Corlytics, founded and led by Association Expert Council member John Byrne, has beennamed Policy Management Solution of the Year in the 2026 FinTech Breakthrough Awards. The award recognises Corlytics’ development of technology for regulatory intelligence andautomated policy compliance. The company’s platform brings regulatory intelligence andpolicy management together within a single regulatory lifecycle, supporting organisations inidentifying regulatory change and translating new requirements into internal policies andcompliance actions. The development of regulatory technology has become increasingly important for financialinstitutions and other regulated organisations operating across multiple jurisdictions. Growingregulatory complexity requires businesses to identify changes quickly, understand theirimplications and maintain policies that remain aligned with current requirements. Corlytics has focused on this challenge by combining regulatory intelligence, policymanagement and AI-supported obligations management. The company’s approach is intendedto reduce fragmented compliance processes and provide organisations with a more integratedmethod of managing regulatory obligations. John Byrne, Founder and CEO of Corlytics, highlighted innovation, research anddevelopment as important elements of the company’s strategy following the announcement. The 2026 recognition represents another milestone for Corlytics as the company continues todevelop technology at the intersection of financial services, regulation, data and artificialintelligence. John Byrne is a member of the Expert Council of the Association of Certified Professionals,with expertise in entrepreneurship, business technology and innovation.

Grzegorz Mazurek, Rector of Kozminski University and a member of the Association’sCompetition Jury, has been appointed Vice-President of the European Foundation forManagement Development (EFMD), with responsibility for Central and Eastern Europe. EFMD is an international organisation bringing together business schools, universities,companies and management leaders from around the world. According to KozminskiUniversity, the EFMD network extends across 95 countries and plays an important role in thedevelopment of management education and international quality standards. Professor Mazurek already holds several responsibilities within EFMD. He is a member of itsBoard of Trustees, serves on the EQUIS Steering Committee and chairs the EFMD AdvisoryBoard for Central and Eastern Europe. His appointment as Vice-President expands this involvement and places particular emphasison the continued development of management education and institutional cooperation acrossCentral and Eastern Europe. The appointment also reflects the increasing international presence of Kozminski Universitywithin the global management education community. Professor Mazurek’s professional and academic work focuses on management, marketing,digital transformation and the development of modern business education. Within the Competition Jury of the Association of Certified Professionals, Grzegorz Mazurekcontributes expertise in Marketing, Sales & Business Development.

Digital transformation is often discussed in terms of technology, infrastructure andinvestment. Heidi Fraser-Krauss, Chief Executive of Jisc and a member of the Association’sCompetition Jury, has highlighted another essential element: leadership. Following Jisc’s Digitally Empowered Executives higher education leadership summit,Fraser-Krauss reflected on the challenges faced by executive leaders responsible for majordigital change. The summit brought together university executives from across the United Kingdom andincluded discussions, coaching conversations and a keynote focused on digitaltransformation. One of the central themes to emerge was that digital transformation is not simply atechnology programme. Successful transformation requires senior leaders to understandorganisational culture, communicate priorities effectively, create confidence among teamsand make decisions in an environment where technology continues to change rapidly. Participants also discussed the value of creating opportunities for senior executives toexchange experiences with peers. Digital leaders frequently face similar questions aroundinvestment, organisational capability, emerging technologies and the management of change,even when their institutions operate in different environments. Jisc has subsequently continued developing resources and programmes designed to supportleaders responsible for digital transformation. The discussion demonstrates the increasingly close relationship between leadership capabilityand technological change. Organisations introducing new technologies must consider notonly the systems they deploy, but also the people, structures and leadership required to makethose systems effective. Heidi Fraser-Krauss serves on the Competition Jury of the Association of CertifiedProfessionals in Leadership & Management.

