Dan Cobley is one of the UK’s most influential FinTech speakers, best known for his pioneering leadership as the former Managing Director of Google UK & Ireland.
A renowned technology executive and entrepreneur, Dan has since co-founded several ground-breaking ventures, including ClearScore, Salary Finance, and the tech-focused venture builder Blenheim Chalcot. His career spans the intersection of digital innovation, finance, and entrepreneurship, making him a go-to authority on the future of financial services.
With a background in physics and a track record of scaling businesses through data-driven growth and disruptive thinking, Dan is uniquely placed to discuss how financial organisations can adapt and thrive in the digital age.
In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, the UK’s largest keynote speaker bureau, Dan shares actionable insights on innovation, leadership and how FinTech companies can stay ahead in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
Q: In a rapidly evolving digital economy, how can financial brands maximise the impact of their digital marketing strategies?
Dan Cobley: “I think it’s clear, over the last year, that we’ve seen perhaps a decade of digital transformation and adoption happen in a matter of months. And so, I think the best way to think about this is to think about what you might have hoped you’d have done by 2030—and make sure you do it this year.”
Q: What’s your response to finance companies that still believe digital transformation isn’t relevant to them?
Dan Cobley: “So, what would I say to a business that says digital’s not for them? I’d say, bye-bye, nice knowing you.
“Seriously, though, I think any business that thinks digital is not for them—it’s a bit like a business 100 years ago saying electricity is not for them. It’s just an impossible way to be a competitive long-term business in today’s world.
“I’d say that you absolutely have to get with the programme. You have to digitise the way you communicate with your customers, the way you run your internal processes, and the way you run every aspect of your organisation.
“Companies that don’t do that won’t be around to answer the question in 10 years’ time.”
Q: What practical steps can fintech and finance organisations take today to better leverage technology for growth?
Dan Cobley: “In terms of small changes businesses can make today, I think it’s about looking at the way your customers live their lives and the things that they do to make every aspect of their daily existence more efficient and more convenient, and make sure that your products and services are working in that way.
“So, it should be no more difficult, no more frustrating to engage with you as a company than it is for them to do their shopping, talk to their friends, or organise their daily routines. And if there’s a gap, you need to close that gap.”
Q: How do you see emerging technologies reshaping everyday financial services and customer interactions?
Dan Cobley: “Without giving away trade secrets, what changes can we expect to see in the way that technology affects our everyday lives?
“Thinking about new technologies, they tend to come to market in a significant way when three things are true: when the technology is feasible, when the economics of rolling out are viable, and when the market is ready.
“Usually, it’s that third thing that slows down the adoption of new technologies.
“But what we’ve seen over the last 12 months is the market getting incredibly rapidly ready for new technologies. The enforced working from home and our desire to be distant from other people have meant that a whole decade of digital adoption has happened in a matter of months.
“That means there’s going to be a huge stickiness to a lot of the new digital ways of working that we’ve seen in the last year. And I think that’s the world that we’re going to be in for the foreseeable future.”
Q: What’s your advice to FinTech leaders aiming to build a culture of innovation within their teams?
Dan Cobley: “In terms of advice that I’d give to companies looking for a more innovative culture—well, I could do a 40-minute keynote on this—but in terms of some of the highlights, I would say:
“You need to get the right team in place, which means hiring creative problem solvers—people who are enthusiastic about attacking a problem, because that’s a fun thing to do. And the people with that mindset are going to be helping you solve the problems for your business and your customers that take you forward.
“I think you need to define the goal, not the path, for that team. So people with that kind of mindset enjoy figuring out how to solve the problem, so just make very clear what the goal is, and they’ll find a way to get there.
“You need to give them some freedom—perhaps 20% time or free Friday afternoons where they can get away from the day-to-day task list and think more expansively about some of the problems they want to solve.
“You need to be forgiving of smart failure. People who take risks—sensible, calculated risks—on things that might be game-changing for your organisation, you need to recognise that, by definition, some of those risks are going to fail.
“If you know what the answer is going to be already, then it’s not a test, it’s not an experiment, and you’ll learn nothing from it. But if you give people the freedom to make those experiments and do those tests, then in some cases, they’ll be surprisingly positive in the outcome, and they’ll move your business forward.
“And lastly, you need to give them the tools to allow them to do these things efficiently. So, invest in the digital platforms for data analysis and for A/B testing and things like that, which can just give them an accelerated ability to learn, innovate, and bring new things to market.”
This exclusive interview with Dan Cobley was conducted by Mark Matthews of the Motivational Speakers Agency.
