Outgrow's Marketer of the Month

Beyza Koyas is the Global Chief Marketing Officer at BNP Paribas Personal Finance, one of Europe's leading consumer finance companies serving over 25 million customers. She started her career as a mechanical engineer before discovering her real passion lies in understanding people, which eventually took her across Turkey, the UK, and France in roles spanning marketing, sales, product development, and business transformation. Over the past four years at BNP Paribas Personal Finance, she has gone from building pan-European banking partnerships to leading the company's entire global marketing, innovation, customer experience, and analytics function. She is known for her belief that great marketing is not about noise, it is about translating what people genuinely need into products and experiences they can actually trust. A lifelong learner who believes AI is fundamentally changing how we think, work, and lead, Beyza brings a rare combination of commercial sharpness and deep human curiosity to everything she does.On The Menu:How embedded finance now goes beyond financing a purchase Three major shifts agentic AI brings to financial servicesWhy 8 in 10 customers want to delegate to AI BNP Paribas Personal Finance's network of 30,000+ partners Her advice: do AI business, but stay human-centric The accidental path from engineering into banking and marketing Cultural differences between France and UK working styles

Conny Ploth is the AI Transformation Leader & Entrepreneur at one of the world's largest banks, where she leads AI adoption across the entire organization. With 20 years of experience sitting at the crossroads of business, technology, and data, she has built a reputation for turning big ambitious ideas into things that actually work in the real world. She is recognized as an SW50 Spain Top 50 Female Leader and a member of the EWiT Diamond Club Europe, and she actively mentors young girls in STEM through programs like Technovation Girls.Outside the boardroom, she is a competitive athlete who recently qualified for the OCR World Championships in Brisbane, Australia. She believes that the same discipline, grit, and teamwork that sport demands are exactly what great leadership requires. Conny is proof that you can be running one of the most complex transformations in global banking and still be the kind of person who crawls through mud on weekends.On The Menu:What happens when half the world sits out AI's rise The top 3 mistakes companies make rushing into AI Why an ROI conversation matters before any AI investment What small businesses get wrong chasing the AI hype How mapping pain points comes before picking any AI tool The moment a summit host called her bank "not AI-first"How her mentee team built a dyslexia app in weeks

Stuart Bailey is the Head of Payments Industry and Regulation at Lloyds Banking Group, one of the UK's largest and most influential financial institutions. With decades of experience across transaction banking, corporate payments, financial institutions, and regulatory strategy, he has built a career at the heart of how money moves. Stuart plays a leading role in shaping the UK's payments landscape, engaging with regulators, industry bodies, and global networks to drive better outcomes for customers and businesses alike. He is a recognised voice on cross-border payments, digital strategy, and the future of financial infrastructure, regularly speaking at major industry events like SIBOS and the Payments Leaders Summit. Beyond banking, Stuart champions enterprise and entrepreneurship at Newcastle University, personally mentoring student founders and helping build programmes that turn ideas into real businesses. He is someone who has spent his career inside one of the world's biggest financial systems, and somehow still believes it can be changed from within.On The Menu:Why cross-border payments still lose money in transit today Who's liable when an AI makes a bad payment How verification of payee quietly stopped fraud at scale What entrepreneurship at Newcastle University taught him How banks build trust customers don't even notice The four-part Swift scheme fixing international payments Can a giant institution like Lloyds still move fast

Louise Beaumont is the Head of Marketing and Communications at Invela Network, a company building defences for the open finance ecosystem. She has spent decades working at the heart of global finance, from shaping open banking policy at Mastercard across 29 countries to advising the UK Government on its Smart Data Council. She has a PhD in Semiotics, which is basically the study of how language shapes what people believe, and she uses that lens every single day to cut through the jargon and noise that the financial industry hides behind. She is blunt, she is sharp, and she has sat in enough boardrooms and policy rooms to know exactly where the gaps are and who is pretending not to see them. She is also one of the most recognised voices in open finance, regularly chairing panels at events like Money20/20 Europe and the Banking Transformation Summit.On The Menu:Why banks lose visibility once data leaves their perimeter What happens to open finance if Invela didn't exist The "brain worm" moment that gets budgets approved Why bilateral agreements can never scale in open finance What category creation really means with zero benchmarks Why regulators are cautious by design, not by choice The real reason fintechs are investing cautiously in open finance

Colin Payne is the Head of Innovation at the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial regulator, where he is building the frameworks and platforms that will define the next decade of global finance. With over two decades at the cutting edge of fintech, he has worked with startups, unicorns, central banks, and regulators across the world to turn bold ideas into real financial products without ever compromising consumer protection. He leads the FCA's regulatory innovation team, running programmes like the Supercharged Sandbox and the Smart Data Accelerator that give companies a safe space to test the future of finance under real regulatory conditions. He also chairs the Global Financial Innovation Network, bringing together regulators from around the world to align on how new technologies like AI, digital assets, and open banking should be governed. He is one of the rare people who genuinely believes that regulation and innovation are not opposites, and has spent his career proving it. On The Menu:AI, data, and tokenization reshaping finance FCA flexibility for fast-moving technology evolutionWhat regulatory credibility looks like globallyTransparency, traceability, and human oversight over machines Companies compress development from years to months Trust money without understanding the mechanicsCompute and expert guidance compress development

Laurent Marochini was appointed CEO of Standard Chartered Luxembourg in December 2024. He is very involved in the Fintech ecosystem, currently acting as Chairman of the ABBL (Association Banques et Banquiers Luxembourgeois) for the working group for Tokenisation and DLT and was co-chairman of the Working Group Blockchain & Crypto Currencies of ALFI (Association Luxembourgeoise des Fonds d'Investissements) from 1996.On The Menu:Investment banker to blockchain warrior: 27-year finance revolutionTokenization explained: making finance invisible and frictionlessHow big banks embrace innovation without committee deathBeing the rebel inside traditional banking systemsNext-generation bankers ready for Web3 financeAI, blockchain, tokenization: the future isn't scaryThe financial system in 20 years will transform

