In this episode of One Vision — FinTech Fuse! Theo is joined by industry veteran Nektarios Liolios, a pioneering force in the field of fintech. Nektarios shares his journey from Innotribe and Startupbootcamp, to Rainmaker and his work with founders. He delves into the intrinsic challenges founders face, the often-overlooked mental health aspects, and the high pressure environment within the fintech and startup ecosystem. From corporate innovation to entrepreneurship, this insightful conversation lays bare the realities and resilience needed to thrive in this demanding industry. Essential listening for anyone interested in the inside workings of fintech, startup culture, and the human aspects often left in the shadows.

Hot take: Do we care about entrepreneurs as individuals?

Debbie Soon is a Singaporean investor, entrepreneur, content creator, art collector, and advocate for inclusivity in the global onchain community.

With over a decade of experience spanning finance, consumer tech, retail, media, and wellness, Debbie aims to shape the future of consumer businesses from the U.S. to her home country of Singapore.

Debbie recently published her new book Digital Mavericks: A Guide to Web3, NFT’s, and Becoming the Main Character of the Next Internet Revolution. Ronan recently caught up with Debbie.

Debbie talks about her background, what HUG does, crypto, blockchain technologies, her new book, and more.

More about Debbie Soon:

Debbie has served as the co-founder and Co-CEO of HUG, launched in 2022 alongside Facebook Live creator Randi Zuckerberg. With 35,000+ users across 180+ countries, HUG is an inclusive social marketplace where next-generation creators can showcase and sell their work both onchain and offchain.

During her time at HUG, Debbie secured partnerships with major brands including the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, DIOR, and the United Nations. She recently led HUG to a successful acquisition by .ART Domain Registry, the leading domain operator for the arts and creative industry.

Passionate about bridging the gap between the arts and technology, Debbie is dedicated to using blockchain technology to create more inclusive and fair opportunities for creators.

In 2023, she was recognised by NFT Now as one of 10 trailblazing Asian founders shaping the future of Web3. Debbie has also spoken at leading blockchain conferences including NFT NYC, NFC Summit, and the USC Blockchain Conference.

Thomas Ruble  is a humanist and technologist. His career began with an advanced degree in computer science, leading him through diverse industries—from healthcare AI and banking to cloud infrastructure.

Today, he focuses on decentralised finance, drawn by the promise of open, autonomous systems enabled by blockchain technology. Thomas is a co-founder of Nirvana Finance who are redefining token markets and elevating the decentralised finance landscape.

Ronan recently caught up with Thomas to find out more about decentralised finance and the role Nirvana Finance is playing in this. Thomas talks about his background, what Nirvana Finance does, bitcoin, ethereum, the stages of temptation, blockchain and more

More about Nirvana Finance:

Founded by a distributed team of DeFi veterans with deep roots in the Solana ecosystem, Nirvana is on a mission to redefine token markets and elevate the decentralised finance landscape

With the relaunch of Nirvana V2, the team reaffirms its commitment to building secure, transparent, and equitable financial systems for all.

Join me and Sajid Iqbal, Head of Risk at Habib Bank AG Zurich, as we explore the evolving landscape of risk management on a new episode of "One Vision - FinTech Fuse!" From AI innovations in cybersecurity and the rapid pace of technological advancements, to the power of storytelling and the importance of unlearning and relearning in today's fast-paced world, this episode packs nuggets of wisdom for both industry insiders and curious minds. Don't miss out on these forward-thinking ideas. Hit that play button! 🏦💡 

Hot take: Risk management is steering wheel, not brakes.

HCLTech have been part of Ireland’s IT ecosystem since 1991 and they work with many of the biggest global businesses in banking, insurance, capital markets, FinTech and financial compliance/risk. The company is one of the leading innovators in AI, with annual revenues of $13.8billion and a workforce of over 220,000 people.  

The business in Ireland serves 100 million financial services customers & is based there to meet the needs of Europe’s financial sector. It has developed strong partnerships with financial institutions helping them navigate complex digital shifts, regulatory changes & operational improvements. 

To find out more about HCLTech I recently caught up with Sudip Lahiri, HCLTech’s Executive Vice President & Head Europe & UKI, Financial Services.

Sudip talks about his background, financial services, Brexit, cryptocurrencies and more.  

More about Sudip Lahiri, Executive Vice President & Head - Europe & UKI, Financial Services

Sudip Lahiri heads the Financial Services group in Europe with a focus on the UK, Ireland, Benelux, Nordics, DACH, France, Iberia and South Europe for HCLTech.

