Episode 15 · Technology & Digital
Trust in multicultural teams: Claire Maslen on digital payments, diversity and 30 years of global leadership
A former Samsung, Cisco and O2 executive on how genuine inclusion, customer-centricity and mentorship actually work in practice across global technology and fintech.
28 July 2025 · Hosted by Oliver Helvin
Highlights
Why this episode matters
Claire Maslen has spent 30 years at the intersection of technology, payments and digital transformation across Samsung, Cisco and O2, operating across five continents. Her perspective on how inclusion, customer-centricity and mentorship actually work in global technology environments is grounded in practice rather than policy, and is more useful for it.
Key themes
Mindset before technology in digital transformation
Claire's consistent observation across 30 years of technology leadership is that failed transformations are almost never technology failures; they are mindset failures. She talks about what the right mindset actually looks like at the leadership level before a digital programme begins, how she diagnoses its absence in the first two stakeholder meetings, and why organisations that skip this step typically restart their transformation within three years.
Customer-centricity as a discipline
Claire's view is that customer-centricity is not a values statement; it is a set of specific practices that either exist in an organisation or do not. She talks about what those practices look like in payments and digital identity environments, where most organisations claim customer-centricity but cannot demonstrate it operationally, and what it takes to embed it in a way that survives leadership change.
Inclusion that is built in, not bolted on
Claire has been a consistent champion for diversity and inclusion across every organisation she has led. Her position is equally consistent: inclusion that works is built into hiring, promotion and operational processes, not added through quotas or awareness campaigns. She talks about specific process changes she made at senior level, why she is sceptical of headline diversity metrics, and what genuine inclusion actually costs in terms of leadership attention.
Mentorship as a system
Claire has been both a recipient and provider of mentorship across a 30-year career, and her view is that most mentorship fails because it is treated as an individual act of generosity rather than a system. She talks about how she has tried to build mentorship into the organisations she has led, what makes a mentoring relationship actually useful versus decorative, and what she looks for in the people she invests her own time in.
Technology does not transform organisations. People with the right mindset transform organisations. Technology is just what they use to do it faster.
Takeaways
- Mindset precedes technology in every successful digital transformation; sequence this deliberately
- Customer-centricity is a discipline with specific practices, not a values statement
- Inclusion that works is built into process, not bolted on through quotas
- Mentorship multiplies when it is treated as a system, not an individual favour
- The payments ecosystem rewards operators who understand identity and trust at a technical level
About Claire Maslen
Claire Maslen
Senior Technology and Payments Leader, Independent (formerly Samsung, O2, Cisco)
Global
Claire Maslen is a transformative leader with over 30 years of expertise in technology, payments and digital innovation. She has held senior roles at Cisco, O2 Telefonica and Samsung Electronics, leading digital wallet, identity and payment ecosystem development across Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia. She is a champion of diversity and inclusion, and has served as a trusted advisor to the Mobile Ecosystem Forum and UK Cards Association.
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