Hotwire x FinTech: The Interview Series with Roberto Napolitano
Career & Background
1. Key turning points in my career?
My career has never followed a straight line – and that is the point. Communications and consumer brands first, then financial services, then FinTech. The real shift came at Seedrs, where I saw what fast-scaling innovation actually looked like from the inside. Then running my own consultancy, Intelligo Consulting. Then Innovate Finance – where it all clicked. This is where marketing meets real policy impact and community, and I have not looked back.
2. How did I first get into FinTech?
I came in through the marketing and communications door, not the tech or finance one. What hooked me was the energy – the genuine belief that this community could change how billions of people experience money. That felt urgent. The industry has matured enormously since then. We have moved from disruption narratives to real accountability. From “can FinTech work?” to “how do we make it work for everyone?”.
3. Advice I wish I had received earlier?
Stop waiting until you feel ready. I spent too long preparing when I should have been doing. In marketing and in leadership, the best learning comes from getting things wrong – not from watching others get them right. Also: learn the language of finance and technology early. It will open rooms that might otherwise stay closed to marketers.
Industry Insights
4. Biggest trends right now?
Three. AI moving from efficiency tool to genuine product layer. Impact-led storytelling replacing product-led marketing – the best brands now lead with outcomes, not features. And ecosystem consolidation – more strategic partnerships, a real focus on sustainable growth.
5. Biggest opportunities and challenges?
Opportunity: embedded finance. We are still in the early stages of what frictionless financial services integrated into everyday life can look like.
Challenge: trust. FinTech has earned a lot of it – but we need to do more, especially with underserved audiences. If we cannot explain what we do in plain language, we have a problem.
6. Three things FinTech companies should prioritise today?
One: proof over promises. Show your impact – with data, with stories, with film if you can.
Two: talent and culture. Purpose attracts better people and keeps them longer.
Three: regulatory relationships. Engage early. The companies that shape regulation rather than react to it will be at an advantage.
7. How is regulation shaping FinTech’s future?
The smartest companies have accepted that and built it in from day one. Consumer Duty, open finance, the FCA’s evolving approach – these are all making the industry more accountable and ultimately more trusted. That is good. Compliance is increasingly a competitive advantage.
8. What role do partnerships play?
Everything. The most successful companies I see are deeply embedded in ecosystems – banking-as-a-service relationships, hyperscaler partnerships, community networks like the ones we build at Innovate Finance. Ecosystems accelerate time to market, trust, distribution, and impact.
9. What energises me most right now?
Proof-led marketing. I am seeing real stories, real data, real films that show what FinTech actually does for a small business owner or a first-generation immigrant sending money home. The BBC StoryWorks Value Generation series we launched at IFGS 2026 was exactly that.
10. What genuinely excites me about what is next?
The convergence of AI and financial inclusion. Technology once only accessible to few is now reaching community lenders, microfinance organisations, and start-ups serving underbanked populations. If we get this right, we can use AI to close some of the most stubborn gaps in global financial access. That is worth getting excited about.
Quickfire Round
• FinTech company to watch? So many out there, I would not just pick one. Love what the challenger banks are reshaping the future of financial services, and love their marketing.
• Most overused buzzword? Disruption
• Favourite news source? FT in the morning as well as FinTech media. Curated LinkedIn throughout the day.
• Favourite TV show? I love The Traitors.
• Favourite drink? Prosecco. No debate. Also Peroni of course.
Final Thoughts
One piece of advice for FinTech founders and leaders?
Build your community before you need it. The most resilient leaders invest in genuine relationships – with customers, partners, investors, peers, regulators – long before they need them. In financial services, trust is a long game. Start building it now.