An experienced technologist, my early corporate successes led me to form my own enterprise software company, producing and selling to Universities and institutions. A hands-on role, I executed this idea from concept to maturity, while also leading the international development for an advanced engineering company before its M&A. I’m a former Senior Adviser at UK trade & investment, where I used my time to build contacts in technology, IoT and Smart cities sectors, as well as the investment and accelerator environment. Managing a team of seven, my role facilitated a good understanding of the London technology environment. I then continued my passion for supporting Start-up and Scale-up organisations by joining London & Partners as Head of Financial Services & Business Technology. I also led the Mayor’s international business programme for the technology & urban sector. Having stepped back into the private sector, I’ve continued supporting ideas, Start-ups and Scale-ups with several of my own investments and ventures, including working with an amazing co-founder on an exclusive Fintech accelerator programme, The Fintech Power50, and running the Operations & Editorial functions at The Fintech.

Piers Marais is Global Director of Product. With nearly a decade of experience in product development, Piers oversees the product strategy for Currencycloud’s EMEA client base. He draws on his extensive background in payments to ensure that Currencycloud is continually at the forefront of the latest payment innovations. Before helping move money across borders at Currencycloud, Piers spent seven years in Global Maritime Tech working alongside the likes of Maersk and Glencore.

Jason Maude is a coder, coach, and public speaker. He has over a decade of experience working in the financial sector, primarily in creating and delivering software. He is passionate about explaining complex technical concepts to those who are convinced that they won’t be able to understand them. He currently works at Starling Bank as their Chief Technology Advocate and host of the Starling podcast.

Abe Smith is the Chief Growth Officer at Paymentology. He sets the company’s growth strategy and drives technology and business development initiatives. Abe plays a key leadership role on the executive team guiding the business to the next level of success by identifying business drivers and growth opportunities. With 20 years of experience, he has founded, built and sold four fintech companies and helped drive the value of multiple other technology businesses participating in eight exits in total. Prior, he was the founder and CEO of Dealflo where he built the company from nothing to processing over $15bn transactions annually within a few years until its acquisition in 2018 by OneSpan.