Sulabh Agarwal, Managing Director and Global Head of Payments at Accenture, helps financial institutions and organisations worldwide navigate the rapidly evolving payments landscape. He works with clients to drive innovation, modernise payment systems, and manage operational risk across the payments value chain. Leading teams across Europe, North America, and Growth Markets, Sulabh oversees a global practice of approximately 5,000 professionals.On The Menu:Why reinventing yourself every two years keeps you sharpDigital euro vs digital dollar: Europe's CBDC edgeReal-time payments and the shrinking fraud detection windowWhat India's UPI got right that others haven'tSeparating genuine fintech innovation from industry noiseWhy loyalty and rewards are becoming payment differentiatorsHow AI agents will soon pick your payment method

☁️ Moving to the Cloud Isn't the Same as Transforming Your Business

Raji Behal is the Head of Western and Southern Europe, UK and Ireland at Klarna, one of the world's leading fintech and payments companies. With nearly two decades of experience spanning retail buying, merchant success, and global commercial leadership, she has built a career at the intersection of payments, platforms, and retail innovation. Before joining Klarna, Raji spent 13 years at Macy's, rising to Vice President of Leased Businesses and developing a deep understanding of consumer behavior and retail operations.On The Menu:Building teams where AI handles tasks so humans can lead How Klarna evolved from a pay-later button to a banking network Klarna's Japan expansion: first foray into Asia and what's next From retail buyer to fintech leader: Raji's unplanned career pivotWhy innovation always moves faster than regulationManaging a million merchants and the weight of their cash flowHiring for grit and ambition over pedigree in today's job market

Pinar Ozcan is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Said Business School, University of Oxford, where she specializes in strategy, fintech, AI, and the emergence of new markets. A Stanford-trained researcher with a PhD from the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, she has built one of the most respected academic careers at the intersection of technology, finance, and business strategy. Pinar is the founder of Inspiring Female Founders, an Oxford-led global series championing women entrepreneurs, and serves on the World Economic Forum Council for Financial Education, working with world leaders to improve financial literacy for people of all ages.On The Menu:What the job market really needs from graduates now Where AI genuinely changes lives vs hype Is AI humanity's savior or its downfall? The one money concept that would change everything Why 2% of VC funding goes to women founders What makes a community last vs burn out fast The ugly truth about corporate short-sightedness

AI Won't Kill Websites or Email; It Will Transform ThemIn this clip, Adam Harmetz, VP of Product Management at Microsoft, shares a balanced perspective on AI's impact on digital experiences

The Future of Payments: Predictive, Connected & SecureIn this clip, Kamini Belday, Head of Global Payments at IBM Cloud, discusses how the future of payments is being shaped by AI and cloud technology

Why DAU Is the Ultimate Partnership MetricIn this clip, Harish Sarma, VP, Business Development & Partnerships at Yahoo, explains why Daily Active Users (DAU) is his North Star metric

Building at Speed: Oz Alon on Scaling Across Continents and Industries

Data Driving Business TransformationIn this clip, Ivan Branco, Head of Information Management, AI, and Analytics at Volvo Group Trucks Operations, explains why data is critical to Volvo's shift toward a more service-driven business

Why ‘M-Shaped' Talent Will Win in the AI EraIn this clip, Andy Hood, VP of Emerging Technologies at WPP, introduces the idea of “M-shaped” talent, a new evolution beyond the traditional T-shaped skillset.M-shaped individuals have a strong foundation with the ability to apply their knowledge across multiple domains, making them perfectly suited for a world powered by generative AI

AI Powering the Future of Sports ExperienceIn this clip, Hugo Hamad, now Head of AI/Gen AI Factory at AXA France and former Director of AI at Decathlon, shares how AI is transforming the sports ecosystem.At its core, the mission is simple: enable everyone to engage in sports on their own terms

The Split Future of InfrastructureIn this clip, Vishnu Acharya, ex- Head of Network Infrastructure EMEA at Uber, explains a major shift in infrastructure design.On one side, AI is driving massive concentration, with data centers scaling from megawatts to gigawatt-level “AI factories” ⚡On the other hand, traditional systems are moving toward disaggregation, a more distributed, flexible infrastructure for diverse use cases

Building the Next Generation of Creative TechnologistsIn this clip, Andy Hood, VP of Emerging Technologies at WPP, shares how they're rebuilding creative technology from within.Working alongside amazing people, the focus is on nurturing a new kind of talent, creatives first, technologists second

Email: The Most Underrated Marketing ChannelIn this clip, Harish Sarma, VP, Business Development & Partnerships at Yahoo, highlights why email remains one of the most powerful, yet overlooked, channels.While email often sits quietly in the background, it's actually one of the most personal and high-impact touchpoints in a user's life

From Craftsmanship to Scalable SystemsIn this clip, Vishnu Acharya, Head of Network Infrastructure EMEA at Uber, shares a key lesson in scaling engineering.In the early days, success came from brilliant generalist engineers building highly crafted systems

The Evolution of AI LearningIn this clip, Martin Riedmiller, Research Scientist & Controls Team Lead at Google DeepMind, reflects on groundbreaking AI projects that shaped his journey.From building end-to-end systems that could learn 50+ Atari games

Rethinking Email: One Platform, Many WorldsIn this clip, Harish Sarma, VP, Business Development & Partnerships at Yahoo, shares a powerful vision for the future of email.Instead of siloed experiences, the goal is interoperability, building technology that works seamlessly across platforms like Gmail and Outlook.