How Quantum Innovation Will Transform Businesses: Sarah Ghosh on FinTech Connect 2025

Preparing for Quantum, Inclusion, and the Future of 

In the latest episode of FinTech’s DEI Discussions, Nadia sits down with Sarah Ghosh, Finance Executive at the UK Civil Service, to talk about the future of financial technology, the role of emerging technologies such as AI and quantum computing, and what inclusion truly means for leaders in fast-moving sectors. Recorded ahead of FinTech Connect 2025, this conversation offers a preview of the topics that will define the December event. With Sarah’s background in finance, change, and transformation, and her longstanding advocacy for leadership diversity, this discussion gives organisations and FinTech professionals essential direction on what to prepare for today. For those working in FinTech recruitment, talent advisory, development, and leadership planning, Sarah’s insights are a clear reminder that the future workforce will not look like the one we know today.

FinTech Recruitment and the Emerging Technology Landscape

To understand why Sarah is so passionate about shaping the future of the FinTech industry, it helps to begin with her career. She has been part of the UK Civil Service for around four years, working in finance change and transformation roles. Her work focuses on the ways in which technology can increase productivity and efficiency, particularly through the application of AI. Alongside this, she is involved in the government’s Quantum Technologies user group, which connects her work in finance with the rapidly evolving quantum ecosystem. This group was set up by the Department of Science and Innovation and Technology, and exists to bring together departments, communicate across sectors, and develop awareness around how quantum technologies will be applied.

One of the areas that especially interests Sarah is how initiatives such as the National Quantum Computing Centre help industry by facilitating user case exploration. This isn’t theoretical technology in a vacuum; it is technology that already has real-world alignment, with agencies and organisations beginning to understand how their operations might change. Prior to joining the Civil Service, Sarah supported FinTech startups, offering mentoring and advisory guidance on financial management. For her, giving back has never been a footnote or a voluntary extra. Mentoring is a core part of how she shares experience with emerging talent and helps them build financial resilience, gain confidence, and navigate the early stages of their startup journeys.

This combination of public sector leadership, hands-on technology engagement, and direct exposure to FinTech entrepreneurship makes Sarah uniquely positioned to speak to what is coming next. As a FinTech recruitment business, Harrington Starr has seen the same pattern across the market: the leaders who are most successful are those who understand not just their industry today, but the forces that will reshape it tomorrow.

A Mission to Make Quantum Real in the FinTech and Financial Services Sector

When asked about her mission, Sarah explains she wants to make quantum real. Not simply in the abstract sense that many people discuss, and not purely as a technical discipline reserved for scientists and researchers. Instead, she is focused on helping boards, CFOs, and senior leaders understand what quantum technology will mean in practice. For her, this is about bridging finance and emerging technology, and sparking vital conversations at the leadership level.

She emphasises that quantum will impact businesses and their operating models, and that organisations should start thinking about this now, not later. This technology is moving fast, and she wants to increase awareness of the skills and capabilities leaders should be thinking about inside their companies. Many organisations are still in a mindset where quantum belongs in R&D or in theoretical whitepapers. Sarah challenges that thinking. The companies that act early will be those best positioned for success. The ones who delay risk being overwhelmed when the shift arrives.

Another area Sarah is passionate about is bringing clarity to what quantum computing actually means for decision-making. She returns to themes of risk, compliance, and regulatory frameworks, which are deeply familiar to anyone operating in financial services. She wants to understand how quantum will enable these systems to work more effectively, how it will reshape current regulatory problems, and how professionals in finance and technology must begin preparing for these changes. For FinTech professionals, boards, and investors, her message is direct: this is coming, and preparation is not optional.

Diversity, Leadership, and Inclusion in the Future of FinTech

In every episode of FinTech’s DEI Discussions, Nadia asks her guests about inclusion. It is a question with many different answers, because inclusion means something different to each person. For Sarah, inclusion is about creating environments where everyone feels they belong, their voices are respected, and they feel safe to contribute their best thinking. She highlights how inclusion has been at the heart of her career for many years. As the former Chair President of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), she championed female leadership. Her goal was never to create diversity as a token measure, but to ensure that leadership itself becomes more innovative, more representative, and grounded in trust.

Sarah’s connection to inclusion goes even further back, to the earliest chapter of her career. She began as a systems engineer, a field where there were very few women at the time. That experience shaped the way she thought about opportunity, belonging, and access. It made her ask why there was so little balance in technology, and what could be done to change it. She argues that the responsibility lies not only in hiring or promoting women, but in rethinking how we enable opportunities across finance and technology.

