FinTech Female Fridays: Meet Marcia Tal, CEO of Tal Solutions®, LLC and Founder of PositivityTech®

Marcia Tal, a mathematician by training, has excelled in applying her analytical prowess to solve complex problems. During her 25 years at Citibank, she worked in various roles, from risk management to marketing, and eventually rose to become an Executive Vice President of Citigroup. A significant highlight of her tenure at Citi was envisioning, building, and running the Decision Management function. This innovative team introduced advanced analytical tools and a strong governance process into business decisions across more than 30 countries. Her extensive experience at Citi set the stage for her next venture: founding Tal Solutions®, LLC, a successful data and analytics consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations uncover hidden value in their data. Additionally, she created the PositivityTech® intelligent platform, a custom, scalable technology platform that transforms customer complaints into valuable business insights.

Utilizing AI-powered predictive insights and human expertise, the PositivityTech platform leverages customer narratives to strategically identify and resolve company policies and practices that lead to "High-Risk Interactions." This proactive approach allows companies to improve customer outcomes, reduce risks, increase retention, and grow revenue by tapping into a wealth of information contained in over 100 billion customer interactions annually in the U.S., approximately 6% of which are categorized as high-risk. While these complaints are often resolved individually, they are seldom utilized as valuable data to develop solutions that could enhance products and strengthen customer relationships. By transforming these interactions into actionable insights, PositivityTech helps organizations approach this data as a strategic asset, unlocking significant opportunities for innovation and improvement.

The PositivityTech team is driven by a passion for enabling clients to make changes to policies and practices based on customer feedback. Their goal is to demonstrate the transformative power of customer narrative data, benefiting both the institution and its clients. As a fintech platform, PositivityTech stands out by transforming negatives to positives. While every business collects narrative data, few utilize it strategically. By demonstrating attentiveness to customer voices, banks encourage more feedback, empowering people to access the financial products and services they need more effectively. This empowerment enhances customer relationships, which in turn strengthens the institution’s performance.

Marcia believes that her biggest differentiator is the path she has taken. As a former corporate executive who transitioned into consulting and then to founding a fintech platform, her approach has always been to continually consider how she can leverage her accumulated skills, expertise, and knowledge for the greatest impact. She thinks about who benefits most from her unique capabilities and challenges herself to stay abreast of the latest innovations, risks, and regulations. Marcia achieves this by reading extensively, surrounding herself with innovators, and ensuring she is well-informed about the newest tools and techniques and their applications across academia, the corporate world, and beyond.

Marcia is particularly excited about the evolving landscape of fintech this year. When asked about the trends she's observing in her vertical, she emphasizes the shift in focus within the industry: "What’s really exciting to me is how the discussion is changing. It’s no longer about the shiny new tool or technology as much as it is about the business needs those tools and technologies are addressing. People appreciate that capability is one thing, and that the integration and business impact is what really matters. In terms of our work with PositivityTech, it’s thrilling to witness how, due to the evolution of the technologies, natural language processing and AI, what was once just an idea, is now a reality that drives business impact."

More on Marcia

Favorite hobby: Spending time with my grandchildren and going for rides on my Peloton – it really clears my head. 

Favorite show to binge: Law and Order SVU.

Favorite fintech media:  I read American Banker every day because it keeps me tapped into what’s going on industry-wide. Between my reading, meetings, and using the PositivityTech intelligent platform, I am up to speed on a wide range of issues impacting financial institutions and their customers. I hear what industry insiders and media are saying and through the PositivityTech system, I hear what customers are saying.

What is one piece of advice someone told you that resonated with you that can give to other women in FinTech?     

Having something that adds value is not enough. The real magic happens when you find the right partner: The person in the company who not only understands what you're doing, and sees the business value in what you're doing, but is also in a position to partner with you to make that happen.

What's the best job decision you ever made? 

The best job decision I ever made was to build and create the Decision Management function at Citi. This is not just because it was precedent-setting but because of how much I learned in the process. Because the Decision Management function’s culture was rooted in entrepreneurship, learning, and accountability, we were able to be a catalyst for change. I learned that the way to create something new is to develop a vision, a mission and values. If you can communicate those, you can inspire and mentor people along the way, creating jobs and new opportunities. Then those people become the next generation of leaders across industries. That experience taught me what I needed to know to do what I’m doing now — and also expanded my network and created many wonderful friendships. 

Can you tell us about a time someone encouraged you to try a task or take on a project you didn’t think that you would know how to do/or be good at? 

When I left the corporate world to found Tal Solutions® LLC, I had to learn so much along the way. I had to build everything – a company, my own technology solutions – without the resources of a major corporation. I’ve no doubt the support of my family and close colleagues was instrumental in my success. What’s really encouraged me has been realizing that others view me as a financial services leader who is authentic and has done — and continues to do — things differently. 

What is the most important lesson you have learned from a mistake you’ve made in the past? 

One lesson I’ve learned is that it’s wise to seek out advice from people who have been in your shoes, even if you don't know them, and to listen and learn from their mistakes: how they describe them and how they overcame them. 

Do you have any productivity hacks?  What keeps you motivated? How do you maintain a work/life balance? 

Your biggest motivator – whatever you’re doing, wherever you’re doing it – is passion. You have to love what you're doing and believe in it enough that it becomes a motivator to get people onboard with your vision.

In terms of productivity, the real way to keep moving forward is to make sure you're always challenging yourself, and reading about what's going on around you and then applying it to your work. My definition of work/life balance has changed throughout different phases of my life, but I know it was easier to achieve when I was in the corporate world. Most importantly, I think you have to be present where you are: if you're not working, you're present in whatever it is that you're doing. I appreciate Shabbat on Saturdays and, whether you’re religious or not, I think having a day of the week where you really wind down helps reignite and motivate you – it gives you the rest that is required to maintain that work/life balance so that you feel ready to dive back into work. 

Daily Diary

7:30 AM: I start the day by having coffee with my husband. 

7:45 AM: Begin preparing for the day’s meetings. 

8:00 AM  – 12:00 PM: This is when my day formally begins, usually meeting with our teams in India to check in on technology enhancements.

12:00 PM: Meet with someone new. This isn’t every day, but I’ve been prioritizing meetings with six to eight people I haven’t met before each month. It enhances my network, and it teaches me more about what’s going on in the world around me. Usually the meetings are over Zoom because the people are all over the world. It’s been so rewarding! 

1:00 PM to 4:00 PM: The rest of my day is filled with meetings with clients, potential new clients, and our internal teams to discuss everything from strategy to marketing to tech support. 

6:00 PM: Dinner with family.

7:00 PM: To-do list review. I don’t feel like I can end my day until I’ve reviewed my calendar – everything needs to be in there and I use it kind of like a to-do list, assigning myself tasks and striking completed tasks off. 

8:00 PM: Unwind with some TV. I like to watch something inspirational like Dancing with the Stars or The Voice. I love hearing about the participants’ lives and challenges they’ve had to overcome.

10:00 PM: A Peloton ride to clear my head. I’ve always been a night person and I don’t require a lot of sleep.