FPAI, in association with Enterprise Ireland and FD Technologies, hosted #FinTechNation 2023 on Friday September 15th in the Marker Hotel Dublin.  Dara Calleary, T.D., Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation spoke at the event that was well attended by professionals from the Financial Services sector including domestic and international banks, fintechs, tech companies, legal and advisory firms, regulators and policy makers.   Once again, AI was at the forefront of all discussions, and how it will impact the financial services industry. Apart from strong proof that AI is already being used widely by banks and fintechs, the is no blueprint of what future trends will evolve – apart from the red flags of GDPR and copyright adherence and how critical it is to invest in innovation and agile development of training to meet the demands of AI applications in the short term.

One of the other highlights for me (rugby fan and career coach ‘hats’) was the fireside chat with South Africia rugby legend Bryan Habana. I was really impressed with his insights into transitioning into finance after being a professional player and the transferable skills between the sporting and financial worlds.