Strategic Conversations in the UK: Unpacking the Future of Financial Services | Blog

At Everest Group, we know there is no substitute for showing up in person and engaging directly with frontline leaders. That is why our BFSI leaders, Dheeraj Maken and Suman Upardrasta, recently spent 10 impactful days in the UK, meeting with industry leaders, reconnecting with old friends, and forging new collaborations as part of a high-energy BFSI European roadshow. 

From the heart of London’s financial district to buzzing innovation hubs, the trip offered a front-row seat to the strategic priorities, innovation agendas, and market realities shaping the UK and Europe’s financial services ecosystem. (And yes, they gladly swapped the Indian summer heat for a few days of cool British air!) 

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Here is a look at the highlights and insights from their truly impactful trip, as well as all of their fantastic firsthand pictures from the trip: 

Key takeaways from the roadshow: 

After ten days of high-impact engagement, here is what stood out most to Dheeraj and Suman:

• Cost pressures and regulatory demands continue to challenge BFSI enterprises in the UK and Europe

• Frictionless customer experiences are no longer optional 

• Geopolitical uncertainty and shifting macro conditions are accelerating transformation agendas 

• FCC is a top strategic priority, with demand growing fast and providers innovating to meet it 

• Events like Fenergo Analyst Day and Quantexa’s Quancon demonstrated the cutting edge of what is possible in the risk & compliance world using AI 

• The UK and Europe remain critical growth markets, with palpable investment energy across providers 

🔹 Quancon with Quantexa: AI at scale 

The roadshow kicked off at Quancon, Quantexa’s flagship event, where they explored the company’s expanding presence in FCC (Financial Crime and Compliance) and risk. Their recent Series F funding round (valuing them at $2.8B) underscores their momentum. 

Key themes included: 

• AI-driven data ingestion, entity resolution, data quality & enrichment, graph generation 

• Partnerships with Microsoft Fabric, Deloitte, Accenture, KPMG, and more 

• Innovations in non-financial risk management 

🔹 Fenergo’s Analyst Day: designing the future of client experience 

At Fenergo’s Analyst Day event, they dove deep into next-gen solutions transforming client onboarding, lifecycle management, and regulatory workflows in financial services. A clear focus on automation and intuitive design stood out, reflecting the evolution of FCC toward more seamless user experiences. 

🔹 Perspectives: strategic conversations across the board 

• EY: With Jeeva Moni and EY UK team, they explored how AI is transforming FCC and compliance and the evolution of AI-infused advisory services 

• Genpact: Discussion with Omer centered on Genpact’s FCC priorities in the UK and Europe 

• Nice Actimize: Reconnected with Sampad Panigrahi to discuss AI-infused FCC products, their benefits, and challenges 

• LexisNexis: Dhaval shared the vision for the RiskNarrative platform and its role in the evolving FCC tech landscape 

• Capgemini: The Capgemini team shared their FCC strategy in the UK/Europe, including their inclusion in the FCA’s Skilled Person list 

• Accenture: With Manoj Abraham, we explored strategies to help enterprises navigate cost pressures and regulatory demands in BFS BPS  

• Firstsource: Met with Venu and team to discuss global BFS BPS trends and FCC ambitions 

• Tech Mahindra: A high-energy conversation with Prabhjinder Bedi and Subbu on BFSI Innovation and the Future of Financial Services

• Infosys: Met their UK team to delve into regional BPS dynamics and market-specific shifts 

• Sutherland: Met George at the iconic Lloyd’s of London building to discuss how BPS is evolving in a tradition-rich financial ecosystem 

• TCS: Visited the impressive new TCS office and explored TCS PacePort with Zeeshan, Sujata, Manish, and Ross, seeing co-innovation in action. It is always a pleasure to talk with Zeeshan on sustainability and how TCS is helping enterprises with their ESG priorities 

• Cognizant: Discussed the global risk and compliance landscape with John Da Gama-Rose and team, and BPS trends with Gooty Agraharam 

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• Mosaic Insurance: Reconnected with Ravi, a long-time mentor, to talk about the increasing need for high-quality data and domain expertise in AI-enabled

• Avaloq: Discussed asset & wealth management trends with Vinay and Nadya 

• Facctum: KK Gupta shared his vision on how the Facctum team is trying to address the FCC challenges 

• Jupiter Asset Management: Met Wayne Cheung for a deep dive into how asset management firms are reducing their data debt and data governance and data management being key for successful AI implementations 

🔹 Our very own Everest Group team in London! 

A trip would not be complete without spending time with our own. It was a pleasure catching up with Abhijnan, Laura, Duncan, Kumar, and Nitish in person reminding us of the strength and camaraderie of our Everest Group community around the globe. 

If you are reading this and thinking, “We should have met!”, it is not too late. The conversations started during this UK tour are just the beginning. Let us connect, collaborate, and explore what is next together. 

If you would like to catch up with Suman and Dheeraj to discuss the latest in Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, please contact [email protected] and [email protected].