The Impact of Fintech: AI, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and the Future of Business
USF
Welcome To The Impact of Fintech: AI, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and the Future of Business
Course short description
This course provides a high-level, nontechnical overview of key fintech related technologies, trends, and concepts, presented by renowned faculty and fintech industry entrepreneurs and innovators.
Course Overview
This introductory fintech course is designed for participants who are seeking a foundational, non-technical understanding of fintech and its transformational impact on industry verticals across the globe. This course, delivered online and available globally, provides a high levelhigh-level overview of key fintech related technologies, trends, and concepts, presented by renowned faculty and fintech industry entrepreneurs and innovators. Students will explore informative fintech use cases to gain a fundamental understanding of how these cutting-edge technologies and concepts are implemented in some of today’s most innovative and promising organizations. Participants will earn a USF certificate upon successful completion of this seven-module course.
Course Speakers
Alexis Mootoo
Alexis Nicole Mootoo earned a PhD in government and a graduate certificate in Latin American Studies from USF’s School of Interdisciplinary and Global Studies. Mootoo serves as an assistant vice president at the University of South Florida and is an adjunct professor for USF’s School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies and Humanities. She is also a fellow in the USF Muma College of Business. Mootoo is interested in American and international race politics and race relations, comparative politics, and public and foreign policy. Her research areas of interest are Brazil and regions with Afro-descendant populations. Her dissertation, “Structural Racism: Racists without Racism in Liberal Institutions within Colorblind States,” examined how Afro-descendants are competing in publicly funded universities in New York City and the city of São Paulo, taking race-based affirmative action into consideration. (faculty bios)
David W. Blackwell
David W. Blackwell is the Lynn Pippenger Dean for the Muma College of Business and a professor of finance. Blackwell joined USF in 2024 from the University of Kentucky, where he served as the university’s provost, chief academic officer, dean of the Gatton College of Business, and associate dean for graduate business programs. With Blackwell, the university experienced increased enrollment growth, diversity, retention and graduation rates. Additionally, the college raised over $100 million in philanthropy, including the $65 million expansion of the Gatton College facility. Before his consulting career, Blackwell served as a finance professor for 13 years at the University of Georgia, the University of Houston, and Emory University.
Module 1 : An Introduction to FinTech
Priya Dozier
Priya D. Dozier is an assistant professor of instruction in the USF School of Information Systems and Management, which is part of the USF Muma College of Business. She works on the USF St. Petersburg campus. Before joining USF in 2019, she served as vice president of digital solutions and innovation at PSCU, a credit union service organization in St. Petersburg, Florida. Dozier has almost 20 years of experience in various roles in product management, product development, and business analysis in the financial services industry. She has taught courses in ethics, management, product development, and organization strategies at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research interests include management, innovation, and product development, with a recent study related to blockchain adoption in the financial services industry. Through her research, Dozier explores the intersection of technology and decision-making through the lens of individual users, leaders, and organizations. Dozier earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Florida State University and both MBA and DBA degrees from the University of South Florida.
Module 2: Demystifying Blockchain
Kaushik Dutta
Kaushik Dutta has more than two decades of professional and research experience in the field of enterprise IT infrastructure, data analytics and big data systems. He is professor in and chair of the School of Information Systems and Management. Dutta's primary expertise combines operations research and data mining techniques with computer science systems knowledge to efficiently handle big data and manage large IT infrastructure. He has been the mentor of two startups out of USF in the NSF-iCorps program. Prior to joining USF, Dutta was a tenured associate professor at National University of Singapore and Florida International University. Before starting out on his academic path, he pursued a career in engineering, most recently as the chief technology officer and vice president of engineering of Mobilewalla, a NUS-incubated and Madrona-funded company that developed big-data-based mobile advertisement platforms. Dutta earned a PhD in management information systems from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master's degree in computer science from the Indian Statistical Institute. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Jadavpur University.
Module 3: Banking & Financial Services
Kiran Garimella
Kiran Garimella is an assistant professor of instruction in the USF School of Information Systems and Management, which is part of the USF Muma College of Business. His research interests include blockchain and machine learning, specifically on the integration of machine learning into distributed ledger technology (blockchain), functional security of blockchain applications, dynamic consensus mechanisms, dynamic allocation of multiparty blockchain channels in supply chains, and distributed ecosystem formation. Garimella has published several papers in IEEE, INFORMS, and WITS, his latest one being "Enhancing Trust in Business Ecosystems with Blockchain Technology" in the IEEE Engineering Management Review, 2020. His latest book is AI+Blockchain: A Brief Guide for Game Changers, with a foreword by Vint Cerf, co-founder of the Internet. Garimella has extensive C-level experience, having served as Global CIO for General Electric and vice president for business process management at Software AG. He consults at KoreConX, where he leads the strategy for building the world's largest enterprise ecosystem for the global private capital markets on an AI-based permissioned blockchain platform. The platform is deployed in 23 countries with a processing capacity of 10 billion transactions per year. Garimella is the principal founder, developer, and chief curator of iKnowCentral.com, a co-founder of CognitiveWorld.com, and an adviser to the MidMarketPlace. He earned a PhD from the Warrington College of Business, University of Florida. His doctoral thesis was "A Knowledge-Intensive Machine-Learning Approach to the Principal-Agent Problem."
