Evita Lune to speak at the Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum on building FinTech talent for a skills-first future

Evita will participate in the panel "The Skills-First Revolution: Academic Credentials versus Industry-Led Competencies," focused on the widening gap between traditional qualifications and the capabilities required by the FinTech sector.

Building world-class FinTech talent in growing hubs like Central Asia is critical - and academic institutions and graduate programmes are often developing at a slower pace than the skills tech-centred scale-ups actually need. Technology, regulation, and business models are evolving faster than any accredited programme can keep up with. When it comes to FinTech leaders, education matters, but an up-to-date skill set, credentials, and track record matter more.

Unless local FinTech hubs in Central Asia catch up on talent development, dependence on imported talent and leadership will continue. At the same time, global mobility and brain drain remain a challenge, in an environment where a professional's location no longer has to match their employer's or their market's.

European FinTech hubs - London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm, and the Baltic states - are strong examples of high concentrations of both FinTech talent and scale-ups. She'll unpack how they got there - and what can be transferable to Central Asia.

Evita will be attending as part of the official Latvian delegation, with her participation made possible with the support of the Fintech Latvia Association and Invest in Latvia.

The Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum brings together regulators, investors, founders, financial institutions, policymakers, and technology leaders from around the world, and will explore the opportunities shaping the future of finance, technology, and cross-border connectivity across emerging and established markets. The event is co-organised by the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) and co-hosted by Ant International.