Meet Diana Paredes, CEO, and Co-Founder of Suade Labs, a software company that produces technology aimed at the financial services industry to help comply with regulatory issues.
Diana Paredes launched Saude Labs in 2014, a software platform that enables financial institutions to understand and deliver their regulatory requirements. She is a firm believer that a data-driven approach to regulation is the key to preventing the next financial crisis, and that’s what her current venture is all about. Whilst working in investment banking, covering all asset classes at Barclays and Merrill Lynch, across sales, trading, & structuring, Diana Paredes saw an opportunity to launch and innovate Suade Labs, and the rest is history.
Paredes is extremely passionate about her job and the fintech industry. She has a BEng and MEng in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Imperial College and is fluent in six languages. She is interested in asking the right questions to find effective solutions for long-term data-driven and sustainable change.
Talking about her organization, she says, “Suade’s solutions improve and streamline the compliance and reporting process for financial institutions, through a future-ready approach to modern technology and data. Providing financial institutions with a completely new, reliable, and accurate solution to understanding their position, their data, and ability to comply with regulation fundamentally plays a large role in supporting the global economy. As well as society, our clients and users benefit from radical improvements to their day-to-day work lives, relying fully on the solutions to manage mundane, laborious tasks which have historically been heavily manual.
At Suade we think about the bigger picture and want to have a positive impact on people’s lives, further than just our clients. As a technology-driven company, the responsible use of technology is at the heart of what we do, and we advocate the importance of building a sustainable workforce for the future through upskilling, reskilling, and education. Without the hard work and commitment of our team, we would not be where we are, and we are dedicated to providing a fun, positive, and innovative environment where our employees can grow and thrive, as we do.
We are extremely proud of Suade Labs, what we have achieved, and the benefits it provides to our clients, employees, and society.”
Diana recalls the global financial crisis of 2008, which was the harbinger of a wave of new regulations to prevent future financial failures of the same magnitude and provide stability to the global economy. The increase in regulations also needs sound technology and access to data to the forefront of financial institutions’ agendas.
Before this, the institutions depended on legacy technology and professional services to manage their compliance and risk. With the increasing regulations, things were becoming more difficult. This is when they saw an opportunity to provide the financial institutions with future-proof, next-generation RegTech solutions which instead relied on clean data and modern technology. “Our technology is designed with data in mind and is compatible with the global open-source data standard, FIRE. FIRE enables financial institutions to utilize their regulatory data to streamline compliance and empower strategic business decisions,” she says.
Diana likes to constantly challenge herself, which has helped her learn invaluable skills and become the successful leader she is today. You need to be open to taking risks if you wish to build a great business. Her venture solves the problems of their clients and makes their work smooth and easy. Rather than being content with a steady job, she pursued an idea she believed in and turned it into a reality. “If you have an idea, or an inclination to innovate, then go for it! The thought of being an entrepreneur is a scary one, and it is hard work, but when you are passionate about something, it is easier than you think. I think people are sometimes too worried about failing, but it is an inevitable part of the journey to success, so embrace it!” she exclaims.