Module 4 : Cryptocurrency & NFT Fundamentals
Shivendu Shivendu
Shivendu Shivendu is an associate professor of information systems in the USF School of Information Systems and Management. He has created and taught undergraduate, graduate, MBA, and doctoral courses in areas related to economics of information systems, design of information systems, business analytics, econometrics, blockchain technology and crypto economy including fintech. He led the prestigious White House initiated federal TechHire grant of $600,000 as principal investigator for the annual "State of the Region" conference held in the Tampa Bay region, an event that draws hundreds of business and civic leaders to learn more about how the region compares to other metropolitan areas in key areas such an unemployment, income inequality, economic growth, and educational attainment. Before transitioning to academics, Shivendu served in the Indian Administrative Service in senior leadership roles in the government in India. Shivendu also serves as pro bono academic advisor to the National Institute of Smart Government, New Delhi. His research focuses on the emerging business and policy issues at the intersection of technology, economics and public policy. He earned a PhD and a Master in Economics from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Module 5a: InsurTech
Timothy Greer
Tim Greer is an assistant professor of instruction in the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance, which is part of the USF Muma College of Business. He came to USF in 2022 from the College for Financial Planning, where he was an adjunct professor. Greer has over 25 years of industry experience, including founding and leading a multiline insurance and financial services agency. He also currently serves in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He earned a DBA from the University of South Florida, an MBA from Quinnipiac University, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Grove City College. He holds numerous industry certifications some of which include the Chartered Financial Consultant®, Chartered Life Underwriter®, and Certified Employee Benefit Specialist®.
Module 5b: Supply Chain
Seckin Ozkul
Seckin Ozkul is an assistant professor of instruction in supply chain management in the USF School of Marketing and Innovation, which is part of the USF Muma College of Business. He spearheads the Supply Chain Innovation Lab, which brings industry and academic supply chain management experts together to work on research projects tackling some of the industry’s biggest challenges. Ozkul is also an affiliated faculty member with the USF Center for Urban Transportation Research. Ozkul has extensive experience in funded research project management as principal investigator and conducted research in the areas of operations management, supply chain and logistics modeling/optimization, logistics activity center location/site selection optimization as well as freight mobility and planning. He is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Florida. Ozkul earned a PhD in engineering with a focus on freight transportation/logistics operations, from the University of Florida, a master’s degree in marketing with a concentration in supply chain management and a master's degree in engineering from USF, and a bachelor's degree in engineering from Auburn University.
Module 5c: Professional Sports
Michelle Harrolle
Michelle Harrolle, director of the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program in the USF Muma College of Business, teaches courses related to marketing, sales and fundraising in sports and entertainment in the USF School of Marketing and Innovation. Harrolle has published a book on esports and has been published in a number of journals including the Journal of Sport Management. Her years of experience in the sports industry include being aquatics director at Providence College; swimming coach at Providence College, Florida State University and The Ohio State University. Harrolle was one of three head female collegiate coaches of both men’s and women’s D1 athletics. She was the director of the Tampa Memorial Golf Tournament from 2003-2007. At North Carolina State University, she received the highest teaching honor bestowed on a professor, the 2012-13 North Carolina State University and College of Natural Resources Teacher of the Year awards. Harrolle has served as a member of several professional organizations, including the Sport Marketing Association, North American Society for Sport Management and the National Recreation and Park Association. Harrolle earned a PhD, master's and bachelor's degrees from the University of Florida.
Module 6: The Emerging Legal & Regulatory Environment
Nicole Stowell
Nicole Stowell is a professor of instruction of business law in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy in St. Petersburg and provides students, through her courses, with essential knowledge about legal issues in business. She has taught at USF since 2005 and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2001. She is a member of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business and The Florida Bar Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section. Both her online undergraduate and graduate courses have been certified by Quality Matters, and her research has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Business Education, the Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting and the Drake Law Review, among others. She also the sits on the Advisory Board for the Center of Innovative Teaching and Learning. Stowell earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University College of Law and an MBA from Stetson University.
Module 7: Mapping the Future of FinTech
Timothy Smith
Tim Smith is an assistant professor of instruction in the School of Information Systems and Management on USF's St. Petersburg campus. He came to USF in 2022 from Iowa State University, where he was an assistant teaching professor in the Ivy College of Business. Smith's research interests lie in organizational routines, technology adoption processes, business analytics, and enterprise systems development. His work has been published in the Journal of Information Systems Education, the Teaching Mathematics and Computer Science journal, and currently serves as the technical editor for the Journal of Information Systems Education. He has presented research at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Americas Conference on Information Systems, and International Conference on Information systems. He has also won several awards, including the best paper award at the 2019 DIGIT conference. Smith has over 20 years of industry experience, including founding and leading a software development company, co-developing an operating system, and leading in various engineering and executive roles within the telecommunications industry. He earned a PhD from the Carleton University, a master's degree from Athabasca University, and a bachelor's degree in economics (1st class honors) from the University of New Brunswick.