine learning (ML), agentic AI architectures and grassroots innovation—has improved business operations and expanded financial access to an estimated 26 million Americans.

Experian’s AI journey contrasts sharply with companies that only began exploring machine learning after ChatGPT’s emergence in 2022. The credit giant has been methodically developing AI capabilities for nearly two decades, creating a foundation allowing it to capitalize on generative AI breakthroughs rapidly.

“AI has been part of the fabric at Experian way beyond when it was cool to be in AI,” Shri Santhanam, EVP and GM, Software, Platforms and AI products at Experian, told VentureBeat in an exclusive interview. “We’ve used AI to unlock the power of our data to create a better impact for businesses and consumers for the past two decades.”

From traditional machine learning to AI innovation engine

Before the modern gen AI era, Experian was already using and innovating with ML.

Santhanam explained that instead of relying on basic, traditional statistical models, Experian pioneered the use of Gradient-Boosted Decision Trees alongside other machine learning techniques for credit underwriting. The company also developed explainable AI systems—crucial for regulatory compliance in financial services—that could articulate the reasoning behind automated lending decisions.

Most significantly, the Experian Innovation Lab (formerly Data Lab) experimented with language models and transformer networks well before ChatGPT’s release. This early work positioned the company to quickly leverage generative AI advancements rather than starting from scratch.

“When the ChatGPT meteor hit, it was a fairly straightforward point of acceleration for us, because we understood the technology, had applications in mind, and we just stepped on the pedal,” Santhanam explained.

This technology foundation enabled Experian to bypass the experimental phase that many enterprises are still navigating and move directly to production implementation. While other organizations were just beginning to understand what large language models (LLMs) could do, Experian was already deploying them within their existing AI framework, applying them to specific business problems they had previously identified.

Four pillars for enterprise AI transformation

When generative AI emerged, Experian didn’t panic or pivot; it accelerated along a path already charted. The company organized its approach around four strategic pillars that offer technical leaders a comprehensive framework for AI adoption:

1. Product Enhancement: Experian examines existing customer-facing offerings to identify opportunities for AI-driven improvements and entirely new customer experiences. Rather than creating standalone AI features, Experian integrates generative capabilities into its core product suite. 
2. Productivity Optimization: The second pillar addressed productivity optimization by implementing AI across engineering teams, customer service operations and internal innovation processes. This included providing AI coding assistance to developers and streamlining customer service operations.
3. Platform Development: The third pillar—perhaps most critical to Experian’s success—centered on platform development. Experian recognized early that many organizations would struggle to move beyond proof-of-concept implementations, so it invested in building platform infrastructure designed specifically for the responsible scaling of AI initiatives enterprise-wide.
4. Education and Empowerment: The fourth pillar addressed education, empowerment, and communication—creating structured systems to drive innovation throughout the organization rather than limiting AI expertise to specialized teams.

This structured approach offers a blueprint for enterprises seeking to move beyond scattered AI experiments toward systematic implementation with measurable business impact.

Technical architecture: How Experian built a modular AI platform

For technical decision-makers, Experian’s platform architecture demonstrates how to build enterprise AI systems that balance innovation with governance, flexibility and security.

The company constructed a multi-layered technical stack with core design principles that prioritize adaptability:

“We avoid going through one-way doors,” Santhanam explained. “If we’re making choices on technology or frameworks, we want to ensure that for the most part… we make choices which we could pivot from if needed.”

The architecture includes:

• Model layer: Multiple large language model options, including OpenAI APIs through Azure, AWS Bedrock models, including Anthropic’s Claude, and fine-tuned proprietary models.
• Application layer: Service tooling and component libraries enabling engineers to build agentic architectures.
• Security layer: Early partnership with Dynamo AI  for security, policy governance and penetration testing specifically designed for AI systems.
• Governance structure: A Global AI Risk Council with direct executive involvement.

This approach contrasts with enterprises that have committed to single-vendor solutions or proprietary models, providing Experian greater flexibility as AI capabilities continue to evolve. The company is now seeing its architecture shift toward what Santhanam describes as “AI systems architected more as a mixture of experts and agents powered by more focused specialist or small language models.”

Measurable impact: AI-driven financial inclusion at scale

Beyond architectural sophistication, Experian’s AI implementation demonstrates concrete business and societal impact, particularly in addressing the challenge of “credit invisibles.”

In the financial services industry, “credit invisibles” refers to the approximately 26 million Americans who lack sufficient credit history to generate a traditional credit score. These individuals, often younger consumers, recent immigrants, or those from historically underserved communities, face significant barriers to accessing financial products despite potentially being creditworthy.

Traditional credit scoring models primarily rely on standard credit bureau data like loan payment history, credit card utilization, and debt levels. Without this conventional history, lenders historically viewed these consumers as high-risk or declined to serve them entirely. This creates a catch-22 where people cannot build credit because they cannot access credit products in the first place.

Experian tackled this problem through four specific AI innovations:

1. Alternative data models: Machine learning systems incorporating non-traditional data sources (rental payments, utilities, telecom payments) into creditworthiness assessments, analyzing hundreds of variables rather than the limited factors in conventional models.
2. Explainable AI for compliance: Frameworks that maintain regulatory compliance by articulating why specific scoring decisions are made, enabling use of complex models in the highly regulated lending environment.
3. Trended data analysis: AI systems that examine how financial behaviors evolve over time rather than providing static snapshots, detecting patterns in balance trajectories and payment behaviors that better predict future creditworthiness.
4. Segment-specific architectures: Custom model designs targeting different segments of credit invisibles—those with thin files versus those with no traditional history at all.

The results have been substantial: Financial institutions using these AI systems can approve 50% more applicants from previously invisible populations while maintaining or improving risk performance.

Actionable takeaways for technical decision-makers

For enterprises looking to lead in AI adoption, Experian’s experience offers several actionable insights:

Build adaptable architecture: Construct AI platforms that allow for model flexibility rather than betting exclusively on single providers or approaches.

Integrate governance early: Create cross-functional teams where security, compliance and AI developers collaborate from the start rather than operating in silos.

Focus on measurable impact: Prioritize AI applications like Experian’s credit expansion that deliver tangible business value while also addressing broader societal challenges.

Consider agent architectures: Move beyond simple chatbots toward orchestrated, multi-agent systems that can more effectively handle complex domain-specific tasks.

For technical leaders in financial services and other regulated industries, Experian’s journey demonstrates that responsible AI governance isn’t a barrier to innovation but rather an enabler of sustainable, trusted growth. 

By combining methodical technology development with forward-looking application design, Experian has created a blueprint for how traditional data companies can transform themselves into AI-powered platforms with significant business and societal impact.