More than 900 delegates attended Digifest 2025 in person, with approximately 1,700additional participants registered online, according to Jisc Chief Executive and CompetitionJury member Heidi Fraser-Krauss. The event brought together professionals working across education, technology, research andpolicy to examine how technological development is changing learning, institutionalmanagement and collaboration. The programme included around 60 sessions across two days, ranging from keynotepresentations and panel discussions to workshops and specialist sessions. A central theme of Digifest 2025 was the relationship between technology, education andpolicy. Participants considered how organisations can use emerging technologies whileaddressing wider questions surrounding accessibility, sustainability, organisational capabilityand social impact. Artificial intelligence and digital transformation featured prominently, but the discussionsalso demonstrated that successful innovation requires collaboration between technicalspecialists, institutional leaders, educators and policymakers. Fraser-Krauss emphasised the importance of engagement and collaboration whenorganisations are responding to rapid technological and structural change. The scale of participation also demonstrated the growing international interest in the digitaltransformation of education. Online participants joined from countries including the UnitedStates, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago and Japan. Events such as Digifest provide an opportunity for professionals from different disciplines toexchange practical experience and examine how technological innovation can be translatedinto meaningful organisational outcomes. Heidi Fraser-Krauss is a member of the Competition Jury of the Association of CertifiedProfessionals in Leadership & Management.

Ben Carter, a member of the Association’s Competition Jury, presented a major Carwowmarketing campaign built around the idea that changing a car is often connected with widerchanges in people’s lives. The “car-changing is life-changing” campaign was launched in September 2024 andpositioned Carwow as a destination for consumers at different stages of the vehicleownership journey. The campaign reflected a broader development in Carwow’s business. Rather than focusingexclusively on helping consumers research or purchase new vehicles, the company hadexpanded its activities across buying and selling cars and supporting automotive retailers. Carwow initially launched the campaign across national radio and more than 100 Skytelevision channels, including major sports and entertainment programming. The campaignwas subsequently extended across newspapers, radio, podcasts, social media and other digitalchannels. The strategy demonstrates how a brand can reposition itself as its underlying business modeldevelops. Instead of communicating only individual products or services, Carwow sought to establish abroader connection between its platform and the moments that lead consumers to reconsidertheir mobility needs — such as a growing family, a new job or other changes in lifestyle. The campaign also followed Carwow’s acquisition of several automotive media brands,including Auto Express, evo, Carbuyer and Driving Electric, expanding the audience andmedia capabilities of the wider Carwow Group. The initiative provides an example of how marketing strategy, customer insight, mediainvestment and business development can be combined as part of a broader growth strategy. Ben Carter serves on the Competition Jury of the Association of Certified Professionals inMarketing, Sales & Business Development.

A research publication co-authored by Association Expert Council member Fabian Schärexamined one of the central questions surrounding decentralised finance: how regulators candistinguish genuinely decentralised financial infrastructure from systems that retainsignificant elements of centralised control. The research, authored by Katrin Schuler, Ann Sofie Cloots and Fabian Schär and publishedin the Journal of Financial Regulation, develops a framework for assessing the factualdecentralisation of blockchain-based financial infrastructure. Decentralised finance, commonly known as DeFi, uses blockchain networks and smartcontracts to provide financial functions without relying on conventional financialintermediaries in the same way as traditional systems. However, describing a financial application as decentralised does not necessarily mean thatevery component of the system operates independently. The researchers examine different forms of centralisation that can exist across thetechnological and organisational layers of DeFi infrastructure. Identifying these points ofcontrol can help regulators determine whether an application has characteristics that mayrequire regulatory oversight. The research distinguishes between genuinely independent infrastructure and blockchain-based financial intermediation that continues to rely on identifiable forms of control. This distinction has significant implications for policymakers. As blockchain-based financialsystems develop, regulation increasingly needs to consider the underlying structure of a systemrather than relying solely on the terminology used to describe it. The work demonstrates the importance of combining technological understanding with legaland regulatory analysis when evaluating emerging financial infrastructure. Fabian Schär is a member of the Expert Council of the Association of Certified Professionals,with expertise in Finance, Financial Innovation and Emerging Technology.

