Each year, the ITFA Emerging Leaders initiative challenges the next generation of trade finance professionals to develop and present a project of their own choosing related to the industry. From this year’s entries, three finalists have been selected to present their ideas at the ITFA Annual Conference in Split, Croatia, where delegates will ultimately vote for the winner.
Ahead of the final, TTP is profiling each of the three candidates, exploring the ideas behind their projects and the people behind the pitches. First up is Harry Thursby-Pelham and Fluent in Finance, his attempt to bring Duolingo-style gamification to trade finance education.
The advantage of an outsider’s perspective underpins Harry’s submission, ‘Fluent in Finance’. He speaks Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese, completing university study in the latter two. Ambition and intellectual curiosity led him to study the language of finance; with his linguistics background, the internationally facing arena of trade finance specifically was a natural fit.
Drawing on his diverse skill set and unique experience, Harry’s submission looks to gamify the study of trade finance in much the same way apps like Duolingo have for the study of languages. Trade finance can often seem something of a ‘black box’ to those unfamiliar with the subject, and it’s by virtue of Harry’s unorthodox route into finance that he is acutely aware of the challenges of closing this information gap when you simply don’t know what you don’t know. Duolingo has been the means by which countless people have become interested in languages where previously they had no interest at all. Harry hopes his free app will get new talent similarly engaged in learning about the trade finance industry, utilising the same strategies and mechanics within a structured, dynamic, reward-driven, and AI-augmented learning environment to make study accessible and engaging.
Constructing the app presented technical challenges – Harry’s impressive academic background did not include study in computer sciences, after all. Artificial intelligence tools proved invaluable in assisting with development, though were not relied upon as an infallible resource. Rigorous cross-checking with expert colleagues helped ensure correct progress throughout the app’s creation.
If Harry’s project and indeed his professional journey indicate one thing, it’s that he is someone who enjoys and thrives moving outside of his comfort zone. This is evident also in his personal life, where he’s recently taken up salsa dancing and Muay Thai in his downtime to unwind and maintain a healthy balance with his rigorous career focus. His lifelong passion for languages remains also, where one of the gamified apps that inspired his submission is currently being put to good use as he learns Swedish, just to add to his already impressive linguistic portfolio.
Looking to the future, there appears to be an uncertainty to the landscape of trade finance. It’s not too long ago that it seemed widely accepted that the industry would undergo continuous liberalisation. Today, the reality is the precise opposite, with nations increasingly leaning on trade and inventory financing as buffers against economic shocks. Gone are the days of companies operating ‘just-in-time’ inventory management, with reserve stockpiling to insulate against global volatility now the norm.
With an uncertain future, accessible education will arguably be more important than ever. Trade finance will no doubt benefit immeasurably in coming years from courting innovative talent like Harry from outside fields. It is partly for this reason that Harry has future ambitions to translate his app, with its in-built networking functionality, into multiple languages, enabling international users and small businesses the world over better understand the products and mechanics that drive global trade.
