- TEXpert AI harnesses generative AI to transform unstructured social data into investment-ready metrics, enabling financial institutions to make socially responsible decisions.
- The platform actively supports the allocation of capital to underrepresented groups, such as female-led businesses, and promotes equitable access to corporate contracts.
- Founder Drishdey critiques tokenistic diversity initiatives and advocates for authentic inclusion and visibility, stressing that women do not need extra training but equal opportunities.
About the Interviewee
Drishdey Caullychurn is the Founder and CEO of TEXpert AI, a London-based company using generative AI to integrate social and governance metrics into corporate and investment decision-making. With a background in managing multi-billion-dollar financial risks, she now leads efforts to make social sustainability measurable, actionable, and visible—especially for underrepresented groups. A UNGC advocate and member of Minority Supplier Diversity UK, she champions data-driven inclusion in finance.
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Q1: Using generative AI to drive sustainable investment
When asked how TEXpert AI leverages generative AI to support financial institutions in integrating social sustainability into their decision-making processes, Drishdey identified a core issue: the problem is not the absence of data, but its complexity and timing. She explained that while financial institutions can access vast quantities of social data, the information is often unstructured, textual, and difficult to quantify in a way that fits traditional financial models. TEXpert AI addresses this by converting qualitative data into investment-ready, decision-grade metrics. This allows portfolio managers to interact directly with a data lake, asking questions like which companies carry social risks or contribute to social value—and receiving evidence-based, timely responses drawn from multiple reports and datasets.
In corporate supply chains, she noted, the challenge is often identifying hidden risks such as poor labour practices or inadequate wages. By flagging these early, companies can avoid engaging with harmful practices while also discovering suppliers aligned with ESG goals. “It’s not just about doing good,” she stressed, “it’s about not doing harm.”
Q2: Amplifying underrepresented voices through data
We then turned to how TEXpert AI uses data to elevate the voices of underrepresented communities in investment and procurement contexts.
“We bring visibility to companies that would otherwise go unnoticed.”
Drishdey highlighted how the platform helps redirect capital towards female-led businesses, which typically receive less than 2% of global venture capital. TEXpert AI enables funds to identify and support these ventures, addressing systemic imbalances and aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals such as gender equality and reduced inequality. On the corporate side, the platform identifies high-impact small businesses—often overlooked—that meet supplier requirements. By making these suppliers visible, TEXpert AI enables companies to allocate contracts to businesses located in underserved areas or sectors, generating job creation and broader economic benefit. Drishdey noted that even a small contract can have profound ripple effects when strategically directed.
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Q3: The reality of gender diversity in finance
Reflecting on her decade in the male-dominated world of trading and risk management, I asked Drishdey for her perspective on how the financial industry has evolved in terms of gender diversity. She acknowledged that while diversity and inclusion initiatives are more common now, they are often misunderstood or poorly executed. In many cases, she said, diversity has become a tick-box exercise—companies hire based on quotas without meaningful inclusion or support structures.
“Women don’t need more training—we need equal opportunity and visibility.“
Importantly, she challenged the prevailing assumption that women need additional training. Women, she explained, are often offered ‘empowerment’ programmes that come with an implicit bias: that they lack business knowledge. Instead, she called for a shift toward recognising women’s distinct approaches and lived experiences as assets to be embedded, not corrected.
Q4: AI as both challenge and solution in combating bias
Given TEXpert AI’s mission, I asked how artificial intelligence itself can contribute to gender equity and social sustainability.
Drishdey candidly admitted that AI carries deep-rooted biases, particularly in large language models. These biases—such as survivorship or demographic bias—are difficult to dismantle entirely. However, she argued that AI can also serve as a tool to expose what it previously obscured. TEXpert AI, she said, is designed to do just that: to reveal the underrepresented, the unheard, and the ignored. By consciously designing systems to surface hidden data, she believes AI can help correct its own blind spots and build a fairer financial ecosystem.
Summary
Drishdey’s work at TEXpert AI exemplifies the intersection of technology, finance, and ethics. Her approach is unique in how it uses AI not just to streamline investment decisions but to fundamentally shift their focus toward sustainability and inclusion. By prioritising underrepresented voices and ethical procurement, TEXpert AI makes a compelling case for technology as a force for good.
Her candid critique of superficial diversity efforts invites a necessary re-examination of how industries approach inclusion—not as a checkbox, but as a cultural shift. With TEXpert AI, she is not just building a company, but setting a precedent for how innovation can serve both profit and people.
