'Be willing to be nimble – tech moves fast!' - Women in Tech - International Women's Day
When I was a mid-level associate, I was asked to speak at a meeting of international central banks and regulators...I was one of a very small number of women attending the meeting...I still look back on that day with a real sense of pride and achievement.
- Claire Harrop, Senior Associate
---
How did you get to work in tech?
I’m a senior associate in the financial regulatory team in our London office. Quite early on in my career, I co-founded the Freshfields fintech group – my involvement came out of a presentation I did with Adam Ryan to our team about bitcoin. Digitisation of the financial sector has since become a really hot topic and of interest to many of our clients, including financial institutions, tech companies, start-ups, private equity...
What trends are you hearing from clients with regards to tech?
Every client I’ve spoken to about fintech recently has mentioned cryptoasset regulation. We are certainly going to see more regulatory scrutiny of the cryptoasset space in the wake of the very public FTX failure. It’s been a long time coming - I first started thinking about how to regulate bitcoin and other cryptocurrency business in 2013 and we’re only really seeing this come through 10 years later.
What are you most looking forward to / predictions in the tech space?
In terms of what I’m most looking forward to, I cannot wait to see how two things might change our world: the metaverse and generative AI. Even though we don’t have any idea how things will develop – or even if these go beyond where we are today - there are so many interesting legal issues to grapple with.
Recommended by LinkedIn
What is the biggest challenge in your role?
Honestly, time! I’m incredibly ambitious and there’s so much that I want to do and achieve, but there are only 24 hours in a day (and sleep is very important too).
What has been your biggest achievement to date?
When I was a mid-level associate, I was asked to speak at a meeting of international central banks and regulators about distributed ledger technology as one of only three private sector participants. It was already an intimidating forum but I was not only one of the most junior participants, I was one of a very small number of women attending the meeting. I still look back on that day with a real sense of pride and achievement.
What advice would you give to a woman who’s interested in a career in technology?
Be willing to be nimble – tech moves fast! I have built up knowledge and expertise about cryptoasset regulation in particular, but in the last year or so, I’ve been thinking through legal issues in the metaverse, even though those issues might never be relevant or if they are, maybe not for another 10 years. I don’t know what topic I’ll be thinking about this time next year but it could be something totally different.
Find our more about Claire and her work.
---
As part of our International Women’s Day 2023 celebrations, we’re supporting the United Nation's theme of ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’ and sharing reflections from our talented colleagues who are leading the way in tech.