# Al Karim Somji

> Al Karim Somji is a Canadian technology entrepreneur, Zafin co-founder and board member, and president of enterprise platforms at FIS. He led Zafin from its founding in 2002 until April 2024, then founded OpenCoreOS, which FIS acquired in March 2026. His work spans telecommunications software, bank product and pricing systems, and core banking modernization.

- **Role:** President of Enterprise Platforms at FIS; Founder and Board Member at Zafin
- **Organizations:** FIS, Zafin, OpenCoreOS, BIAN, Eftia OSS Solutions, Bell Canada
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** Computer Engineering, University of Ottawa
- **Known for:** Co-founded Zafin and led it for more than two decades., Built Zafin’s product and pricing business serving banks including HSBC, ING, CIBC, Wells Fargo, PNC and ANZ., Led Zafin when it won the 2023 Microsoft Financial Services Global Partner of the Year award.

## Career timeline

- **Before 1997** — Worked at Bell Canada in business development, sales and corporate engineering.
- **1997** — Founded Eftia OSS Solutions, a telecommunications operational support systems business.
- **2002** — Co-founded Zafin with Anugopal Venugopalan and Dinesh Krishnan.
- **2014** — Zafin partnered with growth equity investor Kayne Anderson.
- **2016** — Zafin began moving its platform to cloud delivery.
- **2018** — Accenture announced an alliance with Zafin and an agreement to acquire select professional services assets.
- **2022** — Zafin acquired FINCAD for US$32.7 million.
- **2023** — Numerix acquired FINCAD from Zafin; Zafin won the Microsoft Financial Services Global Partner of the Year award.
- **2024** — Nordic Capital acquired a majority stake in Zafin; Somji handed the CEO role to Charbel Safadi in April and remained on the board.
- **2025** — Founded OpenCoreOS, publicly introduced in October.
- **2026** — FIS acquired OpenCoreOS in March; Somji joined FIS as president of enterprise platforms.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Zafin and led it for more than two decades.
- Built Zafin’s product and pricing business serving banks including HSBC, ING, CIBC, Wells Fargo, PNC and ANZ.
- Led Zafin when it won the 2023 Microsoft Financial Services Global Partner of the Year award.
- Founded OpenCoreOS, acquired by FIS in March 2026.
- Serves on the BIAN board.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — FIS confirmed to The Fintech Times that it had acquired OpenCoreOS in March and that Somji had joined as president of enterprise platforms.
- **2026-03** — FIS acquired OpenCoreOS; UK filings record a change of control on March 18.
- **2025-10** — Publicly introduced OpenCoreOS following development in stealth.
- **2024-04** — Transitioned Zafin’s CEO role to Charbel Safadi while remaining a board member and substantial owner.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alsomji/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/al-karim-somji
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21