With over 28 years of experience in IT and over 25 years in the European market, Sudip has made significant contributions towards HCLTech’s global Financial Services business and managing top Financial Services customers.

Sudip has been working for HCLTech for the last 25 years and has been instrumental in setting up and growing HCLTech’s business in Continental Europe. 

Sudip reflects HCLTech’s vision of supercharging progress for our clients through passionate commitment and building enduring relationships. He has been the backbone of the Financial Services team, leading with charisma and compassion.

His conviction for running the business beyond transactions and far-sighted approach to creating solutions have been instrumental in growing the business in Europe. He has put great e‑o and dynamic thinking into building cXstudio, Co-Innovation Labs and Nearshore Centres in Europe.

In this episode of One Vision — FinTech Fuse, I sit down with the brilliant Andra Sonea, a veteran in financial technology and solution architecture, to explore the challenges of banking in rural communities, the concept of postal banking, and the realities of digital banking. We delve into the extensive research that Andra has conducted on financial inclusion using spatial analysis, as well as the evolving role of artificial intelligence in our industry. It's a must-listen for anyone passionate about the intersection of tech and finance, the progress we’ve made, and how much further we still have to go. Spoiler alert: We still need humans.

👉 Listen in and join the conversation. 

👉 Read some of Andra’s research here. 

In a world with increasing conflicts, governments are under pressure to increase their defence spending. In Ireland, the government announced a record €1.4 billion defence budget for 2025. This trend makes the production and exporting of dual-use technologies fundamentally strategic for international markets. Pat O’Connor has experienced this with his company VRAI, which he founded in 2017. Pat  believes that dual-use technologies will continue to play a big role in our economies and I recently caught up with him.

Pat talks about his background, the startup journey, simulation technology, dual use technology, and more.

More about Pat O'Connor:

Pat O’Connor is a Co-Founder and CEO of VRAI. He served in the Irish Defence Forces for over 20 years, where he undertook a variety of roles, including Reconnaissance Unit Commander, Deputy Director of Communications and as a spokesperson for Three Irish Chiefs of Defence. 

He also completed over three years of operationally deployed service with the United Nations’ Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement missions in Liberia, Syria, Lebanon and Israel

. Pat also has an M.A. in Political and Public Communication as well as an MSc in Business, Leadership and Management and founded VRAI alongside Niall Campion in 2017 to provide greater simulation training technology to military forces.

In this enlightening episode of One Vision, we chat with Joanne Dewar, a trailblazer for disability inclusion in FinTech. Jo shares her journey, starting from her pivotal work at Global Processing Services (GPS), to the inception of Project Nemo—a groundbreaking initiative empowering disability inclusion across the FinTech industry. Insights cover the essential role of assistive technologies, the journey to securing broad industry partnerships, and the real-world impact on bringing systemic change within the financial sector. This is an empowering conversation that will leave you feeling a bit more positive about our challenging world.

Last Thursday Integrity360 held their annual Security First Conference in the Aviva Stadium. Balancing the human cyber equation was the theme of this years Security First Conference and some of the speakers included Richard Ford, CTO, Integrity360, Brian Martin, Director of Product Management, Integrity360  and Sonya McSherry, Client Partner, Integrity360. During the conference I did a roundtable with Richard, Brian and Sonya.

We discussed the conference which is now touring various cities around the world the world, prioritising awareness and training, deepfakes, digital forgery, zero trust and more.

More about Integrity360:

Integrity360 is an industry-leading cyber security specialist operating in Ireland and the U.K. Since 2005 they’ve earned the status of trusted security advisor for over 1,500 clients across UK and Ireland.

Their Security First approach positions security as an enabler and empowers their clients to do business securely.

In this new episode of One Vision — FinTech Fuse, we welcome Lily Vittayarukskul, Co-founder and CEO of WaterLily, and trace our way back to the roots of the podcast through the intersection of AI, longevity, and fintech. 

After experiencing the devastating financial and emotional impact of caring for a loved one, Lily pivoted from aerospace engineering to found WaterLily—a platform using AI to predict future aging care needs and help families create sustainable financial and care plans. Imagine being able to receive personalized care predictions and get the long-term care protection that families truly need. This powerful intersection of financial services and healthcare is transforming how we plan for aging — turning a traditionally difficult conversation into an empowering human experience — facilitated by data and the right user experience. 

This is the innovation we’ve been waiting for.  

🌊 Learn more at waterlily.com

#FinTech #AI #FinancialServices #Longevity #Healthcare #Retirement