Carwow announced a major global rebrand in November 2023 as the automotive platformcontinued its development beyond its origins as a new-car price comparison service. Ben Carter, then Carwow’s Chief Marketing Officer and now a member of the Association’sCompetition Jury, discussed the strategy behind the company’s new positioning. The rebrand centred on the concept of “car changing” and sought to create a broader identityaround the different reasons consumers decide to change vehicles. By this stage, Carwow had developed beyond new-car comparison. The platform alsoenabled UK consumers to sell used vehicles to its network of dealer partners, while itsauction activities provided retailers with another source of used vehicle stock. According to Carwow, its Sell My Car service had facilitated the sale of more than 115,000vehicles to the trade since 2021, with a combined value exceeding £1.5 billion at the time ofthe announcement. The new brand identity therefore reflected a significant change in the underlying business. Rather than positioning the company around a single stage of the automotive purchasingprocess, the strategy sought to create one identity covering multiple stages of vehicleownership and replacement. The development illustrates a broader marketing principle: as companies expand theirproducts and services, their brand positioning may also need to evolve so that customersunderstand the wider role of the business. Customer research played an important role in the repositioning, with the companyidentifying major life events — including changes in family, employment and housing — ascommon reasons for changing vehicles. Ben Carter serves on the Competition Jury of the Association of Certified Professionals inMarketing, Sales & Business Development.

Mark Sykes, a member of the Expert Council of the Association of Certified Professionals,contributed to BDO’s guidance for business leaders preparing their organisations for anincreasingly uncertain operating environment. Published on 29 November 2022, the material focused on practical considerations forcompanies developing their plans for 2023. Businesses at the time were facing a combinationof inflationary pressure, rising costs, changing customer behaviour, supply-chain challengesand broader economic uncertainty. One of the central themes was the importance of maintaining an adaptable business strategy. In a rapidly changing environment, traditional plans based on relatively stable assumptionscan quickly become outdated. Businesses therefore need to understand the factors that havethe greatest influence on their performance and regularly reconsider those assumptions asconditions change. The guidance considered several areas relevant to business planning, including cash flow,costs, customers, employees, supply chains, technology and access to finance. A particularly important element is scenario planning. Rather than relying on a singleforecast, organisations can consider different possible developments and assess how eachwould affect revenue, costs, investment requirements and operational capacity. This approach can help management teams identify vulnerabilities before they becomecritical and determine which actions may be required under different circumstances. The broader lesson extends beyond periods of economic uncertainty. Effective businessstrategy requires organisations to combine long-term objectives with the ability to respond tonew information and changing market conditions. Companies that understand their financial position, operational capabilities and strategicpriorities are generally better placed to evaluate opportunities and make informed decisionswhen circumstances change. Mark Sykes is a member of the Expert Council of the Association of Certified Professionals,with expertise in Business Strategy, Consulting and Business Transformation.

Fabian Schär, a member of the Expert Council of the Association of Certified Professionals,published an analysis of decentralised finance in the September 2022 edition of theInternational Monetary Fund’s Finance & Development. The publication examined both the potential and the limitations of decentralised finance,commonly known as DeFi. DeFi uses public blockchain networks and smart contracts to create financial applications thatcan operate without relying on traditional financial intermediaries in the same way asconventional financial services. The technology has attracted attention because of its potential to create more transparent andaccessible financial infrastructure. Transactions and smart-contract activity on publicblockchains can generally be observed and analysed, while applications can interact with eachother through shared technological standards. At the same time, technological decentralisation does not eliminate financial or operationalrisk. Smart-contract vulnerabilities, dependence on external information, governance structuresand concentrations of influence can create significant risks. Understanding the actualstructure of a DeFi application is therefore essential when evaluating how decentralised thesystem really is and where responsibility and control remain concentrated. Schär’s work is particularly relevant to the continuing discussion about how emergingfinancial technologies should be regulated. A regulatory framework designed for conventional intermediaries cannot always betransferred directly to decentralised infrastructure. At the same time, the use of blockchaintechnology does not by itself mean that an application operates without identifiable control orintermediaries. The development of DeFi therefore raises broader questions about transparency, governance,financial stability and the future relationship between traditional and blockchain-basedfinancial infrastructure. Fabian Schär is Professor of Distributed Ledger Technology and Fintech at the University ofBasel and Managing Director of its Center for Innovative Finance. He is a member of theExpert Council of the Association of Certified Professionals, with expertise in Finance,Financial Innovation and Emerging Technology.