Press Release: Three-quarters of UK FinTech founders now use AI to accelerate recruitment
- Three-quarters (74%) of UK FinTech founders interviewed now report using AI to identify candidates, making recruitment faster
- Human judgement, however, remains central to hiring decisions to ensure the right mix of talent and individuals
- New research shows purpose drives people: 21% of new hires join for it, 53% stay because of it
London, 14 January 2026 – Three-quarters (74%) of UK FinTech founders now use AI to help identify candidates and accelerate recruitment, according to a new report by Ninety Two Ventures and Sam Shaw Media, with support from EY and Innovate Finance. ‘Founders Unfiltered 2: Insights from leaders of UK FinTech startups’ also shows that human judgement remains critical to ensure the right talent and mix of individuals are brought on board.
The report combines findings from deep dive interviews with six UK FinTech founders on how they tackle talent, define culture, leadership, and skills, and integrate AI into people strategies, with a wider survey covering talent access, retention, leadership development, and organisational culture.
Building on the inaugural Founders Unfiltered report, this new edition highlights the critical role of people, purpose, and pragmatic technology adoption in shaping the next wave of UK FinTech innovation.
Key insights from founders include:
- “Onboarding takes too long – I want tools to operationalise faster.”
- “I’m not from a technical background – an AI assistant helps describe the role we need.”
- “We’re trying AI-first hiring platforms to improve funnel speed at a fraction of the cost.”
At the same time, while efficiency is crucial, founders stress that an over-reliance on technology risks losing the human touch that differentiates their teams. It is therefore vital to balance automation with human decision-making.
Research findings also show that a company’s purpose is crucial in driving hiring and retention, with 21% of new hires stating they joined a firm specifically for its purpose, while over half (53%) said they would stay because of it. In addition, leadership development has shifted from more traditional styles of hierarchical management to a more transparent, coaching-based style. Mentors are the main resource of leadership development (40%), while only 4% of founders favour formal leadership training.
Chris Gardner, founder and CEO of Ninety Two Ventures, said: “Every FinTech is powered by people navigating complexity together. This report brings that reality into focus and shows that culture, mission and a coaching style of leadership sit at the heart of successful growth. It also highlights how founders are using technology to enable their ‘people agenda’ with intent, without losing human judgement. Together, these create the conditions for teams to deliver with clarity and pace.”
Sam Shaw, director of Sam Shaw Media, said: “Our aim was to explore the often-overlooked conversations at the intersection of technology and talent in UK FinTech. By sharing candid insights and actionable strategies, we hope to prompt fresh discussion among founders, VCs and supporting institutions about building resilient teams and making better decisions around talent in a rapidly evolving landscape.”
Thomas Bull, EY UK Head of FinTech Growth, said: “The UK FinTech sector has always been powered by exceptional, forward-thinking people. It’s positive to see that companies are leveraging AI thoughtfully to improve and accelerate current recruitment processes and help them build high-performing, diverse teams. With a company’s purpose cited as a key factor in employment decisions, founders must work now to ensure their core values are coming across clearly and intentionally, to attract the people most suited for their organisation. The strongest founders will be those combining modern tech with human oversight and leadership.”
Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, said: “This report shines an important light on the real conversations happening inside UK FinTech today. As founders navigate a fast-moving landscape, one thing is clear: people remain the defining driver of innovation and long-term success. What stands out is the sector’s thoughtful, intentional approach to adopting AI - embracing its potential while preserving the human judgment, culture and purpose that make our ecosystem unique. Innovate Finance is proud to support this work, which provides valuable insights for the founders, investors and leaders shaping the future of UK financial innovation”.
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Notes to editors
The report is available on the Innovate Finance website here.
For more information or interview opportunities please contact:
Chris Gardner, Founder & CEO at Ninety Two Ventures, hello@ninetytwoventures.co.uk
Sam Shaw, Director at Sam Shaw Media, hello@samshawmedia.com
Media contact
Seven Hills – innovatefinance@wearesevenhills.com
About the authors
Chris Gardner is founder and CEO of Ninety Two Ventures, a commercial advisory firm he established in 2024. Ninety Two Ventures partners with startups, challenger brands and institutions to drive growth and innovation in financial services.
He has spent the past 20 years starting, growing and leading digital businesses within large financial services companies, while advising early-stage technology companies.
Sam Shaw is sole director of her eponymous bespoke multimedia content consultancy, which she established in 2013. A former financial journalist and Editor at Financial Times Group, Sam has been delivering strategic thought leadership for clients across financial and professional services for more than a decade.
She has worked with such organisations as the BBC, Bloomberg and Economist Group and directly with various FinTechs, wealth and advisory firms and some of the world’s largest asset managers.
Founders
The founders featured in the report are: Craig Forsythe – GiftRound; Katherine Gunderson – Grand Bequest; Eleanor Harry – HACE; Tori Hutchinson –Loxa; Andy Lang – Munny; and Mark Whitcroft – PlannerPal.
Survey
The anonymous, online survey ran for three weeks from 17th September 2025 via the Qualtrics platform. It targeted early-stage FinTechs with live products and small teams. The report findings are based on 45 complete and compliant responses.
About EY
EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.
Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.
Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.
About Innovate Finance
Innovate Finance is the independent industry body that represents and advances the global FinTech community in the UK. Its mission is to accelerate the UK’s leading role in the financial services sector by directly supporting the next generation of technology-led innovators.
Innovate Finance’s membership ranges from seed stage startups and global financial institutions to investors, professional services firms, and global FinTech hubs. All benefit from Innovate Finance’s unique position as the single point of access to promote enabling policy and regulation, talent and skills, business opportunity and growth, and investment capital.
By bringing together and connecting the most forward-thinking participants in financial services, Innovate Finance is helping create a global financial services sector that is more transparent, more sustainable and more inclusive.
More information at www.innovatefinance.com
