“Financial literacy is exceptionally important, and it should start at a very young age.”

In Fitzgerald Power’s interview series, we’re speaking to people, with different perspectives, who feel they can offer more to the workplace – from the water cooler all the way up to C-Suite.

The trajectory from a budding startup to a scaled enterprise is a transformative one. Never linear, those who tread that path will face ups as well as downs that few outside this world will understand. As someone who has navigated this path with FinTech Dimply, CEO Jac Dunne can attest that each stage of growth demands a unique blend of leadership, strategic acumen and operational agility. Dunne first started out her career in the UK, working as an assistant dealer on a Unit Trust dealing desk at Lincoln National, before progressing to leading a Fund Accounting Department. “Back then, I genuinely didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she says today. “But I’m a firm believer in things coming your way for a reason. At that stage, when I was in the UK, you were rewarded for hard work. I was very quickly made a manager at a young age.” She returned to Ireland in 1994 to work with Bank of Ireland Securities Services (BOISS) for the next six years and then joined Setanta Asset Management for seven years, before a stint at HSBC as Head of Custody. From there, she became a Managing Director at BNY Mellon in Dublin, and eventually pivoted to the FinTech space; Dunne became the CCO of AssetLogic, the CCO at Compliance Solution Strategies, the Global Client Lead for Delivery at Confluence and, finally, the CEO of Dimply today. “In terms of movement within my career,” she says. “These opportunities presented themselves to me. It wasn’t like I wasn’t happy where I was, but I was very much personal-growth-orientated. And when you’re part of large organisations, that’s one thing that is sometimes not necessarily allocated for.”

When speaking, it becomes clear that Dunne’s passion for creating workable solutions is her north star. “I didn’t have a technology background when I moved into FinTech,” she smiles. “But I could always design what we needed to do.” She insists she got the job at Dimply through one of her old mentors, “who knew I had a strong interest in technology that could make a difference within the Financial Services sector and in particular in personalisation”. However, it’s hard not to recount her ability to see the job from all angles. “I’ve been the front of  office, back of office, middle of office. I’ve been the vendor. I’ve been both the client and the provider. In my career, I’ve led people, managed people, worked with clients, worked with a diverse range of products, regions and people… And that has been something that has been exponential in terms of my own personal growth, and framing the person I am today.”

Dunne is just over a year in the role at Dimply, a company currently undertaking huge scaling plans. What has she learned along the way? “When you’re scaling, there are a number of facets you’ve got to consider,” she says. “For entering new markets, you need to understand the market. Another aspect is the regulations around that market and also the nuances of clients in that region. Culturally, how would you do business? I’m talking about potential biases or concerns that may exist. You’ve got to ensure that you’re building trust with those entities within the markets that you’d want to scale. My background and experience working in large multi-nationals have truly helped me attain the necessary skills. But there are still multiple other considerations: your people, your tooling, your strategy. Does your strategy support what you’re trying to do? Is there an appetite for change? Is there any form of resistance to change? And if there is, how do you solve that?” Having internal alignment is essential when scaling into new markets.

When scaling, international regulations are something that can turn what could be a quick fix into a long, laborious process. Navigating the complexity of potential legal and compliance issues is something Dunne strongly advocates for. For that, she recommends partnering with an expert. “Someone who can give you the whistlestop tour of things that you need to consider,” she says. “So, for example, in financial services, there are multiple different forms of regulations, an example from a European perspective is GDPR. Also, in the global regulatory space, there’s a variety of regulations that have regional nuances among other things,  Partnering with a local consultant who has the intel and experience is a must to ensure compliance and speed to market’.

Dunne’s work is strikingly people-first for the CEO of a tech firm. I ask her about AI-led solutions and the challenges they bring to these industries. “My personal view is that AI has been here for a very long time. We all know it’s hyper prevalent. AI, in my view, is an enabler, an assistant. And when I say enabler, I mean it will expedite research and processes If you’re using AI, it has to be bulletproof. You need to ensure that the processes it replaces are fully compliant. The controls within the technology that’s using the AI should have a trail of exactly what you’ve used, how you’ve used it, and be able to go back to a point in time and evidence: this is the result, and we can stand over it. For me, that’s a huge component of.” She pauses before saying: “I think there are aspects within all industries that there are functions that AI can more or less do… But in terms of control mechanisms around that, and the ability to use it by credible organisations, they will need to ensure that they can evidence the quality of what they’re using, how they’re using it, and ensure it conforms to anything from a security, or risk or a regulatory perspective.”

The financial services industry is on the cusp of a profound regulatory transformation. With shifting political and economic landscapes, regulatory bodies across the globe are rethinking their approach to financial oversight, bringing both challenges and opportunities for FinTechs and traditional institutions alike. In the U.S., the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are evolving in response to market dynamics. Meanwhile, international markets are grappling with emerging frameworks that could redefine FinTech’s competitive edge.

In Dunne’s view, regulatory transformation continues to present both a challenge and a strategic opportunity for FinTechs. As political and economic headwinds continue to shift, regulators are introducing technology-focused oversight, such as the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and governments, like here in Ireland, the financial literacy national framework strategies introduced by the Minister for Finance this year promoting inclusion and equity, reduces vulnerabilities and promotes better financial decisions.

For startups, these changes can be resource-intensive, often requiring a significant investment in infrastructure, legal support, and operations while simultaneously striving to innovate and scale. However, the evolving regulatory environment also creates opportunities for FinTechs to differentiate themselves and partner with enterprises to facilitate speed to market in maintaining compliance with changing regulations.

Dimply, under Dunne’s lead, currently boasts a framework bolstered by a mission to help people feel and think better about their money and financial position and a passion for financial literacy and inclusion.

Dimply is a no code product that helps financial teams build and embed personalised customer interfaces – without writing frontend code or changing backend systems. We give designers, product managers and business analysts the tools to move faster, without waiting on internal engineering teams. Dimply lets organisations create personalised applications that embed directly into their existing app or portal. These experiences and insights connect to their data or an API, reflect their design system, all without the usual engineering overhead.

Our technology isn’t just about providing a hyper-personalised financial experience, it’s about providing insights that help educate and support making more informed financial decisions,” she says. “We’ve been fortunate to work with our clients and prospects to incorporate experiences and insights that support informed financial decisions and literacy; it’s about empowerment, stability, and providing opportunity at every stage of a financial decision. We firmly believe financial literacy begins at an early age. In Dunne’s view, access to financial literacy at an individual level is the way forward. Dunne says. “For me, in a nutshell, financial literacy is critical, and it should start at a very young age.”

For more information on Dimply and their plans to revolutionise the FinTech space, check out Jac’s LinkedIn here.