Banking & FinTech

Why organisations work with Stephen Foerster Co-author with MIT Sloan’s Andrew Lo of In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio (Princeton University Press), a working intellectual map of modern finance built from direct interviews with ten of its pioneers, including six Nobel laureates. He can take a board through how its current investment frameworks were actually constructed, with the people who built them on the page. Federal Court qualified expert witness on investment management, portfolio management, and corporate finance, with more than fifty papers in outlets including the Journal of Finance and the Journal of Financial Economics. The analysis is the kind that has to hold up to cross-examination. Has built and delivered executive finance programmes for Bank of Montreal, BMO Nesbitt-Burns, the Canadian Securities Institute, and Alcan, specifically for senior leaders without a finance background. A sitting member of Western University’s joint pension board and former chair of Foundation Western’s Investment Committee. The fiduciary discipline he teaches is one he has exercised. Biography highlights Professor of Finance at Ivey Business School, Western University, since 1987 PhD from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; CFA designation since 1997 Co-author with Andrew Lo (MIT Sloan) of In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio (Princeton University Press); featured in The Wall Street Journal Bookshelf column; Axiom Business Awards silver medal in Personal Finance and Investing Author of Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks: Stories to Make You a Smarter Investor (Wiley, 2024); Axiom Book Awards bronze medal in Investing More than fifty published articles, including in the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Finance, and the Financial Analysts Journal Federal Court qualified expert witness on investment management, portfolio management, and corporate finance; sitting member of Western University’s joint pension board Biography Most boards and investment committees making consequential capital decisions are not staffed by finance specialists. They sign off on portfolio risk and long-horizon investment choices with frameworks they have not built and a century of market history they have not had time to absorb. In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio, co-authored with MIT Sloan’s Andrew Lo and published by Princeton University Press, takes ten of modern finance’s most consequential figures, including six Nobel laureates. The book traces how investors actually came to be taught to think about risk and return. The Wall Street Journal Bookshelf column featured the book; Axiom Business Awards gave it the silver medal in Personal Finance and Investing. The 2024 follow-up, Trailblazers, Heroes, and Crooks (Wiley), uses episodes drawn from a thousand years of market history to make the same lessons stick for senior decision-makers. That historical method runs through Foerster’s work with institutions. He has taught at Ivey Business School, Western University, since 1987. He holds a PhD from Wharton and the CFA designation, and has won Ivey’s Teaching Innovation Award and the Dean Carol Stephenson Excellence in EMBA Teaching Award. He has designed and delivered executive education for Bank of Montreal, BMO Nesbitt-Burns, the Canadian Securities Institute, and other major Canadian institutions. The focus is consistent: translating finance for senior leaders who do not come from a finance background. He has also sat on the other side of the table. He sits on Western University’s joint pension board and previously chaired the Investment Committee of Foundation Western. He is Federal Court qualified as an expert witness on investment management, portfolio management, and corporate finance. His more than fifty published papers appear in the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Finance, and the Financial Analysts Journal. He is currently writing the authorised biography of William F. Sharpe, the 1990 Nobel laureate whose Capital Asset Pricing Model still underpins how most institutions measure investment risk. Key speaking topics Portfolio management and asset allocation Capital markets and long-term investing Investment decision-making and risk management Modern portfolio theory in practice Behavioural traps in investing Lessons from market history Corporate finance for non-financial executives Ideal for Boards and investment committees with fiduciary responsibility for pensions, endowments, or corporate treasury CFOs, treasurers, and finance leaders responsible for portfolio and capital allocation decisions Senior executives without a finance background who oversee investment risk Asset managers and investment professionals interested in the intellectual lineage of their field Audience outcomes Where modern portfolio theory came from, and where its assumptions break down in real markets Sharper questions to put to investment managers and finance teams Which investment lessons from market history are durable, and which are products of their era Enough working knowledge to engage substantively with capital allocation and investment risk without a finance background

