Women in Technology: Casca’s Sarah Koulogeorge

In what is a recurring feature, Finopotamus spotlights innovative women who are positively impacting technology applications in the credit union industry, and beyond.

In the latest installment in our “Women in Technology” series, we visited with Casca’s Director of Business Development Sarah Koulogeorge. Founded by banking industry and machine learning experts from Stanford University, the San Francisco-based Casca bills itself as being built upon responsible, compliant AI lending practices, including human-in-the-loop monitoring.

By W.B. King

For years, Sarah Koulogeorge focused her energies on politics—an interest in technology came later. Her resume includes deputy director on Pete Buttigieg’s campaign, working in President Joe Biden’s Office of Management and Budget (appointed by the president), and she served more than two years as a senior advisor in the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Sarah Koulogeorge

“My interest in technology really grew during my time in government. I saw firsthand that many of the people shaping policy around emerging technologies didn’t fully understand the tools they were regulating. That disconnect is a real problem, especially in financial services,” she told Finopotamus. “I wanted to learn how these technologies are actually built and deployed so I could engage with them more intelligently and, eventually, help shape better policy and outcomes for financial institutions and consumers.”

While earning her MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business, she crossed paths with Lukas Haffer, Casca’s founder and CEO. “I trusted his vision for the company and joined because I believed in what the team was building—using AI to help financial institutions make small business lending faster and more accessible,” she said, adding that her tenure began in April 2025.

Inspiring the Next Generation

New to the fintech industry, she didn’t pontificate on ideological or managerial shifts that have taken place in the tech space over the last 10 years. Since joining Casca, however, AI, she noted, has quickly changed many day-to-day operations.

“Tools like Claude Co-Work have become part of my regular workflow and help me work faster and more efficiently. I use it for things like summarizing meetings and supporting internal and external communications, and it has significantly reduced the amount of repetitive administrative work on my plate,” she continued. “That gives me and our team more time to focus on strategy and serving customers.”

The company, which has 35 employees in total, offers FIs an AI loan assistant solution that communicates with applicants via email and SMS, reactivating up to 50% of churned leads, she said.

From engineering and product development to leadership, Koulogeorge said the industry needs more women across all areas of fintech. “Financial services products impact everyone, and groups like women and small business owners are still underserved in many areas of finance,” she shared. “Having more diverse voices involved in building technology and shaping products will lead to better, more inclusive solutions.”

When Finopotamus asked about mentors, she pointed to Adlon Adams, COO at Casca. From her first day as the company’s director of business development, Adams created an environment where Koulogeorge felt trusted, supported, and encouraged to grow.

“She leads in a way that gives people room to think independently, take initiative, and continue developing professionally,” Koulogeorge continued. “Seeing that kind of leadership firsthand has reinforced for me how important it is to have strong mentors and advocates in the workplace, especially women in leadership roles who can help guide and inspire the next generation.

AI to the Core

When Finopotamus asked what tech trends are exciting her, Koulogeorge said the general shift toward more configurable, self-serve software powered by AI. At Casca, for example, she and her colleagues see how AI is changing financial institutions and their technology platforms.

“Traditionally, if a lender wanted to make changes to a lending platform, it would require submitting a support ticket, going through product reviews, and relying on engineers to make all the changes. Now, AI-powered tools can allow users to make certain adjustments to workflows themselves simply by interacting with an agent inside the platform,” she noted. “That will make financial institutions much more agile and significantly change how software products evolve over time.”

Casca’s platform was built with AI at its core, she further explained. This approach, she added, is helping FIs to automate and accelerate traditional manual lending workflows.

“Small businesses are the backbone of local communities, but too many still struggle to access affordable capital because lending processes can be slow and cumbersome,” she continued. “In many cases, SBA loans can take 60 to 90 days to close. By streamlining document review, underwriting support, and administrative tasks, AI can help institutions reduce manual effort, move faster, and better serve small business borrowers.”

Genuine Alignment

While working at the SBA, Koulogeorge learned the importance of ensuring that underserved communities are better represented. She sees this same ethos in the credit union movement.

“They remain deeply community focused. There is a real emphasis on supporting local businesses and serving communities that are often overlooked by larger institutions. That aligns closely with Casca’s mission but it’s also something that matters to me personally,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to work on expanding access to capital for underserved communities. Credit unions are often the institutions leading that effort on the ground.”

To achieve this overarching, altruistic goal, she noted that it’s imperative that credit unions and fintechs have “genuine alignment” around mission and values.

“Credit unions are deeply community-focused, so partnering with fintechs that share that same purpose makes collaboration more effective and more meaningful,” she told Finopotamus. “When both sides are working toward the same goal, whether that’s supporting small businesses, veterans, or underserved communities, you feel that closeness and care in the day-to-day work and the partnerships tend to be much more successful.”