Why Risk Leaders Must Build Talent That Outruns Change

Risk management isn’t just strategy anymore - it’s culture. 

Emma Hagan, CEO of ClearBank UK, told delegates at CeFPro’s Risk Evolve conference earlier this year that the job now is to hard-wire agility, curiosity, and judgment into teams so they can sprint with the business, not trail it.

Emma has experienced candidates that looked perfect on paper with impeccable credentials, strong regulatory chops and a great presence, but the fit wasn’t there. 

In a fast, collaborative, always-on risk environment, adaptability beats legacy experience. The lesson learnt here was that capability without a cultural match slows you down.

ClearBank screens first for resilience, independent thinking, and bias-to-action before understanding a candidate’s technical depth. 

Past performance no longer predicts future success when your threat set changes by the week. Social-media-driven volatility, AI, quantum, and digital assets are rewriting the risk map in real time. 

Waiting on the sidelines is no longer an option, says Hagan. Risk has to sit in the room, solve problems early, and evolve constantly.

Hagan’s model prioritises empowerment over rigid frameworks. The attributes that distinguish great teams from good ones aren’t arcane rules; they’re clarity and judgment. 

Translate complexity into plain English. Balance uncertainty with strategic intent. Keep a growth mindset when conditions whipsaw. Those muscles compound faster than any manual.

Innovation sometimes outruns regulation, so risk must be enabled and engaged from the outset. In ClearBank’s partnership with Tide, embedded banking was a relatively new concept lacking clearly defined regulatory guardrails. Instead of retreating, risk engaged with product, client, and risk working as one unit. Responsibilities were codified early. Risk-to-risk channels were set up. Regulators were engaged upfront. The result: guarded speed and the launch of a new competitive proposition in the SME current account market.