eToro CEO Yoni Assia: How AI will transform retail investing over the next decade

Dubai: eToro, the global multi-asset trading and investment platform, is accelerating its AI-driven transformation. Yoni Assia, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the UAE-licensed platform, discusses the role of AI, its use cases and its impact on investing and trading. Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming financial services. How do you see AI reshaping the investing experience for retail investors over the next five years? Yoni Assia: Over the next five years, AI will give every retail investor access to capabilities that were previously reserved for institutional investors, including tools for portfolio analysis, risk management and personalised insights. For twenty years, we have been democratising finance. The first decade was about improving access through lower fees and better user experience; the second decade focused on making information more accessible through educational resources. The next decade will be about giving retail investors access to quantitative trading and sophisticated investment tools. eToro recently unveiled an AI-first investing experience. How will AI-powered tools and agents change the way everyday investors discover opportunities, manage risk and build portfolios? Yoni Assia : We believe investing is becoming AI-first. That is why we have redesigned the entire eToro experience around intelligence rather than simply adding AI features to an existing platform. Last week, we unveiled a new mobile app featuring agentic trading and sub-accounts, a new desktop platform for active traders, and a growing app store. We were able to build these upgrades so rapidly thanks to AI. At the centre of the new app is Tori, eToro’s AI agent, which proactively surfaces relevant information instead of leaving users to identify opportunities and risks on their own. It has persistent memory, enabling it to remember a user’s portfolio, interests and previous activity, making the experience more contextual and personalised. Using Tori, users can also build or copy portfolios managed by AI agents that trade around the clock on their behalf. Most importantly, our AI is built on the real decisions and track records of millions of investors over two decades — a form of intelligence that is difficult to replicate. Together, these capabilities allow us to create an investing experience that is smarter, more accessible and more personalised to each retail investor’s needs. What are the biggest opportunities, and risks, that AI presents for trading and investment platforms such as eToro? Yoni Assia : AI is by far the biggest opportunity I have ever seen. It levels the playing field by giving retail investors access to technology that was previously available only to professionals. It also enables companies like us to innovate much faster and build better products. Retail investors will become the smartest money in the market. The challenge for AI is trust. Investors need confidence that AI is working with reliable data, operating within clear guardrails, and supporting rather than replacing their decision-making. Do you believe AI will ultimately democratise sophisticated investment strategies that were once accessible only to institutional investors and wealth managers? Yoni Assia: Yes, it is already happening. I often say that, in the future, every retail investor will have something akin to a family office or hedge fund working alongside them. AI can analyse markets around the clock, personalise insights and help investors build strategies based on their own objectives. It can absorb the knowledge contained in the books and memos of the world’s leading investors and translate that knowledge into action. The investor remains in control, but AI dramatically expands what an individual can achieve. That represents a major step forward in the democratisation of finance. As AI-generated content becomes increasingly prevalent, how can investors distinguish between valuable insights and misinformation when making investment decisions? Yoni Assia : AI should not replace judgement — it should improve it. The best AI is not designed simply to generate opinions; it should connect investors with trusted, real-time information, challenge assumptions and help people ask better questions. Financial education will remain essential because the quality of investment decisions will always depend on understanding the information behind them. The UAE has emerged as one of the world's most dynamic fintech and investment hubs. What makes the market strategically important to eToro's long-term growth ambitions? Yoni Assia : The UAE has created one of the world’s most forward-looking financial ecosystems. It combines global connectivity with a regulatory environment that supports innovation, which aligns closely with eToro’s global expansion strategy. Establishing our presence in Abu Dhabi, a growing fintech hub, and securing our licence from ADGM has enabled us to operate within a trusted and well-regulate