Roshni Aslam is a finance professional, passionate about creating innovative solutions in the cryptocurrency space. With experience as a Research Analyst and Investment Analyst, she leverages her expertise to drive financial strategies. She holds a Master’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Strathclyde and a Bachelor’s in Commerce from Jain University.

In a recent conversation with The Global Woman Leader Magazine, Roshni shares her insights about the evolving digital finance space, discussing how women leaders are breaking away from emerging standardization. She highlights the unique ability of women to merge data-driven decisions with emotional intelligence, fostering innovation and inclusivity in the sector.

The digital finance space has been seen as a disruptor to traditional banking models, but do you think we’re reaching a point where digital finance itself is becoming too standardized? How do you see women leaders breaking away from this emerging status quo to redefine the future?

The scope of work in the global digital finance industry is only beginning to expand. If we look at the worldwide penetration of the Internet and digital services, a significant portion of the global population is yet to be aligned with digital services. In India, little more than 50% of residents are covered by the digital infrastructure, indicating the work that can be done. This is driving the paradigm shift towards regulation, standardization and an increase in the adoption of common frameworks. It may be true that digital finance is becoming more standardized, it is providing a unique opportunity for women leaders in the domain to balance the status quo through enhanced focus on inclusivity, diversity and innovation, ensuring the space evolves in constructive ways.

Digital finance is driven by algorithms and data analytics, yet many say that great leadership requires a balance of intuition and emotional intelligence. Do you think women leaders bring a unique ability to merge these elements? How might this influence decision-making in a tech-heavy sector?

There is no doubt that women leaders bring unique perspectives and abilities including emotional intelligence, data-driven decision-making and critical intuition to supplement growth and scalability to the digital finance industry. This unique balance and combination acts as a critical enabler to corporations in a tech-heavy sector that is driven by algorithms and data analytics. Considering the existing digital finance industry, it is imperative to have that knowledge and intuition driven fusion of skills like the accuracy of the technology and human sense both of which are considered as deciding factors between fine lines of success and failure by making sound and innovative decisions that have a long-term impact.

Much of the conversation around women in leadership focuses on visibility and breaking the glass ceiling, but is there a silent revolution happening where women are exerting influence in subtler, more systematic ways? How might this be reshaping the internal power dynamics in finance?

There are several schools of thought associated with women in leadership positions irrespective of industry. While this is true that much of the attention goes towards accumulating visibility and breaking the glass ceiling, it need not be so. In the finance sector, women are gradually becoming more empowered and this is happening through years of persistence. Women are now more capable of holding their own and paving the way to transforming the finance sector than ever, powered by knowledge, sectoral insights and abilities that are assisting them in reshaping the internal power dynamics. Today, women not only hold boardroom positions through their capabilities, but also intuitions that have ensured rapid growth and scalability, mentoring and empowering others, setting values and ethics, and creating a diverse and innovative work culture. 

As the digital finance world expands, do you think there’s a case for de-gendering the entire conversation around finance leadership? What would the industry look like if we moved away from gender-based empowerment narratives and focused more on how innovation itself could transcend gender?

The existing financial landscape throughout the world has two primary aspects — innovation and demonstration. As a co-founder, I feel it is important to fuel an environment filled with diversity, innovative ideas and creativity regardless of gender-based empowerment. Finance and the surrounding domain are witnessing a rapid paradigm shift emphasizing capabilities over gender-specific roles. This is providing a unique opportunity for women to overcome gender-based empowerment narratives, as they are causing an influx of fresh ideas that are becoming the cornerstone of holistically transforming the sector through a mutually beneficial pathway for all stakeholders concerned. The question here is no longer how women can be empowered in this sector, but how to supplement and sustain this movement where innovation and originality of women-led ideas are taking centre stage.

Do you believe the increasing standardization in digital finance presents an opportunity for women leaders to break away from traditional models and introduce more inclusive, dynamic solutions for the future?

Absolutely, this process is already in motion. Irrespective of geographies, be it in the West or India, the standardization of digital finance is powering women to adopt a proactive stance and thus take on decision-making roles. The world’s largest finance-oriented entities, including investment firms, venture capitals and government agencies are being led by women leaders — all of whom are introducing futuristic ideas that not only defy traditional models but bring forward more inclusive and dynamic solutions targeted towards end recipients. From NASDAQ in the US and, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of the United Nations (UN) to Edelweiss AMC in India — all of these entities are being headed by women leaders who are paving the road for upcoming women leaders to become beneficiaries of this opportunity.

As digital finance becomes more standardized, how are women leaders in the industry pushing boundaries to innovate and redefine what the future of finance could look like?

Global finance is a multidimensional sector. There are levels of operation within the sector and innovation and transformation in any of these levels translate to a comprehensive shift in the entire space. Women leaders throughout the world are fixated on innovating and redefining various challenges. Addressing financial inclusion of underserved communities, driving growth aspirations by the expansion of financial accessibility, introducing new-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, Big Data and others, implementing UN-defined ESG factors, incorporating responsible finance and addressing gender gap to establish inclusive workplaces are some of the challenges women leaders are taking on, essentially transforming the future of finance as we know it.