Anthony Paine

Co-CEO & Co-founder

Designability

Designability is a national charity that creates innovative products and services with and for disabled people, removing barriers and helping them to live with greater independence.

Business Development Lead

King's College London

Supporting the brightest and highest potential ventures from across the King's ecosystem to reach their potential.

Expert in Residence

Stashbee

Advisor & Board Member

Stashbee is the simplest, smartest, most sustainable way for anyone to share and fill storage space. Whatever your situation or ambition, we have spaces of all sizes for people at all stages.

CEO & Co-Founder

Babbasa

Consultant

We believe that young people’s aspirations & opportunities should not be determined by their background, and that every young person has a unique skill or talent which, if explored and nurtured, can advance humanity in a significant way.

Head of Operations

Senior Business Engagement Lead

Founder Jumpstart

Giving entrepreneurs the mental tools to thrive

Chief Jumpstarter

Elixirr

Elixirr is a different type of consultancy. We challenge ineffective convention - changing the game in our own industry and helping our clients change the game in theirs. Everyone’s talking about the future, a new digital world, but few are doing anything about it. We deliver actionable strategies and practical implementation. We focus on short-term results and long-term transformation. 

That's why we are the UK's Best New Consultancy, as voted by the Management Consultancies Association (MCA).

www.elixirr.com

Manager

Career Journey International

Responsible for Career Journey International (CJI) in Brazil, including market entry & strategic planning, business development and operational oversight.

Head of Operations Brazil

Accenture

Technology Consultant

Diageo Portugal

Consumer marketing at Diageo Portugal.
Planning and implementation of national advertising campaigns, budget control & planning, deep dive product analysis, ROI/brand performance tracking.

Assistant Brand Manager - Whiskies & Wines

Warner Bros. Entertainment Group of Companies

Marketing Intern - Warner Home Video (New Releases)

⭐ Helping disabled people live with greater independence @ Designability
🚀 Supporting early-stage entrepreneurs @ KCL Entrepreneurship Institute
📦 Founder @ Stashbee

LogiNet Systems Kft.

Leading the UK market expansion for LogiNet Systems, specialising in delivering scalable software solutions tailored for startups and SMEs. I am dedicated to aligning innovative technology with business needs to drive productivity and profitability.

 - 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: Proven track record in driving revenue growth through targeted outreach and securing deals ranging from £50k to £250k. Consistently meet and exceed KPIs by understanding client needs and delivering impactful solutions.

 - 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵: Specialise in translating client requirements into actionable strategies, emphasising the 'why' behind every solution. Known for fostering long-term client relationships built on trust and mutual success.

 - 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀: Spearhead strategic initiatives in AI and consulting, collaborating closely with SMEs to implement cutting-edge technologies that optimise operations and enhance competitive advantage

I help clients understand what they 'need' as much as what they 'want'. 

I take pride in understanding the 'why' just as much as the 'how'.

Client Services Director

Borne Agency

Borne is an award -winning boutique digital product studio that specialises in creating high-quality, custom digital products for small to medium-sized businesses.

With our talented team of designers, developers, and strategists, we work closely with our clients to create tailored solutions that meet their unique needs and help them achieve their business goals.

With clients across the UK and USA we focus on user-centred design coupled with agile development methodologies that ensure our client's products are not only visually appealing but also effective in driving engagement, retention, and growth.

If you're looking for a boutique digital product studio that can deliver customized solutions that meet your specific needs, Borne is the right choice for you. Let's work together to bring your digital vision to life.

Senior Client Partner

Streats Media Limited

With our team at Borne, I've founded London's first and only street food directory which has launched as an iOS app. Having gone through the Borne branding and start up process I am proud to have launched such an exciting app and company, with monetisation strategies coming soon. 
Our mission is to be the global leaders in street food and create a community and eco-system centred around the joy and passion of street food.

Founder

Pocket App Ltd

Selling and delivering engaging mobile products across a spectrum of industries.

Product Definition, define scope of works, assignment to team, time line, Gant charts, Milestones and schedule of delivery.
Support for the sales and application engineering teams as the product expert as well as by providing suitable product training to sell effectively.