Meet Rodney Williams Rodney Williams is the Co-founder of SoLo Funds, the largest community finance platform in the US. Since 2018, SoLo has surpassed 1M loans funded and redefined access to capital and returns for 1.5 million users. As the US’s only Black-led Certified B Corp fintech, SoLo continues its leadership (4x growth 22’ vs 21’), but grounded in the same hope and mission: to build a community that enables financial autonomy for all. Prior to founding SoLo, Rodney founded LISNR (Visa-Backed Fintech) and led the company to numerous awards and partnerships across retail and financial services. He currently serves as the company’s Chairman. LISNR is an ultrasonic data platform that enables secure wireless device-to-device communication for payments, mobility, and connected devices. Some of LISNR’s customers include Lenovo, Jaguar/Land Rover, Ticketmaster, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter’s company RocNation, and Media Saturn, Amdocs, and the company has commercial partnerships with Visa, Synchrony Financial, DSP Group, and Intel. Prior to founding LISNR, Rodney served multiple brand roles at Proctor and Gamble, most recently as Brand Management – Pampers NA. He began his career as a Financial and Business Development Analyst at Lockheed Martin & Department of Energy. Rodney is a former trustee of the board of directors for the University of Cincinnati, a member of the board of advisors of Howard University, and Chairman of the board and co-founder of Solo Funds, Inc. Rodney has been recognized with numerous awards, including Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 in 2012; the Ernst & Young EDGE Award in 2013; Cannes Gold Lion award in 2015; Tech Entrepreneur of the Year by Black Enterprise, 2016; NAACP Inspiring Innovation list 2017; 25 Inspiring Entrepreneurs Under 40 by Entrepreneur Magazine 2016; Entrepreneur of the Year in Connected World Communications in the Ohio Valley Region by EY in 2017; Ebony’s Power 100 in 2018 and CNBC Disruptor 50 List in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2023. Rodney attended West Virginia University, earning his BBA in finance, his BA in economics, and his MS in integrated marketing communications. Rodney also holds an MBA in finance and supply chain management from Howard University. He is a member of the 2019 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Meet Sheena Allen Sheena Allen is a visionary entrepreneur, sought-after keynote speaker, author, and creative architect who has transformed the intersection of technology, social impact, and innovation. From her humble beginnings in Terry, Mississippi, Sheena has emerged as a global thought leader, inspiring audiences with her journey from a college student with an idea to a trailblazing founder. In 2011, while still in college, Sheena founded Sheena Allen Apps, a mobile app studio she built from the ground up. Her portfolio of five apps has garnered millions of downloads, proving her ability to disrupt and lead in the tech space. In 2024, she expanded on her expertise in the mobile app industry by launching App It Out, an innovative platform designed to help non-technical entrepreneurs and small business owners transform their app ideas into reality through curated courses, virtual classes, and a hands-on app-launching guide. Her most notable venture, CapWay, a financial technology startup, revolutionized inclusive banking. As the youngest female in the U.S. to own and operate a digital bank, Sheena broke barriers while providing access to digital banking, financial education, and resources for underserved communities. CapWay’s mission to bridge the economic divide highlights Sheena’s commitment to fostering equity in finance and beyond. A gifted storyteller and dynamic presenter, Sheena has graced stages worldwide, sharing her insights on entrepreneurship, innovation, and the power of resilience. Her work has been spotlighted in Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Business Insider, among others, and she has earned prestigious accolades, including the Forbes 30 Under 30, Inc. 30 Under 30, and the PayPal Maggie Lena Walker Award. Sheena’s influence extends beyond the tech and financial sectors. She was featured in the Webby Award-winning Google documentary series Black Women in Tech and the acclaimed film She Started It, chronicling her journey as a female founder. Her book, The Starting Guide, has become a trusted resource for aspiring entrepreneurs, offering practical strategies to launch successful ventures. With her electrifying presence and actionable insights, Sheena empowers audiences to embrace bold ideas, break down barriers, and create transformative change. Whether addressing innovation, economic inclusion, or the entrepreneurial mindset, Sheena Allen inspires individuals and organizations to redefine what’s possible.

