Sebastián del Villar’s AI-Powered Fraud Detection Is Saving Retail Giants Millions: The Hidden Tech Revolutionizing LatAm E-Commerce Security

In the current age, Latin America’s e-commerce industry is exploding. It’s going at a faster rate than anyone in the industry initially expected, now projected to hit $769 billion in sales volume in this year alone, outpacing all global averages. As online retail penetration deepens in Brazil’s bustling marketplaces and Mexico’s cross-border hubs, total revenues are forecasted to be in the billions, at the steep cost of scams and fraudulent transactions. As the industry struggles against abusive returns and schemes, a Chilean innovator, Sebastián del Villar, has the answers.

As founder and CTO of Desarrollos Andain Ltd and SC Soft USA LLC, del Villar has engineered store management systems and fraud detection processes, helping over 60 retail behemoths—from Cencosud to Oxxo—across six countries. Billions of dollars are lost account to account, sending merchants scrambling, desperately hunting for proper processes. Processing thousands of transactions in bill payments and e-commerce transactions monthly in a high-risk environment creates many overlooked problems, which del Villar addresses with diligence. He doesn’t just spot the gaps. As a self-taught entrepreneur specializing in e-commerce and retail, he also develops in-house solutions that are indispensable. Del Villar is a living success story and someone definitely worth watching.

A Background of Grit and Passion

Del Villar’s skills manifested early in life. As a student at Diego Portales University, he studied civil computer engineering. As a young person, the seed of creativity and innovation was already apparent in del Villar. He shares: “I imagined screens in cars for meetings or entertainment, something like what we have today with smartphones and video calls. These dreams fueled my passion for software development. As an entrepreneur, I founded companies to turn those visions into reality: SaaS platforms that automate e-commerce and retail operations across Latin America.”

While continuing his studies, he spent his spare time building his own company, Bahamondes y del Villar Ltd. Before his graduation in 2010, he was already serving as CTO and co-founder of his ventures. At this point, his projects were simple, mostly from agencies and small firms that couldn’t afford their own full-time developers.

After completing his studies, he continued to work on multiple projects before spearheading marketing campaigns for various agencies. A turning point came when an agency that managed many clients allowed them to work with a sports channel. Long before online streaming was common, del Villar had already pitched the idea. Soon enough, his opportunities abounded as his strategy attracted big brands and companies such as Skechers, Nestlé, and Samsung.

Regarding his rapid expansion, his clients give him all the credit. X from Skechers muses:  “Skechers’ continued growth and success in Chile and across Latin America depend directly on Mr. Del Villar’s leadership, innovation, and technical execution. His role has been, and continues to be, indispensable to Skechers’ digital transformation and competitiveness. I can state without hesitation that Mr. Del Villar has played and will continue to play a critical role at Skechers. His contributions have fundamentally shaped our operational success and long-term growth strategy in the region.”

It should come as no surprise. After all, del Villar is the type who sticks with teams and leads them to success from day one. : “From the earliest days of the company, Sebastian co-developed the bill payment and mobile recharge system that is now central to Pagatodo’s business. Today, that system processes more than 1.5 million transactions per month.” Nowadays, del Villar has scaled the technology to process more than 2 million transactions and is used by 8 of the most important banks in the Dominican Republic.

The Beginnings of SC Soft USA LLC

In 2015, his flagship project, OneApp, was built on del Villar’s grit and determination. The start-up was made to address the need for software to manage corporate training and internal communication programs for large companies. At this point, del Villar wanted to address a common pain point he had observed across many of the companies he worked with: operations weren’t as efficient as they could be, especially with bill payments and e-commerce and marketplace transactions. With OneApp, the way stores are set up, displays are managed, and tasks are distributed can be addressed more straightforwardly.

SC Soft USA LLC was also created under San Cirilo in the Dominican Republic. As OneApp boomed, he took on a leadership role at San Cirilo, expanding its network to manage major clients, including Vimenca Group. Vimenca is a significant financial conglomerate backed by Villar’s TodoPago — a platform that connects over 150 companies for utilities, telecoms, and points of sale. They collaborate with other huge clients, such as Skechers, to integrate marketplace and payment solutions across multiple regions.

Today, both platforms have expanded — especially with San Cirilo. From a small team that del Villar curated, it now employs 40 people throughout different countries in Latin America. As they reach new milestones every year, they plan to open offices and operations across the US and Brazil, and later in Europe. They work closely with big companies in every country they’ve set their sights on, working on software development, infrastructure, networking, integrations, and advising. At the same time, he works with major clients like Skechers USA to facilitate financial reconciliation projects all across Latin America.

Del Villar is proud of his success, but he emphasizes the hard work involved: “Running 24/7 SaaS systems handling financial transactions is intense—downtime costs real money. But AI automations I built (e.g., self-healing servers via Telegram alerts) mitigate that, turning stressors into strengths. The bigger "mind tax" now? Overthinking optimizations—spotting endless AI opportunities to automate retail drudgery, which excites more than stresses me as a founder.” Even with various challenges in place, del Villar is willing to take on every struggle.

For his grit, del Villar is dearly remembered.   “What distinguished Sebastian was the maturity and adaptability of his software solution and his proven track record in executing multi-country implementations. He was chosen specifically for his ability to deliver a technology that could both scale and flex to meet diverse market requirements. His contributions have become a cornerstone of The Line Group’s operational success.”

