Leaders In Payments

Redefining leadership requires authenticity, cross-functional collaboration, and a willingness to embrace non-linear career paths. Kari Wilhelm, SVP of Data Strategy and Commercialization at Worldpay, embodies these principles as she navigates the complex intersection of payments technology and data innovation.In this fascinating conversation, Kari reveals how her unconventional journey from economic research in Hong Kong to management consulting at McKinsey ultimately led her to the payments industry. Rather than viewing her diverse background as a limitation, she's leveraged these varied experiences as strategic assets that provide unique perspectives on complex business challenges. As she notes, "I've really experienced that kind of non-linearity as more of a strength rather than a setback."Kari offers profound insights on modern leadership, emphasizing the importance of building inclusive team cultures, setting clear expectations, and providing the necessary tools for success. She highlights how the pandemic has transformed leadership dynamics, creating new challenges for maintaining collaborative environments across dispersed teams. Her practical solutions for adapting leadership approaches in virtual settings demonstrate her thoughtful, pragmatic approach to team management.The conversation explores the unique strengths women bring to payments leadership, particularly their ability to work cross-functionally and build consensus across stakeholders. Kari observes that women often excel at listening deeply to understand underlying needs rather than just surface requests, allowing them to craft solutions that address fundamental issues and build alignment across diverse groups.As leader of Worldpay's data strategy initiatives, Kari provides fascinating glimpses into how AI and data analytics are transforming the payments landscape. Her current focus on leveraging Worldpay's vast transaction data to provide merchant insights represents the cutting edge of payments innovation, with potential to reshape how consumers discover and purchase products.Whether you're a payments veteran, an aspiring leader, or simply curious about the human elements that drive technological innovation, Kari's perspective offers valuable guidance on navigating today's complex business environment with authenticity and purpose.

The payments landscape is undergoing dramatic transformation, demanding new approaches to leadership and innovation. Karen Xu, Chief Financial Officer for North America at Ingenico, brings a fresh perspective on navigating this evolution while balancing personal and professional priorities.Growing up in Shanghai's French Concession sparked Karen's curiosity to explore the world, eventually leading her to America with a full scholarship to Emory University. After building expertise at consulting powerhouses and industrial giants like GE and Honeywell, Karen made the pivotal transition to Ingenico seeking greater impact in a private equity-backed environment. Within months of joining, she transformed the North American region into the company's top performer across all financial metrics.Karen shares a defining moment when her first-grade son wished for "mommy to be happier," prompting her career pivot from a demanding global CFO role requiring 70-hour workweeks to her current position. This recalibration allowed her to maintain leadership impact while reclaiming family time - a decision she reflects on with satisfaction rather than regret.The conversation explores why payments is more welcoming to women than traditional manufacturing sectors, and why this matters when women influence 70-80% of payment decisions. Karen believes women's natural empathy, collaborative approach, and diverse perspectives drive innovation essential for the industry's future. For emerging professionals, Karen offers wisdom gained from mentors who shaped her approach to leadership: "bloom where you are planted" and develop the ability to see what others cannot. The most successful payment solutions will combine trust, ease of use, and scalability - with women leaders positioned to excel by staying close to customer needs and leveraging data insights.

Aglika Dotcheva's journey from organizing student strikes in post-communist Bulgaria to becoming CFO of Riskified is a masterclass in resilience and adaptive leadership. With just $3,000 in her pocket and dreams of a better future, Agi arrived in New York, eventually studying at Columbia University before finding her path in fintech.What makes Agi's story particularly compelling is how she transformed setbacks into stepping stones. When her investment banking offer disappeared during an economic downturn, she pivoted to a tech company project that unexpectedly revealed her passion for the intersection of finance and technology. Nearly a decade ago, she joined Riskified as their first finance hire, building their financial infrastructure from scratch and guiding them through multiple funding rounds to a successful IPO in 2021 – remarkably accomplished during the height of the COVID pandemic.Throughout our conversation, Agi shares profound insights on modern leadership, emphasizing that while strategic vision remains essential, adaptability has become increasingly crucial in today's rapidly changing business landscape. "Effective leaders must be able to adapt their strategies and remain flexible," she notes, reflecting on how Riskified has navigated various growth cycles. She also highlights the unique strengths women bring to the payments industry, including heightened resilience from overcoming biases, greater empathy, and superior collaborative skills – all vital for innovation in tech environments.For those aspiring to leadership in finance or fintech, Agi offers golden advice: don't be just a "numbers person." She emphasizes that true strategic leadership comes from understanding the business fundamentally, maintaining a continuous learning mindset, and – perhaps most importantly – viewing challenges as opportunities for growth. As she beautifully summarizes: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Listen now to discover how this philosophy has shaped one of the most dynamic leaders in fraud prevention technology.

