FinTech Connect 2026

Nicola Driscoll is a seasoned technology leader at Microsoft with a wealth of experience in driving innovation and transformation within organizations. With a deep passion for empowering women in technology, Nicola has dedicated her career to fostering inclusive environments where diverse talent can thrive. As a champion of data and AI, Nicola leverages these powerful tools to revolutionize business processes and drive strategic growth. Her expertise in harnessing the power of technology has enabled numerous organizations to unlock new opportunities and achieve significant business value. Nicola's leadership is characterized by a commitment to excellence, a collaborative approach, and a relentless pursuit of progress. She is not only a visionary but also a mentor and advocate, inspiring the next generation of tech leaders to break barriers and make a lasting impact.

Alistair Watkins has over 20 years of experience as an individual contributor and engineering leader. He believes that achieving DevOps nirvana is more about unlocking human potential than tools. As Lead Engineer for Skills at Lloyds Banking Group, Alistair bridges the gap between engineering and HR, building world-class engineering talent and skills to master DevOps, Cloud and modern engineering practices.

Kate is an experienced AI, Technology and Data Governance Director and Global HR expert of over 20 years. She sits on IBM's esteemed AI Ethics board focal for HR/Talent and has overseen the deployment of Chatbots, Digital Workers and countless RPAs and automations which have led to significant saving reductions, more efficient and effective ways of working, and improved employee engagement. She has consulted with clients across the globe on AI Ethics, Chatbots and GenAI and, as a thought leader and speaker, she is a leading voice in the AI community working towards ensuring that the development and deployment of AI technology is not only aligned with laws and regulations, but also with human values and societal well-being. Kate has built ethical frameworks, policies and guidelines to eliminate bias, and ensure transparency and accountability. Kate has a LLM in Data Privacy, with a focus on AI in an HR environment.

Marili Anderson is a Managing Director, Head of UK Compliance at the Rabobank London Branch with over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services industry. Marili currently holds the Senior Management Control Functions SMF 16 (Compliance Officer) and interim SMF 17 (Money Laundering Reporting Officer) for Rabobank UK. Marili has held several Senior compliance roles in both the Sell-Side and the Buy-Side with Global US and European firms in the UK and in Europe and is a member of the RMCH Oxford House Board as well as a founding member at the Advisory Board of the TechWomen4Boads. Marili has worked in several jurisdictions in Europe and Internationally with global teams and has a keen interest in AI use for optimizing controls. Marili has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from Tufts University, MA, USA, and a Master's degree from Sciences Po. Paris, France

Surabhi is experienced in leading multi-tenant distributed system products with cross functional dependencies and multi-quarter roadmaps for financial, health insurance, medical devices and pharmaceuticals domains. She has architected, implemented and managed software systems for on-premise and AWS cloud platform. Her technical expertise is in microservices, container orchestration, observability and serverless technologies.