What lies at the heart of a global investor network? Hint: it isn’t just community. Much like plenty of other innovative opportunities, it starts with a question. For FINTECH Circle Founder Susanne Chishti, the question revolves around ‘how’. 

Her focus on how “technology can transform financial services” was gradually built through a career she describes as having “always been at the intersection of finance, technology and entrepreneurship”. 

It all began at several major establishments, where Susanne “started at Accenture working with leading global institutions where I also learned to code. I joined Morgan Stanley Investment Management initially in London and then we expanded into Asia from our HK office. I also worked for Lloyds and for Deutsche Bank in their Corporate Investment Bank implementing our new risk management framework globally.”

Her focus at the intersection of finance and technology led naturally to founding FINTECH Circle, far before fintech became the mainstream term it is nowadays. 

Susanne continues: “Founding FINTECH Circle was a natural progression – it allowed me to bring together my experience and passion for innovation, education, investing and community-building by launching a platform that connects stakeholders across the ecosystem.”

Susanne says that, within the global fintech space, FINTECH Circle is “a global fintech ecosystem that brings together fintech entrepreneurs, investors, Non-Executive Directors, Chairs and financial services professionals.

“My work focuses on connecting the fintech community, supporting investments and helping leaders navigate the rapidly evolving financial services landscape. Most recently, we launched the FINTECH Circle Board Programme to support senior executives transitioning into portfolio careers and board roles within fintech.”

The network has over 260,000 fintech entrepreneurs, finance professionals, academic and government representatives, solution providers and investors. Working together, it embodies what Susanne believes is the “core of everything [we] do”.  

She continues: “Community is fundamental to fintech. Unlike traditional financial services, fintech thrives on collaboration across sectors – startups, incumbents, regulators and investors all need to work together.

“A strong community accelerates innovation by enabling knowledge sharing, investing, partnerships, and trust. It also provides support for founders and professionals navigating a complex and fast-changing environment.”

Fundamentally, the experience behind the network is built on years of expertise, honed through working in banks and financial institutions, as Susanne has done. 

Innovation begins in a library 

FinTech - built on a culture dedicated to fostering innovation through experienced leaders supporting startups and celebrating unicorns. How can smaller businesses and fintechs be expected to thrive without hands-on experience in the field? 

Susanne notes that accessibility to materials can be an unexpected challenge. Using a community of experienced leaders, she helped create “the first crowd-sourced book capturing industry insights from experts around the globe. The result, the FINTECH Book was published by Wiley and was translated into 10 different languages – it’s available in more than 100 countries now.”

The book, published a decade ago in April 2026, was meant to “demystify fintech and make it approachable for a broader audience,” Susanne explains. 

“In 2015 fintech was growing rapidly, but there was a lack of accessible, practical resources for people trying to understand it.”

The community responded –  through its success, the FINTECH book inspired a further six books, Susanne recounts.  “WealthTech, InsurTech, LegalTech, PayTech and AI among the FINTECH Book Series – and the latest one is called Fintech For Dummies.”

She counts the published works among her proudest moments to date, saying that the highlight is “contributing to the broader fintech conversation through our book series, fintech documentaries and webinars - helping shape how the industry evolves and how people engage with it.”

Finding her work “incredibly rewarding”, Susanne also notes that her best accomplishment surrounds the building of the FINTECH Circle community. She says that “seeing thousands of professionals connect and grow through the platform is something I’m very proud of.”

What elements make up the future of fintech? 

When it was established in 2014, the FINTECH Circle predicted that innovation in the fintech space would position it as the “future of finance”, says Susanne, adding that “the fintech sector has grown up with more than 30 fintech unicorns with a combined valuation of more than £160bn (US$212bn), this includes Revolut with a valuation of £75bn (US$99.9bn) and represents real firepower and the fastest growing companies in the UK.”

She says that financial institutions play a key role in driving the transition to a more sustainable economy, with green finance initiatives requiring a similar focus on community and collective effort. 

Sustainable finance has been met with backlash including political opposition in the US, greenwashing concerns in Europe and several banks pulling out of net zero commitments in the last 18 months, leading to the collapse of the Net Zero Banking Alliance. 

Susanne explains that integrating “climate risk into decision-making, developing sustainable financial products, and increasing transparency around impact” is needed as financial institutions embed ESG values into their operations. 
“Green finance is a huge opportunity as we all need to transition to net zero,” she continues.

Innovation and technological advances

With AI already embedded into a majority of financial services, from fraud detection to risk management, Susanne explains how it will continue to impact future conversations: “Over the next 12 months, I believe AI will have the most significant impact on decision-making processes – particularly in areas like credit scoring, underwriting, and compliance. GenAI and agentic AI enable faster, more data-driven decisions, which can improve efficiency and accessibility.”

However, she explains that, while we recognise the benefits, the risks must also be considered: “We need to learn how to fully leverage the power of AI and embrace it as it’s here to stay and change our lives forever. However, it also raises important questions around transparency, bias, and regulation, which the industry must address. On a personal level, we all now have our own AI assistants to work with and make ourselves more efficient, getting things done faster and better.”

‘Here to stay’ likely means the further integration of AI in financial services. Discussing this, Susanne predicts: “The next wave of innovation will likely come from the convergence of technologies. We’ll see deeper integration of AI and more integration between the parallel worlds of Traditional Finance and Decentralised Finance (DeFi), enabling more efficient financial services in fiat, stablecoins, tokenized deposits and CDBCs. Embedded finance will continue to grow, making financial services more seamless and accessible within everyday platforms.”

Looking ahead, the path is clear – continuing to innovate and educate as the emergence of new technologies creates a new avenue for productivity, efficiency and change. 

“Fintech is constantly evolving, and what works today may not work tomorrow. Whether you’re a founder, investor, a fractional CXO, a Non-Executive Director or a Chair, it’s important to stay engaged with new fintech trends,” she notes. “At the same time, focus on fundamentals – understanding customer needs, building trust, and creating profitable companies will always be at the heart of success in fintech. Stay curious and adaptable, keep on learning. As Benjamin Franklin said: Investing in Knowledge always pays the best interest!”