What happens when bold career moves and authentic leadership philosophy unite? Just ask Outhay Lovan, Chief People Strategy Officer at VizyPay, who transformed from LinkedIn observer to executive leader by taking an unconventional path that started with "stalking" the company online.In this captivating conversation for Women Leaders in Payments month, Outhay reveals her remarkable journey from human resources management into the payments industry. Born in Laos with parents from Laos and Thailand, and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, her story exemplifies how strategic networking and stepping outside comfort zones create unexpected opportunities. After watching VizyPay's culture unfold on social media for months, she attended their office opening, boldly introduced herself to leadership, and ultimately created her own executive path.Outhay's leadership philosophy centers on a delicate balance that many strive for but few master: combining flexibility and empathy with clear accountability. "I want to be a leader that I would want," she explains, having experienced her share of ineffective management throughout her career. This authenticity has helped build VizyPay's standout culture in the payments space. She particularly highlights empathy as women's critical contribution to the industry, enabling stronger relationships and innovative thinking.The conversation explores how payment technologies are evolving, with Outhay noting the generational divide between her occasional check-writing and her children's fully digital payment habits. She stays innovative through industry networking groups and advises upcoming women leaders to "be bold, be curious" while advocating for themselves: "No one's going to fight harder for you to succeed than yourself."Listen now to discover how empathy-driven leadership and strategic boldness can transform both organizations and careers in the rapidly evolving payments landscape.

From humble beginnings as a mathematics student in India to overseeing Citi's payments operations across 94 countries, Debopama Sen's 29-year journey offers valuable lessons for aspiring leaders. Her perspective on leadership is refreshingly practical: find the signal amidst the noise, articulate a clear strategic vision, and focus on helping your team excel. "It shouldn't be about the leader," she emphasizes, noting that in today's AI-driven landscape, the competitive edge comes from developing adaptability, critical thinking, empathy, and collaboration rather than just accumulating knowledge.The conversation takes a fascinating turn when Debo discusses the inevitable shift toward real-time, 24/7/365 payment systems. This isn't merely a trend but a fundamental transformation that businesses must embrace to remain competitive. As she points out, even if your current business model doesn't demand instantaneous transactions, your customers, suppliers, or partners will eventually pull you in that direction. Citi has positioned itself at the forefront of this evolution with innovations like real-time liquidity solutions and 24/7 dollar clearing.Perhaps most inspiringly, Debo shares wisdom on mentorship and using your voice as a female leader. "You have a voice and therefore you have a responsibility to use it," she advises younger women in the industry. She encourages professionals to proactively seek mentors beyond formal corporate programs, noting that most leaders are eager to give back. Her collaborative approach to leadership - viewing partnerships between traditional institutions and Fintechs as opportunities where "one plus one makes five" - exemplifies how diverse leadership styles can drive innovation in payments.Join us for this thought-provoking conversation about redefining leadership through influence, impact, and innovation in the evolving payments landscape. 

"The ability to juggle multiple projects and priorities is on a different level with working mothers," observes Lena Hackelöer, CEO and founder of Brite Payments, during our illuminating Women Leaders in Payments episode. Five years after launching her company focused on account-to-account payments in Europe, Lena brings fresh perspectives on leadership, innovation, and diversity in the rapidly evolving FinTech landscape.Having cut her teeth at Klarna during its early growth stages, Lena's journey from marketing professional to FinTech founder offers a blueprint for aspiring women leaders. She challenges the notion that technical backgrounds are prerequisites for success in payments: "Don't shy away from the challenge just because you don't have a technical background. That's a really common misconception." Instead, she advocates gaining comprehensive understanding of business operations across departments, creating value through perspective rather than siloed expertise.What truly sets European payments apart right now? Lena highlights the game-changing instant payment regulation enabling 10-second transfers across the entire Eurozone. This cross-border capability is transforming how merchants and consumers interact with money, positioning account-to-account transfers as a formidable alternative to traditional card processing. With Brite Payments now operating across 27 European markets, Lena's insights into the region's payment transformation arrive at a pivotal moment.Her leadership philosophy balances high performance expectations with collaborative support - rejecting both the command-and-control approach and the ultra-consensus models that can slow innovation. This middle path creates space for diverse voices while maintaining the decisive momentum essential in FinTech. For women navigating this dynamic industry, Lena's structured mentorship approach, including strategically pairing board members with executives for built-in guidance, offers a replicable model for nurturing talent.Listen now for practical wisdom from a leader who's building the future of payments from the ground up.