Meet Cheryl Campos Cheryl Campos is a serial maverick, aligning her passions to achieve success across multiple arenas. As the CEO of a leading financial nonprofit and a professional model and actress, Cheryl possesses a unique and powerful dual perspective that bridges the analytical and creative worlds. Her dynamic career embodies innovation, resilience, and the limitless potential of following one’s diverse passions. She is the cofounder and CEO of LaFamilia Foundation, a 501c3 closing the capital gap for Latine founders and funders through its communities VCFamilia & FounderFamilia. Through VCFamilia, the largest global community of Latine VCs, it has facilitated over $10M of LP funding and also helped pioneer the first operational capital grant program for Latine emerging fund managers. Through FounderFamilia with 500+ Latine venture backed founders, it has funneled $1M to promising startups with a renowned national pitch competition and partnerships. LFF is backed by leading corporations such as J.P. Morgan, AWS, Comcast, Gunderson and more. She is signed to top international agencies in NY and LA, working with fashion brands such as Tom Ford, Louboutin, Macys, Nordstrom, as well as appearing in commercials for major companies like Chevrolet and Amazon. She is now a signed actress (SAG-Eligible), featuring in the trailer for Mrs. Fletcher (HBO) and has honed her craft at the prestigious Stella Adler Studio in Hollywood. Previously, she was the Head of Venture Growth and Partnerships at Republic, an investment platform for founders to raise capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors. She joined as employee #10 in 2018 and was instrumental in its growth to unicorn status ($1BN valuation). In other direct investing roles, she is a scout for Lightspeed and an investment partner at The Community Fund, writing checks to 20+ companies in community centric startups, particularly healthcare. She started her career in Investment Banking at Barclays, working in the Financial Institutions Group and Structured Finance. She holds a BA in Economics with honors from Harvard University and graduated with her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2024.

Kathryn Strachan is an award-winning fractional CMO, strategic advisor, and expert keynote speaker whose insights drive transformative growth for businesses globally. Known for her engaging presence on stage, Kathryn has spoken at prestigious events including Money20/20, the London Tech Summit, and the India SEO Conference, and has lectured as a guest at NYU’s MBA program. She regularly serves as an MC and panelist at industry summits like The Drum or FinTech Fringe and also hosts advanced marketing workshops for Semrush. With a strong online following of over 16,000 LinkedIn followers, Kathryn’s reach extends beyond the stage, where she actively connects with a global audience on topics from B2B marketing to leadership and workplace innovation. Her speaking repertoire spans courses and conferences such as the WEConnect Conference, CMA Summit, and MoneyLive, where she shares her expertise on B2B marketing and innovative workplace practices. She also actively contributes to podcasts on these topics, showcasing her thought leadership across various platforms. Formerly the founder and CEO of CopyHouse, Kathryn led the agency to a market-leading position with a team of 32 and a $1.5 million turnover, attracting top-tier tech clients. Her forthcoming book, Scaling Success: Building Brands that Break Barriers (Fall 2024) and her podcast, Marketers Unleashed, continue to expand her impact as a thought leader. Recognized by the CMA, The Drum, IoD, and BIMA with accolades like Young Director of the Year and Content Marketing Person of the Year (two years running), Kathryn’s expertise and leadership are acknowledged across the industry.

