Written by Mary Tian
On Nov 27th, UCL FinTech Society partnered with UCL Quantitative Finance to host a fireside chat with Jaykishen Gokani on his experience in investment banking (IB) and FinTech. The interview was moderated by Derin Akyıl (Vice President of Outreach at UCL FinTech), followed by a Q&A from the attendees.
Investment Banking (IB)
Jaykishen Gokani, former chairman and President of UCL FinTech, has a professional background in both IB and FinTech. He previously worked as an equity trading specialist in Goldman Sachs, followed by BlackRock, and is now a Crypto Derivatives Strategy & Operations manager in Revolut.
During university, Mr Gokani gained exposure in finance through interning at Bank of America and founding Student Financier, a student-led platform for individuals to explore finance through journalism. He eventually realised that the equities world was where his real passion lay, and he chose to pursue this path by joining Goldman Sachs in equities trading. Mr. Gokani shed some light on common misconceptions about IB. While most people believe IB is extremely ‘tough to break into’, he states that many applicants focus on the wrong elements. A good candidate needs not only stellar grades but must also be able to foresee skillsets pertinent to the future. For example, Mr. Gokani explained that he learnt coding because he predicted it would be a highly desired skill at Goldman Sachs.
Transition from IB to FinTech
Mr. Gokani advises students to gain familiarity in another sector before breaking into FinTech. His banking experience was a particularly helpful tool for translating his financial skills into FinTech. He opined that areas like sales, trading and banking are suitable foundations for building one’s skills prior to entering the industry.
Jaykishen spoke on how his perspective of the market changed when he moved from Goldman Sachs to Revolut. At Goldman, his trading position required him to follow markets very closely, focusing on specific companies like Vodafone through a generally micro-economic view. At Revolut, however, he sees the market in a macro-economic perspective, centralising on commodities, asset values, and the value of gold by following international markets.
Career Guidance Advice
Mr Gokani highlighted how to become a strong banking candidate in university. First, adaptability is crucial for thriving in the corporate world, as the banking industry is undergoing constant change. Professionals must adjust quickly to new challenges. One way to build an adaptable mindset is to learn how to balance life in and outside university. This ability not only keeps students grounded but will also help individuals cope with long working days after graduation.
In addition, employers seek creativity and people who can become “the best person in the room” in at least one area, so it is recommended to spend time in a field of interest and achieve a high level of excellence in it, demonstrating your dedication and genuine passion.
Jaykishen encourages students to learn coding languages such as Python, SQL, Java, C++. These are not only applicable to IB, but also essential skills for an ideal candidate in FinTech.
For aspiring Fintech candidates, he regards there is no one ‘box’ to fit in and that FinTech is a broad industry where diversity and creativity thrive. He emphasised that interpersonal skills are very important to curate; as corporate jobs often require long working hours, employers will assess how pleasant a prospective employee is to work with as part of their criteria. To improve one’s interpersonal skills, he suggested building dynamic extracurriculars and hobbies outside of academia to demonstrate proactivity and teamwork, whether this is through societies, start-ups, or athletics. He underscores the importance of project management, design and problem-solving skills. Acquiring strong coding skills alone does not mean you are well prepared to start a career in FinTech. What truly matters is the ability to deliver a complete product. One needs to be able to manage the entire process of building a product—organising resources, structuring the solution and writing the code.
Upcoming Trends
Jaykishen gave insights on several upcoming trends in the FinTech sector, including cryptocurrency, JP Morgan’s effect on stablecoins and Revolut’s recent acquisition of AI travel agent Swifty. One underrated FinTech trend he highlighted was how tokenization is reshaping traditional finance (tradFi). On cryptocurrency, he reported that Revolut views cryptocurrency as the future of trading and finance, due to its trending nature. Students interested in a FinTech career would be well advised to inquire further into these topics.
Entrepreneurship
At the end of the event, Mr. Gokani shared his start-up company, ‘Heart of Knowledge’. He explained that he began this organisation in hopes of making the banking sector more accessible to students. His company provides simulations, mentorship and interview preparation to help students decide which roles they are suited for. The discussion concluded with Jaykishen’s advice for emerging entrepreneurs: don’t be afraid to experiment, as we learn best from trial and error.
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