From the NUS School of Computing to the global stage, Sumit Sanjay Shinde was selected as one of only 14 university students worldwide to participate in the XRP Ledger (XRPL) Student Builder Residency 2026 in London. During the intensive four-week programme, he collaborated with leading blockchain experts and transformed an ambitious idea into Verix, a platform designed to address one of the most important challenges in the emerging agentic AI economy: enabling autonomous AI agents to transact securely and independently.

Verix tackles a critical limitation of today’s digital payment infrastructure, which was built primarily for human users rather than AI systems operating at machine speed. Built on the XRP Ledger, the platform combines on-chain identity, native escrow, cryptographic verification, and immutable reputation records to ensure that payments are released only after agreed task outcomes have been verified. By replacing trust in AI models with cryptographic proof, Verix lays the foundation for secure, transparent, and trustless transactions between autonomous agents.

The project also reflects the vision of the NUS FinTech Lab, led by Professor Jungpil Hahn, to develop solutions that bridge cutting-edge research with real-world digital infrastructure. Through the residency, Sumit gained valuable experience in XRPL development, decentralized finance (DeFi), product validation, and startup development while advancing Verix toward a Mainnet SDK. His achievement demonstrates how student-led innovation can contribute to the future of blockchain, AI, and digital trust, where intelligent agents are not only capable of making decisions but also of securely conducting economic activity across decentralized ecosystems.