For a company like Harrington Starr, whose work is rooted in FinTech recruitment across London, New York, and global markets, this insight is crucial. Talent pipelines are not a passive phenomenon. They are shaped by decisions, culture, leadership, and deliberate strategies that either open or close doors. Sarah’s story is a reminder that inclusion is not a peripheral HR topic. It is a strategic imperative that determines who thrives in the industry, who feels empowered, and which voices participate in shaping the future.

Preparing for the New Finance Workforce: Digital Fluency, Continuous Learning, and Technology Capability

One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is Sarah’s perspective on the future of work. She sees the finance workforce becoming very different from what exists today. Her advice to companies is simple: prepare now. The future will be digitally capable and insight-driven, with professionals who can use increasing volumes of data to generate value. Technology will not simply support finance; it will be foundational to how it operates.

Sarah describes a shift away from traditional finance roles into roles that face more directly into the technology environment. She points to areas such as AI governance, scenario modelling, business partnering, and data enablement. These are not niche or experimental roles. They are becoming part of the centre of gravity within the finance function. This evolution means that organisations must re-skill, upskill, and educate their talent continuously. For someone who has spent time learning about quantum technologies, Sarah knows firsthand how much work it takes to stay informed. It is not enough to assume that a degree earned ten years ago provides enough understanding today.

She argues that digital fluency, literacy, and awareness of technologies must be core competencies. Companies should invest in people, because people remain at the heart of everything they do. Investing in talent is not an expense; it is how businesses remain resilient, innovative, and prepared. This message resonates deeply in the FinTech recruitment world. When businesses understand how to hire, retain, and develop digitally minded professionals, they unlock far greater potential than simply filling roles on a job description.

Quantum Innovation and the Redefinition of Regulatory Operations

Ahead of FinTech Connect, Sarah previews her topic: how quantum innovation will redefine regulatory operations. It is a broad subject, and she acknowledges that it covers a variety of themes. One of the most significant is how quantum could shift compliance monitoring and surveillance. Financial institutions collect enormous volumes of data, and regulatory processes have become increasingly complex. Quantum has the potential to reshape how these systems function at scale.

Sarah also talks about reporting and regulatory change, exploring how quantum could address the challenges facing financial services. Compliance levels continue to rise, and the associated costs are substantial. Organisations that manage vast datasets are constantly trying to improve accuracy, efficiency, and risk management. Quantum, in her view, presents a meaningful opportunity to alleviate some of that pressure. But this is not a risk-free future. She warns of another consequence: encryption.

Quantum computing will eventually reach a point where it can break the encryption that protects digital systems and data. This creates an entirely new risk landscape. Protection strategies must evolve as quickly as the threat. Cybersecurity, encryption protocols, and risk modelling must all adapt to meet quantum-era challenges. When Nadia reflects on the experts at FinTech Connect who dive deeply into their subjects and explain them clearly, Sarah’s preview fits that tradition perfectly. She combines technical insight with practical awareness, making her session one that attendees will be eager to hear.

Connecting Industry, Academia, Government, and Innovation at FinTech Connect

FinTech Connect is more than just a conference. For Sarah, it is about tapping into the community. She describes the event as an opportunity to meet people, learn from them, understand their work, and explore how innovation drives the industry forward. The conversations at FinTech Connect are not abstract. They are about solving the real challenges around RegTech, compliance, and operational change.

She looks forward to hearing from thought leaders and organisations that are innovating and providing solutions. Sarah’s excitement comes from collaboration. Industry cannot advance in isolation. Technology companies alone cannot solve everything. Regulators alone cannot design future frameworks. Government insights need private sector creativity. FinTech Connect brings these groups together within a shared space, creating a collective view of where the sector is heading.

In Sarah’s view, events like FinTech Connect are about visibility. They strengthen ecosystems, send messages of confidence, and demonstrate that the industry is not waiting passively. They show that leaders are addressing real-world issues, building resilience, and pursuing solutions that benefit global markets. They also reflect the power of collaboration between academia, government, innovators, and investors. These connections are not temporary. They are foundational to the future.

A Shared Vision for Tomorrow

As the conversation closes, Sarah and Nadia reflect on the importance of listening, learning, and walking the talk. It is not enough to discuss inclusion; it must be embodied. It is not enough to observe emerging technologies; leaders must understand them. It is not enough to wait for the market to shift; organisations must prepare for what is coming. For the FinTech community and those in FinTech recruitment, this conversation reinforces what we see every day: the world is changing, and the talent who can meet that change is not defined by a single skillset, a single degree, or a single background. They are defined by adaptability, curiosity, and ambition.

Sarah’s message serves as a call to action. The technologies that will shape the finance sector, AI, quantum, digital data infrastructure, are moving fast. The organisations that succeed will be those who invest in people, value inclusion, and treat innovation as a collective responsibility. The future of financial services cannot be built by a single stakeholder. It must be built through collaboration, preparation, and an openness to transform.