
Ep. 211: Building the AI-native orchestration layer for payments in gaming w/ Filip Michalsky from Soap Payments
From The Betting Startups Podcast by BettingStartups.com
May 19, 2026 · 26 min · Episode 238
About this episode
Filip Michalsky discusses the innovative AI-native payment solutions for the gaming industry and the future of payment orchestration.
Ep. 211 features Filip Michalsky from Soap Payments, an AI-native orchestration layer designed to simplify the complex payments stack for real-money gaming operators. Hear them discuss: Filip’s path from professional squash in the Czech Republic to Harvard AI data science and Fidelity Investments. The "iceberg" of payments: Navigating the hidden layers of issuing banks, acquiring banks, and convoluted funds movement. Using AI agents to slash payment onboarding times from months to a single week. How unified stablecoin rails enable "instant settlement," allowing operators to receive funds in five seconds. Protecting operators against "bad actors" with specialized defenses that maintain a 0.2% chargeback rate book-wide. The "vibe coding" vs. review approach: Scaling to 30+ customers with a lean, seven-person team. Moving beyond gaming: Early traction and expansion into the massive online health vertical. Strategic funding from Antler, AeroPay, and Astralis Capital ahead of an upcoming larger seed round. The five-year vision: Becoming a global payment orchestrator alongside category leaders like Stripe. Listen to Business of Betting, the premier podcast covering the business of the…
People in this episode
Host: Jeff Edelstein
Guest: Filip Michalsky
Topics covered
- AI in payments
- gaming industry
- payment orchestration
- real-money gaming
- stablecoin
- chargeback rates
- business expansion
Keywords
- AI-native orchestration
- payments stack
- instant settlement
- chargeback rate
- vibe coding
- online health vertical
- seed round
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Soap Payments, Harvard, Fidelity Investments, Antler, AeroPay, Astralis Capital, Stripe
Places: Czech Republic
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