Brett King: ‘King of Disruptors’, ‘Godfather of FinTech’ Brett King is a world-renowned futurist and speaker, an International Bestselling Author, and a media personality who covers the future of business, technology, and society. President Xi Jinping cited his book Augmented on the topic of Artificial Intelligence and he was voted Top Foreign Author for 2019 in Russia. He has spoken in over 50 countries, at TED conferences, given opening keynotes for Wired, Techsauce, Singularity University, Web Summit, The Economist, IBM’s World of Watson, CES, SIBOS and many more. He has appeared as a commentator on CNN, CNBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, and Bloomberg. He previously advised the Obama administration on Fintech policy and advises regulators and bank boards around the world on technology transformation. King hosts the world’s first and #1 ranked radio show on FinTech called “Breaking Banks” (180 countries, 10m+ downloads) and his latest venture is “The Futurists“, a podcast featuring those creating the future. He is the Founder of Moven, the world’s first mobile, downloadable bank account. Moven was the first app-based, neo-bank or challenger bank in history that allowed an in-app application process for a debit card, the first banking app to use the homescreen for financial health indicators, the first real-time receipts for transactions, and the first bank to use contactless cards in the US) and now a Banking-as-a-Service platform for mobile banking and financial wellness available for banks and fintechs globally. Named “King of the Disruptors” (Banking Exchange magazine) and the “Godfather of Fintech” (The Australian newspaper), King is a Fintech Hall of Famer (CB Insights) who was voted American Banker’s Innovator of the Year, voted the world’s #1 Financial Services Influencer by The Financial Brand and was nominated by Bank Innovation as one of the top 10 “coolest brands in banking”. He was shortlisted for the 2015 Advance Global Australian of the Year Award for being one of the most influential Australians living offshore. His books have been released in over a dozen languages and he has achieved bestseller status in 20 countries. His fifth book Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane was an international bestseller, top 10 in North America and China, and the book remained in the top 10 on Amazon for 2 years. Bank 4.0, which followed, has already spent 3 years on the Amazon bestsellers list for Banking books. His latest book for the post-Coronavirus world is entitled The Rise of Technosocialism and is out now.

Meet Duena Blomstrom Duena Blomstrom is an internationally renowned thought leader, podcaster and influencer at the intersection of culture and technology, known for her groundbreaking work in emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and human-centered organizational change. Before becoming a social entrepreneur, Duena was a successful intrapreneur and C-level leader who led strategy and innovation for both startups and large tech companies. She built award-winning tech and product propositions that gained worldwide project recognition. This rich combination of academic insights and business practice gives her a unique perspective, enabling her to offer innovative solutions that resonate deeply across industries. As an acclaimed published author of “Emotional Banking“, “People Before Tech” and “Tech-led Culture” Duena’s insights have been featured in all major media outlets. Previously a writer for Forbes she now writes twice a week as a LinkedIn Top Voice, engaging a large global audience of a quarter of a million followers and subscribers. Duena has delivered keynote speeches at over 300 conferences and corporate events for top organizations such as Google, Cisco, Oracle, Facebook, and more. She has also presented at premier industry events including TechSummit, Money2020, SIBOS, and HR Tech. As the CEO and Co-Founder of PeopleNotTech, a startup promoting psychological safety and continuous development in teams, Duena works tirelessly to bridge the gap between human and technological innovation. Recently having disclosed the fact that she is neurodiverse, Duena is leading the way in keeping the dialogue on diversity and the need for inclusion in business and STEM honest by speaking and writing about her experience as a NeuroSpicy leader Duena’s strong following of 25K on Twitter and 230k people on LinkedIn (of which 124k+ subscribers to her weekly newsletters) generates thousands of page and video views daily and she is the host of several successful podcasts: “people AND tech”; “NeuroSpicy@Work”; and “Tales from the FinTech Crypt”.

About Aaron Frank The rapid development of digital technologies like AI, computing and networks, and many others are radically transforming the world around us. In order to understand where human civilization is headed, leaders today must develop a ‘big picture’ understanding of where distinct trends are converging. Aaron Frank is deeply passionate about this type of interdisciplinary thinking, connecting the dots between big ideas, and helping others do the same. As a researcher, writer, and consultant Aaron Frank has spent his career immersed in a landscape of accelerating change. Through his research he’s able to develop well-formed understandings of emerging technology, and through his writing and lectures, help audiences make sense of a variety of complex topics. Aaron has spent over a decade in Silicon Valley, where he most recently served as Principal Faculty at Singularity University. In his work there, his research explores the business, governance, and cultural impacts of a broad set of emerging technologies. Currently, Aaron serves as a co-facilitator and host of Singularity’s flagship Executive Program focused on the impact of exponential technologies where he works closely with senior leaders from organizations like the United States Marine Corps, GE, The Economist Group, and many others. Over the past ten years, he has built, deployed, researched, and written about technologies related to augmented and virtual reality and virtual environment technologies; his core area of focus. In this domain, he routinely advises large companies, startups, and government organizations with clients including Ernst & Young, FC Barcelona, The Central Bank of Denmark, and many others. As a writer, his articles have appeared in Vice, Wired UK, Forbes, and VentureBeat. He is routinely invited as a guest lecturer to programs at institutions including Santa Clara University, EY Tech University, and Oxford University’s Saïd Business School (his alma mater). Aaron also serves on the board of Saint Francis Living Room, a community kitchen for homeless and low-income seniors in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Originally from Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, Aaron has a degree in Communications and Philosophy from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the University of Oxford. He is currently based in San Francisco.