Senior Product Manager

Rare Breed Digital

Pre and Post Sales consultancy
Managing the product lifecycle starting with product definition through approvals, development, release and maintenance.
Support for the sales and application engineering teams as the product expert as well as by providing suitable product training to sell effectively.
Gather and document requirements from a range of stakeholders internally and externally
Ensure that projects are delivered on time and on budget and in-line with the roadmap
Product manage the full lifecycle from concept to delivery using Agile Project Management Principals
Lead and motivate design and development staff to ensure project deadlines are met and quality is first rate.  Conduct rigorous testing to ensure project is signed off. Basecamp, Active Collab and JIRA used.
Work with clients and developers.  Always ensure timely delivery across multi platform projects. 
Service delivery, managing a team of in house and outsourced offshore development teams.
Development and final sign off of all Product Documentation.
Product Definition, define scope of works, assignment to team, time line, Gant charts, Milestones and schedule of delivery.
Create Road Maps & strategies utilising Proto & Eclipse
Feasibility and Business case production; advise of feature sets, staggered development phases.
Product Service – Management of Junior project managers, testing and quality control before shipping. 
Act as Functional Authority for all product development across mobile and web
Work with Finance to scope out costs, manage budgets, staff and overall P+L
Engage, pitch, own and deliver projects. Create product proposals, business cases, roadmaps, wireframes across mobile, web and desktop.  Strategically lead and grow the business. 
Full P & L, HR and Revenue accountability. 
Thorough understanding of web and mobile technologies and how best to apply them in.  iOS, Android, Windos Mobile, HTML5, JQuery Mobile, Titanium, Phonegap, Javascript, AJAX, HTML, CSS, XML.

Founder & Senior Product Director of Rare Breed Digital

arvato mobile GmbH

•	Manage and run games storefront for tier 1 Opcos
•	Storefront optimization
•	Ongoing schedule of activities and promotional content events
•	Monitor performance, consumer needs, deliver best practices
•	Develop and manage new and effective digital retail strategies

Head of Content & Digital Retailing

Playphone EMEA

•	Acquire new content and update and optimize exciting content for the D2C subscription service
•	Licence content from music and media owners
•	Negotiate contracts to completion
•	Source new licensees of content.  
•	Maintain and update the wapsites across all 17 territories
•	Global contacts within music and entertainments sectors
•	Create addendums for existing contacts
•	Effectively minimize content costs by tracking deals after signing.

Content and Licensing Manager

Qpass

•	Update and mainting of T-Zones portal. 
•	Storefront optimisation.  
•	Revenue Optimisation, Trend Analysis,
•	Sales support and client consultancy.  
•	Marketing trends and ideas, with regular promotional campaigns

Storefront manager

Pocket Group

•	In charge of content production and management
•	Weekly calls and proposals of new content to clients
•	New business development
•	Manage team in UK and Asia to ensure delivery of all media types to the operators
•	Complete reports detailing deliveries, forecasts and updates

Production manager

Hi, I’m John, a seasoned expert in advanced software development, digital transformation and AI-driven product consulting. With over 15 years of experience, I help mid-market enterprises and SaaS scaleups modernise their technology stacks, scale their product ecosystems, and optimise operational performance.

At Loginet Systems, we deliver end-to-end digital solutions, specialising in building Dedicated Teams and offering Staff Augmentation services. We focus on leveraging AI to modernise your product offerings and optimise performance, supporting businesses through scalable, high-impact technology integrations.

𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀:

🔷 Bespoke Software Solutions: Architecting scalable, high-performance digital ecosystems built for agility and long-term success.

🔷 AI & Advanced Analytics Consulting: Unlocking the full potential of AI to drive innovation, improve operational efficiency, and provide a competitive edge.

🔷 Dedicated Teams & Staff Augmentation: Seamlessly integrate our expert developers into your team, accelerating delivery without compromising quality.

🔷 Comprehensive Digital Transformation: Future-proof your systems by migrating legacy infrastructure to cloud-native, scalable solutions.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗨𝘀?

Experience delivering high-impact solutions for enterprise-level clients across industries.
A global talent pool of 90+ expert developers, ready to tackle complex challenges.
A proven track record of driving measurable, sustainable ROI.

Let’s connect and discuss how we can elevate your digital transformation journey.

John Radford

This is a big one. 

London based fintech/AI startup AI Score secures over $1 M in pre‑seed funding

Based in London AI Score has just raised ~£761 k (~$1 m) to launch its governance platform that gives enterprises a centralised control layer for AI systems. 

