Leadership and talent

• Leadership capabilities are sharpening around risk management particularly fraud, cybersecurity, compliance and the complexities of managing digital assets, while maintaining a strong focus on customer experiences.
• “Leadership in the global fintech industry continues to evolve, and the demand for strong leaders is greater than ever,” says Mark Soden, Managing Partner, Boyden UK. “The new breed of fintech leaders are tech-savvy, innovative, intuitive and push boundaries. They need to know how to harness emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain and quantum computing to keep up with the ever-demanding customer need.”
• Tech skills in blockchain, AI and data analytics are in high demand as the sector provides more comprehensive financial solutions and doubles down on consumer experiences, fraud detection and risk management across banking, payments and other services.
• Quantum computing is also beginning to make its way into fintech, with early adopters investing for portfolio optimisation, high-frequency trading, advanced data analytics and fraud detection. Skills in quantum technologies will need expert assessment from both a tech and industry perspective.
• Fintechs are focusing on leadership expertise in cloud computing, AI architecture, data scalability and digital identity verification, as well as compliance, cybersecurity and risk management. Partnerships, collaborative approaches and multi-player relationships are key drivers for growth and strategic leadership.
• The corporate landscape is changing, with greater momentum around private capital as an alternative to an IPO. Fintechs turning to private markets for funding of acquisition targets are keen to bring in-house the right financial talent.
• Enticing the best talent means offering attractive salaries and cultivating a strong and positive culture that aligns with the values of potential employees. Investment in career development helps to retain talent and limit attrition, while strengthening the employer brand with potential candidates.
• Fintech talent is increasingly targeted by start-ups and financial institutions alike. Defensive strategies include allowing employees to be digital nomads, hybrid workers or working fully remote, as well as providing stock options and career advancement. “AI is helping leaders in the fintech sector to build stronger teams by allowing managers to focus on personal communication with team members,” notes Soden. “Many of the mundane, time-consuming tasks are now being performed by AI, which means the demand for intuitive, empathetic leaders with strong communication skills is greater than ever.
• In M&A, successful integration is coupled with addressing skill gaps and ensuring senior executives are aligned with post-transaction goals. Fintechs will continue to require leaders who thrive on ambiguity and uncertainty, and are motivated by undefined challenges and potential, rather than job security. “Large companies that were considered ‘unsexy’ just a few years ago have benefited from the funding weakness of recent years,” observes Klos. “Top-notch talent has come to appreciate the stability of established companies, while established companies value the expertise, know-how and mindset that tech talent brings to the table.”
• In the globally distributed sectors of tech and finance, evolution over the next few years will be a ‘dance of nations,’ a phrase used by the ACCA in The Distribution of Global Power, to describe the shifting of countries in the value chain. The prediction is that countries would join each other ‘on par’ rather than displacing each other; in the context of fintech, achieving parity in digital finance capabilities would turbo charge global competition, cross-border collaboration and talent mobility.
• It is valuable, therefore, to explore pockets of talent among leading fintech hubs. In Fintech Magazine’s ranking of the top 10 global fintech hubs, San Francisco, New York and London are in the top three, due in part to leadership and talent capabilities.
• • With over 600 fintech startups, including unicorns Stripe and Chime, San Francisco benefits from close access to Silicon Valley’s tech talent and venture capital. Nearly a third of the top 100 US banks are in San Francisco’s financial district, providing “a unique environment for fintech/traditional finance collaboration”.
  • Meanwhile, New York’s fintech sector taps into a blend of financial expertise and tech talent; 44 percent of the city’s fintech workforce have previous traditional finance experience. Elsewhere in the US, Los Angeles’ fintech sector has seen a 23 percent growth in employment in the last seven years, outpacing the national average.
  • In the UK, London is identified by Fintech magazine as ‘a global fintech powerhouse,’ home to more than 2,500 fintech companies and 27 London-founded unicorns, including Revolut, Monzo and Starling Bank.
• Other notable hubs in Europe, thriving on tech, finance and fund-raising talent include:
• • Stockholm, known for Klarna and Bits Technology, with 18 percent of the workforce employed in tech-related fields, outpacing London and Berlin;
  • Berlin, home to 38 percent of all German fintech startups, has a diverse talent pool; 25-50 percent of start-up employees have international backgrounds; and
  • Paris, which benefits from a diverse ecosystem involving major financial institutions, regulators and leading universities, as well as technical centres established by JP Morgan and BlackRock focusing on quantitative finance and AI.
• In South America, São Paulo is the region’s ‘Silicon Bairro’ (neighbourhood), due to its prominence in the tech sector, and creation of Nubank, Ebanx and PagSeguro.
• In Asia, Bangalore is the ‘Silicon Valley of India’ with 14 companies appearing in the Financial Times’ list of High Growth Companies in Asia-Pacific. Prominent brands include Razorpay, Paytm and Groww. Singapore is one of Asia’s ‘premier fintech hubs’ with significant strength in digital payments and cryptocurrencies.
• Emerging hubs are also attracting investment, notably Lithuania, Romania, Croatia and Estonia. Executive search experts with global perspectives and capabilities in fintech talent will be extremely valuable.

Read more on the topic: 

• ACCA: The Distribution of Global Power
• Fintech magazine: Top 10 fintech hubs
• CFC: What’s next? 7 fintech trends for 2025