Model ML Expands APAC Footprint with New Tokyo Office and Key Evercore Hire

Model ML is scaling its Asia Pacific operations with the appointment of Carol DeWolf as Managing Director in Tokyo, following a period of rapid growth for the agentic operating system. As regional regulators tighten AI governance, the firm is positioning its audit-ready automation tools to meet the specific compliance and cultural demands of major Japanese and Singaporean financial institutions.

What was announced

Model ML has appointed Carol DeWolf, a former Managing Director at Evercore, as Managing Director for its Tokyo operations. The move marks a significant expansion of the company’s Asia Pacific footprint, following the opening of its Tokyo office in September 2026—the firm’s ninth global location. The company expects its regional headcount to reach 30 professionals by the end of the year, integrating product, engineering, and client teams within the same time zones as its institutional partners. DeWolf, who previously led APAC institutional coverage at Evercore and held roles at Nomura and Lehman Brothers, joins a leadership team that includes Eli Auerbach, General Manager in Tokyo, and Kat Chen, General Manager in Singapore. A graduate of Rikkyo University and New York University, DeWolf is a native speaker of Japanese and English.

The platform functions as an agentic operating system, allowing financial institutions to automate complex tasks such as due diligence and document creation across more than 30 languages. In the third quarter of 2026, Model ML reported a 250% quarter-on-quarter increase in annual recurring revenue and an elevenfold rise in daily active users, with 57% of users engaging with the product daily. The expansion coincides with heightened regulatory scrutiny; the Monetary Authority of Singapore recently issued AI risk management guidelines, while the Bank of Japan highlighted AI agents as a priority for oversight. Model ML’s system addresses these requirements by maintaining a full audit trail of model selection and output sourcing. The choice of model is informed by The Composite, Model ML’s benchmark of frontier and open-source models, which recently published an evaluation of GPT-5.6 Sol.

"Japanese financial institutions are adopting AI more quickly than is often assumed outside the market, and they are doing so with the care one would expect, with security and the reliability of every output as the first considerations. Over my career covering institutional investors in Japan and the US, I have seen that lasting relationships here are built through consistent presence and through delivering on what has been promised. Model ML has made that commitment to the region, with teams based in Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong working directly alongside clients. I am excited to join at this stage and to support our clients in Japan as they bring AI into the core of their work."

Carol DeWolf, Managing Director, Tokyo at Model ML

The companies involved

Model ML operates as a specialized AI platform tailored for the high-stakes environment of financial and professional services. The company has rapidly ascended within the fintech ecosystem, achieving a $1 billion valuation just 18 months after its inception. This growth has been supported by strategic hires from the traditional finance and venture capital sectors, including the appointment of former Salesforce Ventures head Alex Kayyal as Chief Financial Officer.

The firm’s market position is bolstered by its "Composite" benchmark, which evaluates frontier and open-source models on specific financial workflows. This technical rigor has attracted a high-tier client roster that includes major professional services firms such as PwC, Deloitte, and EY, alongside investment banking specialist FT Partners. Within the asset management space, Model ML’s technology is currently utilized by five of the ten largest global managers. The company maintains a global presence with offices in major financial hubs, including London, New York, Singapore, and Hong Kong, positioning itself as a bridge between frontier AI capabilities and the strict data security requirements of global tier-one institutions.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely tracked Model ML’s rapid trajectory, recently reporting on the company’s milestone Model ML Appoints Former Salesforce Ventures Head Alex Kayyal as CFO Following $1B Valuation. This followed news that HSBC Asset Management Backs Model ML as Financial Institutions Accelerate AI Adoption, a move that signaled strong institutional confidence in the firm’s agentic operating system. The current expansion into Tokyo and Singapore builds upon the company’s earlier regional momentum, which began when Model ML Launches in Hong Kong as Financial Institutions Flock to the Transformative Power of its AI Workspace in May 2025. These developments highlight a consistent strategy of embedding technical teams directly within the world’s primary financial centers to facilitate deep integration with local banking infrastructures.

What this means

The expansion of Model ML into Tokyo and Singapore signals a shift in the fintech landscape from general-purpose AI tools to specialized "agentic" systems that prioritize auditability. By embedding engineering teams locally, Model ML is addressing the significant barrier of regional nuance and language that has often slowed the adoption of Western SaaS in Asian markets. The move puts pressure on traditional software vendors who lack the transparency required by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Bank of Japan. As regulators demand more granular oversight of AI-assisted workflows, the ability to link every automated output to a source document becomes a competitive necessity rather than a feature.