✅ What problem they’re solving

With organisations throwing AI into production fast, the governance gap is widening: 
70 %+ of senior risk/security executives say they struggle to observe and govern AI across their enterprise. 

AI Score’s platform tackles that head‑on: performance analytics, usage visibility, risk scoring + compliance monitoring all in one.

🌍 Why this matters for fintech & SaaS

In regulated industries (finance, legal, consumer) the integration of AI is becoming essential. But oversight tools are still fragmented.

As regulators in the UK & EU sharpen frameworks around AI accountability, companies that can tie model usage to clear governance will stand out.

For SaaS companies scaling rapidly, being able to show risk management + value delivery from AI becomes a differentiator.

🔮 Market implications

This raise signals a couple of things:

Fintech and AI‑governance are increasingly merging: the next frontier is “control AI at scale”.
Early‑stage London startups in AI governance are attracting meaningful funding. The fact investors are backing governance infrastructure is telling how urgent this category is.

For buyers: If you’re running AI‑enabled financial products, model drift, usage transparency and auditability are becoming essential. 

Big congratulations to Alex Harland Benita Tibb and the whole AI Score team.

 This is a must‑watch space for anyone scaling AI in regulated environments.

#fintech #AI #governance #SaaS #LondonStartups #riskmanagement

UK Business Growth & Partnership Lead | Helping Fintech & Digital Banking Companies Build High-Performance Engineering Teams

Open article: AI Score Raises Over $1M in Pre-Seed Funding by finsmes.com

AI Score Raises Over $1M in Pre-Seed Funding

Every week your senior hires aren’t in place means delayed product launches, missed market windows, and frustrated teams.

In fintech, time isn’t just money: 

It’s compliance deadlines, user trust, and growth momentum.

Hiring a senior developer can take 3–6 months on average and sometimes even longer for highly specialised product-minded engineers. 

During that time, projects stall and opportunities slip away.

Experienced engineers who already understand data, delivery at scale, and the nuances of fintech help teams hit their roadmap on time.

With the right people in the right roles, projects move faster, teams stay focused, and growth momentum is maintained.

In house is not always the answer....

#engineering #fintech #outsourcing #productengineering

AI turned me into an 80s yuppie. 

It also reminded me how far fintech has come.

Back then it was pinstripes, pagers and paper cheques. 

Transfers took days. Card rails were the only rails. And “innovation” meant a new fax machine.

Today the whole industry moves on a different level.

Instant payments. Open banking. Embedded finance. Stablecoin rails. 

Products built around real user problems instead of glossy branding.

Real problems being solved. Real user value. Real scale.

And I’m lucky to be right in the middle of it.

At The Codest we deliver senior product-minded engineers who add value from day 1 for fintech teams.

People who understand the outcomes behind the build.

#fintech #80s #scaling #engineering #seriesA #seriesB #finance

🎉 I’m excited to share that I’ll be hosting a new webinar series on AI and automation in FinTech and high-growth SaaS.  🚨

The first session is on 16 December at 10:00 AM and it's going to be a big one! 
 
We’ll have Series A and B CTOs, founders, and senior engineers discussing how teams are using AI to scale faster, operate more efficiently, and stay compliant while doing it.

We’ll also be running a live demo of AI coding in action so people can see what this looks like in the real world.

Our panel includes:

 Gustaf Strauss, Co Founder at Bright
 Armenak Mayalian, CTO at Reflexivity
 Senior Developer at The Codest, currently implementing AI best practices for fintech clients

We will cover the practical side of AI adoption, from integration with legacy systems to hiring the right talent, all the way through to the risks, compliance considerations and emerging trends shaping FinTech and SaaS.

If you’re a CTO, Head of Engineering or working on AI initiatives, this one is worth joining.

If you want the link to register, just comment or message me. I’ll send it across.

We’re launching a brand-new webinar series: Scaling Sessions by The Codest 🔥

And we're kicking it off with a strong first episode:

AI & Automation in FinTech & Rapid Scaling SaaS: Risk, Opportunity, and Execution 🚀

This session looks at how AI is changing the way FinTech and SaaS teams build, scale, and operate - from delivery speed to compliance and daily workflow.

