Mike Soutar, a portfolio director of a number of companies, including a fintech start-up, and successful media entrepreneur (aka the scary guy from the Apprentice), joined us at the last FTT Fintech Festival and delivered a fantastic keynote on what it takes to be a successful leader in a time of exceptional change.
What are the necessary qualities for successÂ
We are, as he notes, living through a time of unprecedented change, including the yet to be fully understood impact of AI, geopolitical uncertainly and massive changes to the workforce. That means that old playbooks no longer apply.
What are the necessary skills that leaders need to be effective? As a start, they need to adopt new ways of engaging with their employees and customers.
Self belief, relentless optimism and the capacity for hard work are the three non-negotiable traits, alongside empathy, great self-discipline and compassion, that he identifies as crucial to success. This is true for the financial services sector and leaders more broadly across the economy.
How will AI impact the future of work
Mike says there is no doubt that AI will change how we define ‘valuable work’, including what starter roles will look like in organisations. How do leaders manage that change without a clear view of what the future holds? The sheer pace of change means that many leaders won’t be able to develop a solid view on the future direction for their businesses. Yet, they still need to lead their workforces – their most valuable resource – through a period of uncertainly and that will require a huge amount of empathy.
Uncertainly, however, doesn’t mean that leaders are powerless. They need to express a long-term vision and values. They also need a firm understanding of the difference between tactics (which can be changed as needed) and strategy, which entails far more expense when the direction of travel is changed.
What are the moments that defined Mike’s leadership style? Listen to the full interview below to learn more about his own discovery for his capacity for hard work when he started his own company. From sorting out the toilets to winning huge commercial deals – it perfectly illustrates the values needed by an entrepreneurial leader.
We will have leaders aplenty at the upcoming FTT Lending (17 March), FTT Embedded Finance & Super Apps and FTT Payments (12th May 2026) and will be picking up on the opportunities (and challenges) presented by the growing adoption of AI tools and technologies at FTT AI Transformation (25th June 2026).
And that is just a snapshot of the fast changing industries that we will be exploring over the next few months.