The AI Sentinel in Retail's Backend

As much as naysayers and critics would like to say otherwise, del Villar’s bill automatons and e-commerce engines aren’t gimmicks — they’re manifestations of creative genius that’s woven into the fabric of SC Soft USA. Here, AI is essential for fraud detection in their large-scale transactions. Since 2015, del Villar has been able to pivot from custom-coding gigs at companies to using machine learning to dissect transaction patterns for numerous teams.

With his craft, AI can easily detect irregularities, such as velocity checks on card usage or geolocation mismatches, making fraud detection and analysis easier for the human agents responsible. No matter how complex the processes are, they all seamlessly integrate with banking APIs. All in all, the automations for e-commerce transactions are much more optimized.

Del Villar reflects on the difficulties they handle as a company: “Our SaaS platform manages operations for over 80,000 users across 35,000 branches in more than 40 companies. We're the go-to "Software Factory" for conglomerates like FEMSA (one of Mexico's largest groups), where we started with one brand and expanded to all their Latin American operations. Clients come to us not just for core tools but to custom-build AI automations for unique business challenges, like predictive inventory or fraud detection in transactions.” With del Villar at the helm, expansion came quickly and they established themselves as the must-have for every company.

Even during peak, hard events, SC Soft USA proves its mettle as a proactive armor. Del Villar’s system thwarted fraud rings attempting bulk exploits, preserving revenue streams amid 120 company integrations. It improves post-sales processes, handles correction and incident resolution, and streamlines reporting and consultations. Clients report near-zero downtime, crediting AI's edge in predicting threats before they cascade.

An Ascent to Success

One can closely examine del Villar’s progress over the years and learn from the different strategies used to manage operations effectively, which reflects in his work in automation in e-commerce and marketplace transactions. He evolved various operational processes into one big system they could sell to companies. Almost right away, his platforms began working with major Chilean retailers, pharmaceutical companies, and supermarket chains.

Working with such companies helped them grow even faster. Soon, they became the external development team for many of our clients, managing everything related to their field operations, in-store processes, communications, and employee engagement.

Today, del Villar is moving forward with plans to commercialize it all across Latin America and the US. He prepares to launch a SaaS marketplace platform by 2026 — a success after honing the service over the past 3 years.

Despite being so busy, del Villar faces every difficulty head-on, explaining: “One ongoing challenge as an entrepreneur is bridging diverse expertise to lead high-level discussions. I thrive in C-suite meetings on topics from infrastructure to AI, holding my own against specialists. I don't just participate—I propose out-of-the-box SaaS solutions that resolve issues others overlook, like integrating AI for real-time e-commerce analytics.”

Beyond his primary work in San Cirilo, del Villar also takes on other roles. He’s currently the technology advisor for the Vimenca Group, the same Dominican conglomerate that owns Banco Vimenca, Western Union RD, and other companies. While he primarily works in software development, he also supports infrastructure and networking and provides integration advice to international clients. He continues to mentor start-ups, serve as an advisor, and offer insights to develop large-scale systems in the US.

Bootstrapped Brilliance Meets Global Ambition

There is one thing, though, that sets del Villar apart from other start-up entrepreneurs: he has a disdain for venture capital. He bootstrapped nearly everything himself. San Cirilo has served a variety of big clients that wouldn’t exist without his dedication, and his grit for the job has more than paid off.

He knows his approach is unconventional, explaining: “In startup circles, people are shocked: "You serve 40+ major clients, generate steady revenue, and own 100% equity—all self-funded?" This "slow-burn" approach built a rock-solid foundation, teaching me resilience and the power of AI-driven efficiency to scale without dilution. It honed my ability to innovate under constraints, directly fueling our expansions into U.S. markets next year.”

While unconventional, this lean ethos built them a steady foundation that amplifies his AI expertise: rapid prototyping—which creates fraud models in hours, not months—lets him outpace bloated incumbents. The ripple effects were more than worth it. Retailers have reclaimed their time from rote systemic work to focus on growth. Del Villar encourages this shift, and adds: "With AI and automation, I can build things fast—one or two hours for what took weeks.”

For the digital trailblazers in Latin America, del Villar’s blueprint can be the key to competitive triumph.

A Look Into the Future

Del Villar has had a good run as an entrepreneur, but he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. His passion propels him forward, from the streets of Chile to his now existing offices, as he describes: “My passion remains the same as when I started: to design technology that simplifies complex operations, empowers teams, and connects companies across borders.”

His passion doesn’t go unnoticed. Robert Konow, his professional colleague, observes: “Mr. Del Villar is an extraordinary technology leader whose innovations have transformed operations at some of Latin America’s most prominent enterprises. As co-founder of Oneapp, he developed a SaaS platform now deployed by over 60 companies in six countries, including Cencosud, Ripley, Cruz Verde, Samsung, and Oxxo. He personally spearheaded the architecture, scaling, and localization of the platform, enabling retail giants to coordinate store operations, marketing campaigns, and compliance across borders.”

As he continues his professional career as an entrepreneur, advisor, and mentor, he also serves as a judge in various start-up competitions in his spare time. He fills the role as a mentor to different firms and serves as a guide for e-commerce start-ups who aim to get into AI like he did. As del Villar continues his success, everyone should be on the lookout for every stroke of genius he might come up with next.

About the Author

Sashindra Suresh is an experienced writer specializing in artificial intelligence, software development, and emerging technologies. With a strong ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, engaging insights, she has contributed to a wide range of publications and platforms. Her work focuses on making cutting-edge innovations accessible to both industry professionals and curious readers alike.