Hosted by John Radford, with guest experts:
- Armenak Mayalian, CTO of Reflexivity
- Gustaf Strauss, Co-Founder at Bright

What to expect:
-  Practical insights from real scaling challenges
-  A live demo of AI coding in action
-  Fireside chat + live audience Q&A

🗓 16th December, 10:00 – 11:00 AM UK Time

Save your seat → https://shorturl.at/mbONG

#TheCodest #ScalingSessions #FinTech #SaaS #AI #Automation #Webinar #Scaling #TechLeadership

Armenak Mayalian, John Radford and 1 other connection attending

View event: AI & Automation in FinTech & Rapid Scaling SaaS

AI & Automation in FinTech & Rapid Scaling SaaS

Ripple has secured a $500 million strategic investment at a $40 billion valuation.

So what is the key takeaway?

In the last 24 months, Ripple deployed around $3.5 billion across six acquisitions, including:

Hidden Road – prime brokerage
GTreasury – treasury management
Rail – stablecoin payments
Standard Custody, Metaco, and Palisade – expanding custody and settlement capabilities

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻:

 - Payments rails and global trade clearing
 - Treasury and risk management for enterprise clients
 - Institutional custody and compliance

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲-𝘂𝗽𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:

⎆ The importance of engineering and product teams aligned to growth and compliance
⎆ Building robust, scalable infrastructure that supports global operations
⎆ Execution matters as much as ambition

💬 I’d love to hear from fintech teams scaling engineering and product functions: how are you designing your architecture and teams to meet growth and regulatory demands?

#FinTech #SaaS #Engineering #DigitalAssets #ScaleUps #Payments

https://lnkd.in/e8HkWPah

Open article: Ripple Receives $500M Strategic Investment, at $40 Billion Valuation by finsmes.com

Ripple Receives $500M Strategic Investment, at $40 Billion Valuation

🚨 Big shift in open banking which could reshape how fintechs build and scale 


JPMorgan Chase has struck new deals with major data aggregators (Plaid, Yodlee, Morningstar, Akoya) to charge for access to customer bank data. 

Previously, that data was freely available via APIs. 

JPMorgan argues its systems are under heavy strain: 1.89 billion monthly API calls, and only ~13% are tied to customer-initiated activity. 

Why this matters for fintech teams:

 - The economics of “free” data are no longer guaranteed:  engineering teams need to plan for higher infrastructure costs.
 - Dependence on aggregators just got riskier. Fintechs may need alternate strategies or partnerships.
 - It’s a wake-up call to embed financial resilience, not just product growth, into your roadmap.

👉 If you're scaling a fintech, this is very much a potential business shift.

Open article: JPMorgan secures deals with fintech aggregators over fees to access data, CNBC reports by uk.finance.yahoo.com

JPMorgan secures deals with fintech aggregators over fees to access data, CNBC reports

Most teams assume scaling engineering is about adding more people. 

However,  biggest gains come from something else...

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱.

A fintech client came to us with a roadmap covering 18 months of features. We worked with them to:

↠ Bring in senior engineers with domain and regulatory experience.
↠ Assess each feature against business outcomes, market need, and technical complexity.
↠ Remove initiatives that did not deliver clear value.

The result was a roadmap reduced by half, lower development costs, faster time-to-market, and features that delivered impact immediately.

This approach is about applying product thinking, practical experience, and pattern recognition from day one.

Adding engineers increases capacity, but prioritisation drives results.

The key question for any product team should be: are we building what matters or just following a list of planned features?

This trend highlights a key point for scaling fintechs: 

Senior engineering talent is strategic and the notion that “AI is going to take devs’ jobs” is nonsense. 

𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿.

📊 UK fintech hiring is set to surge around 32% in 2025 and beyond, despite economic headwinds. 

Roles in compliance and risk are rising ~29%, while engineering and IT roles are expected to grow ~39%. 

Here’s why:

 - Compliance and regulation are now core to fintech products. Engineers who understand both tech and risk provide a competitive advantage.

 - Generic engineering hires will not deliver the same value. You need engineers experienced in payment rails, data privacy, and building resilient, scalable systems.

 - Growth fintechs should hire with foresight. Senior engineers help embed governance, risk management, and scalability into infrastructure.

 - For regulated markets, building a team that combines technical skill with domain knowledge improves readiness for audits, scale, and future product launches.

🔍 Question for Founders and CTOs:

Does your next senior engineering hire bring technical expertise alone or also regulatory understanding, architectural insight, and a domain-scale perspective?