Why organisations work with Ashlea Atigolo She has co-built a generative AI product, Finley AI, that has been recognised on the WealthTech100 2024 list, so the advice she offers boards is grounded in shipped technology rather than commentary. She brings a regulated-industry lens. Her work spans wealth management, private equity and fintech, where the question is not whether to deploy AI but how to do it without breaking trust, compliance, or customer relationships. She is a credible voice on women in AI without leaning on the topic alone. The named recognition (TechRound Top 64 Women in Tech, Great British Businesswoman finalist, Fintech Powerlist) sits alongside the technical and commercial credentials. She is equally fluent as a keynote speaker, panel host and workshop facilitator, which makes her a flexible fit for AI summits, leadership offsites and investor-facing events. Biography highlights Co-founder of INATIGO, a generative AI venture builder. Co-founder of Finley AI, listed on the WealthTech100 2024. Managing Partner at Consult Venture Partners, advising executives on generative and agentic AI adoption. Former Co-Founder and Co-Managing Director of City Wharf Private Wealth, awarded Europe’s Most Innovative Wealth Management Model at the 2021 WealthBriefing European Awards. Listed on TechRound’s Top 64 Influential Women in UK Technology (2022) and named on the Fintech Powerlist. Speaker and host at Fintech Week London, Fintech Connect and Chatbot Africa AI Summit. Biography Most organisations have an AI strategy. A much smaller number have AI in production, talking to customers, sitting inside regulated workflows and answering to a compliance function. Ashlea Atigolo works at that second layer. As co-founder of INATIGO and its flagship product Finley AI, listed on the WealthTech100 2024, she has built generative AI systems for personal finance rather than written about them. Her route into AI was operational, not academic. Before INATIGO she co-founded City Wharf Private Wealth, where her co-leadership won Europe’s Most Innovative Wealth Management Model at the 2021 WealthBriefing European Awards. That background gives her advisory work a distinctive cast. She understands wealth, private equity and fintech as live operating environments, not case studies, and her current role as Managing Partner at Consult Venture Partners is built on that. Her independent recognition is dense and recent. She has been named on TechRound’s Top 64 Influential Women in UK Technology, included on the Fintech Powerlist, and shortlisted as a finalist for the Great British Businesswoman Awards in technology. She has advised Adobe directly and has been engaged through GLG, AlphaSense and GuidePoint by executives in fintech, private equity and financial services. On stage she is most useful to organisations that need a builder’s view of generative and agentic AI: what to deploy, what to delay, how to govern it, and where the human still has to sit inside the workflow. She hosts and keynotes at Fintech Week London, Fintech Connect and Chatbot Africa AI Summit, and is equally credible in a board workshop as on a main-stage panel. Key speaking topics Generative and agentic AI in financial services AI product strategy and deployment in regulated industries Conversational and empathetic AI design Responsible AI, trust and governance Fintech and wealth management innovation Women in AI and inclusive technology teams Leadership through technological disruption Ideal for Boards and executive committees in financial services, wealth management, private equity and fintech sizing up generative or agentic AI investments. CIO, CTO, CDO and Head of Innovation audiences moving from AI pilots into operating deployment. Fintech, AI and wealth-management conferences looking for an operator-speaker rather than a commentator. Internal AI summits, leadership offsites and women-in-tech programmes inside large enterprises. Audience outcomes A clearer picture of where generative and agentic AI is genuinely production-ready in regulated industries, and where it is not. A working vocabulary for governance conversations: agents, guardrails, oversight, human-in-the-loop. A view of how a builder, not a vendor, sequences AI adoption inside a regulated business. Named examples of fintech and wealth-management deployments that buyers can take into their own strategy conversations.

