Welcome to our ‘Unlocking Leadership‘ series, where we delve into the minds of visionary founders, leaders, and innovators. Through our quick-fire Q&A interviews, we uncover the core principles that shape leadership in today’s dynamic business world.

This week, we talk to Asha Sangray, a distinguished leader in the financial services industry, with over 28 years of experience driving transformative change.

Renowned for her ability to lead large-scale initiatives, Asha has successfully managed programs exceeding £100m for Tier 1 banks, building resilient, high-performing teams capable of navigating complex challenges. Her deep expertise and trusted relationships with C-Suite executives have positioned her as a key influencer and strategic advisor within the sector.

Recognising the increasing role of technology in the service industry, Asha founded Profylr, a company dedicated to inspiring businesses to reimagine their operations, embrace cutting-edge technologies, and eliminate legacy organisational debt. Her mission is to empower workforces and foster innovation, enabling organisations to deliver exceptional, forward-thinking services.

Here, Asha shares her insights on authentic leadership, the power of AI, and the real challenge of building trust in the industry…

What are 3 core principles or qualities that guide your leadership?

1. Be a risk taker. This sits at the heart of everything. As a nation, we lack the confidence that previous generations demonstrated daily, even if they didn’t quite realise it. Innovation is inherently risky. If we continue to demonstrate risk aversion, we can’t grow; and if we don’t grow, our future generations will fail to reach their potential in life.

2. Care — care about what you are doing. If you believe in something meaningful, drive it with purpose. Be prepared to be critiqued; it’s human nature for people to question your thinking. Allow this to happen. But drive with conviction if you believe that you see things others can’t — or that they don’t buy into right now. Just keep going; it will come.

3. Unlock your teams potential, team is everything. Their health, well-being, and commitment will make or break a dream. You have to authentically care; it’s impossible to fake this. Listen, and let them grow. This may even mean being corrected. Don’t worry about learning from your team — celebrate it.

What emerging trends in data technology and AI are you most excited about?

There’s a huge opportunity to completely change how we work — and honestly, no one finds joy in doing the repetitive, tedious tasks that often fill our days. People don’t dedicate years of study or choose a career path just to end up doing monotonous jobs. Over the past three decades, I’ve met so many incredible individuals in this industry, and they all share a desire to make a real impact — whether that’s something personal to their field or something that shapes the world in a broader sense.

Technology has the power to take away the drudgery and replace it with work that allows us to contribute in meaningful, intelligent ways. To me, that is incredible, and I’m determined to be part of the movement that makes it happen. I truly believe this shift will lead to greater inclusion and innovation at every level of our organisations. But to make it a reality, we need to lay the right foundations and, as leaders, take responsibility for unlocking this potential.

What advice would you give to someone embarking on a career in your industry?

I accidentally found myself in Financial Services — it was pure chance. If someone had told me that this industry was centred on bring inquisitive and solving complex problems, I would have made a much more concerted effort to be here.

My advice to anyone coming into this industry would be to develop domain expertise – whether its risk, digital, payments, data… it doesn’t matter what it is. Learn and become a master in that space. This will naturally open doors to wider disciplines as there are very few roles now that don’t expose you to the mechanics of the wider business and how it operates. Ignore the outdated stereotypes about IT and Financial Services. If you thrive on solving problems and have a logical mind, embrace it. You’re in for an awesome career.

What are one or two of the key strategies you employ to foster a culture of innovation and creativity at Profylr?

I encourage my team to be brave — it’s that simple. I may set a vision, but rest assured, it’s my team that shows me the way and educates me every day. I’m a huge champion of servant leadership.

Stay connected to the world around you. Take the time to truly understand and appreciate the diverse wants and needs of others — be open to perspectives that differ from your own. Broaden your outlook and let curiosity guide you. Explore what’s happening in politics, economics, and culture, because these forces shape the way we innovate and challenge the status quo.

What is one of the biggest challenges facing financial institutions today?

We’re living in a time of massive cultural shifts and technological advancements, and with that comes a new kind of friction. How do we balance creating value with staying true to our values? Right now, these two don’t always align. In a world increasingly shaped by personalisation, everyone’s needs, priorities, and expectations vary widely, making it harder to find common ground.

Building trust and showing authenticity isn’t just a buzzword — it’s a real challenge that every industry faces today. For financial institutions, this means staying grounded in their purpose: helping people achieve financial prosperity. It’s about reconnecting with the core mission of serving individuals and communities while navigating an ever-changing landscape. Without that focus, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters.

 What’s the best leadership advice you’ve ever received?

The best leadership advice I ever received was from my mum. She said, “Asha, you’re small, you’re vocal, and you’re going to get hit. Hold your space and put up a good fight. I’m happy to visit you in the hospital, but I’ll be disappointed if you don’t put up a good fight.”  Truthfully, the best advice ever! It was true in so many ways.

How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance? 

I haven’t quite achieved a healthy work-life balance yet — as an innovator who has bootstrapped Profylr, it’s challenging. Recently though, I’ve started using health apps to track my stress and energy levels, which is helping me understand my limits. Ask any innovator, and they’ll tell you — there’s a point at which stress becomes the day-to-day norm. Last year, I made a concerted effort to go on holiday with my siblings and parents. It was the first time, and one of the best things I’ve done in a long time. I’ll be doing it more now.

What’s the most important thing for you to have achieved in your career?

Being right here is undoubtedly the biggest achievement of my career. Building a company from scratch around such a complex challenge has been so rewarding. It’s a real reflection of all the hands-on graft, tough life lessons and enduring friendships I developed through my career. I feel blessed to have seen the growth of technology and worked with some incredible pioneers, some of whom are here with me at Profylr.

I also never quite appreciated just how much being a woman in Finance and Technology could determine whether you would succeed or not. Being amongst a growing wave of strong women who are changing the face of the industry makes me immensely proud. Having a team that feel like founders, behave like investors, and make me belly laugh every single day has made this journey the best adventure ever!

Finally, what’s a favourite motto or quote that you often draw on?

“There is a crack in everything — that’s how the light gets in.”  — Leonard Cohen