What’s been the steepest learning curve on your career journey so far?

When I left investment banking and went back to my home city to launch a start-up. In a matter of days, I moved from working within a highly hierarchical and structured organization to a two person team with the entire responsibility on my shoulders – it taught me focus, self-discipline and resiliency.

Which Europe or global tech trend are you most excited about at the moment and why?

Embedded finance is a truly exciting trend where most tech companies will become fintech, or at least have a layer of financial services. Customer expectations (transparency, omni-channels, tailor-made products,), new technologies (API integrations, cloud banking), new entrants (big tech, neobanks), and regulations (PSD2) are the core enablers for embedded finance. Decades ago, the Visas and Mastercards have created the rails for today’s finance - interesting to see which companies will build the infrastructure for the future of finance.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

When you deal with a challenging situation, always approach it like it is a blessing in disguise. It really helped me to keep persevering and make my own luck in both my professional and personal lives.