Why organisations work with Robin Speculand Direct, exclusive access to the inside story of DBS Bank’s transformation from «best bank in Singapore» to repeated «World’s Best Bank» winner, captured through C-suite interviews and translated into a method other organisations can apply. Proprietary implementation assessments and tools, including the Implementation Compass and the Ticking Clock model, that give leadership teams a structured way to diagnose where their strategy is breaking down. Co-author with Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez of the Strategy Implementation Playbook, the most current step-by-step reference work in a field most consultancies still treat as adjacent to strategy. Two and a half decades specialising solely in the implementation problem at Bridges Business Consultancy, with foundational client engagements at Singapore Airlines and a global luxury group, and current work extending the same discipline into AI and digital transformation. Biography highlights Founder and CEO, Bridges Business Consultancy Int; co-founder, Strategy Implementation Institute; co-founder, Digital Leadership Specialists. Author of nine books, including World’s Best Bank (Amazon #1 bestseller, translated into seven languages) and Implement (2024). Co-nominated for the Thinkers50 Ideas into Practice Award (2021) with former DBS CEO Piyush Gupta. Educator for Duke CE, IMD, and adjunct faculty at Singapore Management University. Frequent speaker at the Global Peter Drucker Forum and ambassador for the Forum in Singapore; featured on CNN, BBC, CNBC, Channel News Asia, and Forbes. Author of six Harvard-listed case studies on DBS Bank’s digital transformation. Biography DBS Bank was, for years, an unremarkable regional player. A decade later, it had been named World’s Best Bank by Euromoney, Global Finance, and The Banker in successive years, and Harvard had filed it among the most significant digital transformations of the era. Robin Speculand had direct access to the C-suite throughout. World’s Best Bank: A Strategic Guide to Digital Transformation is the published account of how the change was actually executed, not a retrospective tribute. That access matters because most strategy literature stops at the decision. Speculand founded Bridges Business Consultancy in 2000 specifically because he saw executives talking about strategy with almost no operating language for implementation. Twenty-five years later, the field he helped name has its own institute, of which he is co-founder, and a body of work that includes nine books, six Harvard-listed case studies, and the Strategy Implementation Playbook co-authored with Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez. His 2024 book Implement: Doing it Right in a Digital World extends the same discipline into AI-era transformation. His proprietary tools, the Implementation Compass and the Ticking Clock model, give boards a way to locate where execution is breaking down: governance, pace, capability, behaviour, or measurement. Singapore Airlines was an early client. A global luxury group used the work to anchor its first digital programme. The teaching footprint, Duke CE, IMD, Singapore Management University, NUS, reflects how seriously serious institutions now take implementation as a discrete competence. He was co-nominated with then-DBS CEO Piyush Gupta for the Thinkers50 Ideas into Practice Award in 2021, the practitioner counterpart to the main Thinkers50 ranking. The point is not the recognition. It is what the nomination signals: that the lessons of one of the decade’s most-studied transformations have been codified in a form other organisations can use. Key speaking topics Transformation in an AI-driven world Strategy implementation Digital transformation Execution and operating discipline Lessons from the DBS Bank transformation Leadership in change programmes Organizational Agility Ideal for CEOs, COOs, and chief strategy officers leading enterprise-wide transformation Boards governing multi-year digital or operating-model change Banking and financial services leadership teams benchmarking against DBS Senior teams preparing strategy off-sites where implementation, not formulation, is the constraint Audience outcomes A clear language for diagnosing where their own strategy is breaking down in implementation The DBS playbook is a comparable, not a case study, with the levers their own organisation can pull A structured view of transformation as governance and capability work, not a technology purchase Specific instruments (Implementation Compass, Ticking Clock), leaders can take back into their next strategy review