Hiring the right person now prevents months of expensive rework later and supports growth with confidence.

#fintech #engineering #hiring #scaling #risk #compliance #SaaS #TheCodest

Open article: UK fintech hiring to surge 32% in 2025 amid compliance demand by securitybrief.co.uk

UK fintech hiring to surge 32% in 2025 amid compliance demand

Most engineering teams focus on building new features. 

But that’s rarely where the biggest revenue gains come from.

I’ve seen it time and again: 

Teams pouring months of effort into shiny new features that barely move the needle. 

Meanwhile, small improvements to existing flows such as 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 deliver far higher ROI.

Here’s a simple framework I use to identify what really matters:

1️⃣ Track the bottlenecks: Which steps in your user journey slow adoption or frustrate customers?

2️⃣ Measure impact: Estimate the revenue, retention, or engagement uplift fixing that bottleneck could create.

3️⃣ Prioritise ruthlessly: Solve the problems that drive the biggest return before building the next feature.

Result: engineers spend less time on work that doesn’t matter, product impact rises, and revenue gains follow naturally.


If your team is buried in feature requests, try this out! 

Incremental improvements can deliver more than “new and shiny” ever will.

'Developers aren't just coders'. 

Inspired by Amay Tavanandi’s awesome post on what really matters in software development, I wanted to expand on one point: 

"Developers aren’t just coders". 

At The Codest, our engineers think in terms of products, outcomes, and the bigger picture.  

It's why we term them 'product minded engineers'.

They don’t just write code. 

They understand problems, weigh trade-offs, and decide what’s actually worth building.

Sure. AI helps make them faster. 

But it doesn’t replace the critical thinking, design sense, and product judgement that make software truly reliable and impactful.

This mindset shows in everything they do. 

From architecture to delivery to product decisions. 

That’s why the solutions we build are meaningful and add instant value to the companies we work with. 


#productengineering #softwaredevelopment #AI #TheCodest #engineeringexcellence

A few thoughts that have stuck with me over the years.

If you’re new to software or still finding your footing, a few things I’ve learned might help. It’s hard to drown out the noise sometimes. There’s so much being said about AI, "Vibe-Coding", frameworks, and new “must-dos” that it can feel like everything has changed. But in my experience, most companies are still dealing with the same problems they always have: battling with how to deliver faster, awkward and disconnected systems, complex data sets, and teams trying to work better together.

Be careful who you let shape your opinions.
Align with people who build things similar to what you want to build or that have solved similar problems. A lot of what you hear online is marketing dressed up as advice. Not all of it applies, and some of it will send you off course.

Build things people actually use.
It’s the quickest way to learn what matters. Whether it’s something at work or on the side, seeing real people use what you’ve made changes everything. It also puts some of the “vibe-coding” talk into perspective. When you have to build software that’s reliable and meaningful, that people rely on, you start to understand what building real software means.

Developers aren’t just coders.
The job isn’t only to write code; it’s to understand the problem, the trade-offs, and what’s worth building in the first place.

Make your code easy to follow.
Keep it as close to plain English as you can. The aim is for anyone on the team to read and debug it without thinking too hard. Avoid clever abstractions or extra layers that hide what’s really going on. In my experience, simple, easy-to-read code nearly always wins.

Be aware of the dogma.
I’ve sat through so many debates in the past about architecture or the “right” way to do DDD that didn’t move the product forward. Principles are useful, but they should serve the team, not the other way round.

Don’t get trapped by process.
Scrum and Kanban can help, but they can also get in the way. I’ve seen teams spend more time managing the process than solving problems. The best ones automate the boring parts early, talk often, trust each other, and just get on with it.

Be open-minded.
Hold opinions loosely. Listen to others, especially when they see things differently. The best engineers I’ve worked with can defend their view and still change it when it makes sense to.

AI will likely be part of your work now.
Learn how to use it well, but don’t skip the hard parts. Understanding systems, debugging, and design still matter.

Work with people who give you energy.
It sounds simple, but it changes how you work and what you produce.

If you ever get the chance, be part of a real 0 -> 1 build.
You’ll be involved in everything, from architecture to delivery to decisions that actually shape the outcome. It teaches you how systems fit together, what really matters, and how hard it is to make an impact. It’s humbling, and it might change how you build forever.

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