What happens when your work drains rather than energizes you? For Ahalya Vijay, VP of Product Operations at Worldpay, this realization sparked a pivotal career transformation from consulting to product leadership in payments.In this illuminating conversation for Women Leaders in Payments month, Ahalya shares her global journey from Singapore to the crossroads of product and technology transformation. With remarkable candor, she reveals how an exercise mapping her energy levels across various projects led to a career-defining revelation: her superpower lies in cross-functional leadership, bringing diverse perspectives together to create tangible solutions.At WorldPay, Ahalya leads Product Operations across three critical domains: strategy planning, analytics reporting, and operating model transformation. She describes product management as "a constant game of trade-offs," requiring data-driven decision-making to prioritize initiatives with limited resources. Her collaborative leadership style enables her to be a bridge between business functions while empowering team members to reach their potential.The conversation ventures into artificial intelligence's transformative impact on payments, with Ahalya detailing how Worldpay is embedding AI into products while developing responses to its implications for tokenization, fraud prevention, and KYC. She also highlights open banking's potential growth in the US market, with Worldpay planning significant product launches in coming quarters.Perhaps most valuable is Ahalya's distinction between mentorship and sponsorship. While mentors advise, sponsors "solve for your potential before you're aware of it," creating opportunities by advocating for you in rooms where you aren't present. Her advice for women in payments? "Own your impact and your story. Become comfortable talking about yourself because you're your best advocate."

Andie Hill's career defies traditional paths. From searching newspaper classifieds to becoming Executive Vice President of Agent Sales at Payroc, her journey illustrates how authenticity and relationship-building create leadership success in the payments industry."Being relevant and authentic" defines modern leadership for Hill. Throughout our conversation, she dismantles the myth that leaders must present a perfect image, emphasizing instead that showing up as your genuine self - even on difficult days - creates stronger connections and more effective outcomes. This philosophy has guided her through positions at industry giants including First Data, Vantiv, and Visa before her current role at Payroc.Technology emerges as both challenge and opportunity throughout our discussion. As Hill notes, "We just feel like we started to really get a good handle on integration and ISVs, and now here comes AI." She predicts even more seamless payment experiences in the near future, such as phone-to-phone transfers happening with a simple tap rather than through apps. This perspective emphasizes how payment professionals must constantly anticipate and adapt to technological shifts.Perhaps most valuable for emerging professionals is Hill's insight on mentorship. Rather than formal programs with rigid schedules, she credits casual conversations at industry events and networking opportunities for her most transformative professional relationships. "Some of the best mentorship I've ever had were the people that I've met sitting at a registration desk," she shares, encouraging young professionals to proactively seek these connections rather than waiting for formal introductions.Have you considered a career in payments? As Hill advises, "Don't let the noise scare you." Despite its technical complexity, the industry remains accessible and rewarding for those willing to embrace learning. Take the first step - reach out to someone in the field today and start your own payments journey.

Maggie O'Toole's remarkable journey from arriving in Chicago from Poland with just $300 to becoming Chief Client Officer at Dash Solutions exemplifies the power of mindset and determination in creating extraordinary outcomes. Her story serves as both inspiration and blueprint for anyone looking to make their mark in the payments industry.With disarming candor, Maggie shares the formative experiences that shaped her leadership philosophy – from bartending jobs in her early days to orchestrating client success strategies at a Fortune-recognized innovative company. She reveals how focusing on possibilities rather than limitations became her superpower, allowing her to navigate unfamiliar terrain without a support system and ultimately thrive professionally.At the heart of Maggie's leadership approach is a profound understanding that business success stems from human connection. "Businesses are people, and people want to do business with who they like and trust," she emphasizes, highlighting how Dash Solutions differentiates itself through exceptional service built on relationships. This philosophy drives her work transforming how companies handle payment operations across healthcare and other sectors traditionally slow to embrace digital innovation.Maggie offers a refreshingly nuanced perspective on modern leadership, advocating for situational approaches tailored to team members' growth journeys rather than one-size-fits-all management. She stresses the importance of psychological safety in fostering innovation, encouraging teams to "question everything" and imagine what might be possible if failure wasn't an option. For women navigating career advancement, her advice to "find your tribe" rather than just pursuing job titles resonates as both practical and profound.

Discover the evolution of leadership in the payments industry through the lens of someone who's lived it. Sheffali Welsh, Chief Operating Officer of The Clearing House, brings a unique perspective shaped by her unconventional journey from cognitive science studies to overseeing operations for America's only private payment network operator.The payments landscape demands a special kind of leadership – one that balances innovation with stability, risk-taking with prudence, and technical expertise with people-centered approaches. Sheffali articulates how leadership in financial services has transformed from the hierarchical, top-down model of decades past to today's collaborative, empowering style that connects employees to purpose and embraces flexibility. Her experiences navigating the 2008 financial crisis as chief of staff to Citigroup's global CFO provided invaluable lessons about leadership during turbulence that continue to shape her approach today.What sets great leaders apart? According to Sheffali, it's "grit" – that powerful combination of passion and perseverance particularly evident in women who've had to play the long game in their careers. She makes a compelling case for how this quality is perfectly suited to the payments industry, where innovations like real-time payments require both visionary thinking and patient execution. Her insights on the distinction between mentorship and sponsorship illuminate why women still need more advocates who will speak up for them when they're not in the room. Looking ahead, she's watching the emerging digital assets and stablecoin landscape as payments' next frontier.Listen now and discover why playing the long game through strategic lateral moves might be your best career strategy in the dynamic world of payments.