Embrace development and change and invest in education to shape a better future—for yourself, and for your Financial Services and FinTech industry.

At The Edinburgh Centre for Financial Innovations, our innovative approach addresses timely and pressing challenges and helps Financial Services and FinTech businesses and professionals seize new opportunities. Courses are developed and taught by leading experts from the Schools of Mathematics, Informatics and the Business School in collaboration with the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Course delivery is in partnership with the University of Edinburgh Business School.

We bring cross-disciplinary expertise together in a collaborative, data-driven environment that offers flexible courses for professionals and business leaders who want to shape their profession and industry for the future. Whatever your financial focus and goals, the Edinburgh Centre for Financial Innovations is ready to work with you to stimulate new ideas, support strategic change, and help you put the latest theory and thinking into practice.


Upcoming programmes

Executive education class

Future is FinTech

This online FinTech course will enable you to build a comprehensive understanding of how technological advancements are reshaping financial systems.

Find out more about the Future is FinTech executive education programme


Meet our team

Jackie Whittaker

Jackie Whittaker

Portfolio Manager, Edinburgh Futures Institute

Jackie Whittaker is the Edinburgh Futures Institute Portfolio Manager, taking responsibility for the strategic direction of the Institute’s executive education, continuing professional development (CPD) and open learning course portfolio. She is the main point of contact between the executive education delivery team and the Edinburgh Futures Institute in scaling up the Institute’s portfolio. She works closely with the Institute’s sector leads and engagement teams to analyse the Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) training/skills needs across the Institute’s target sectors, maximising collaboration.

Previously, a Senior Manager for leading business growth at Bangor University Business School, she brings with her a demonstrated history of promoting and delivering university leadership programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). She has a proven track record in developing business to business relationships with employers of all sectors. Jackie is an experienced business coach, skilled in negotiation, marketing, business planning and experiential learning. She has a marketing degree and MBA from UCLan.

Sandy Smith

Sandy Smith

Head of Client Development, University of Edinburgh Business School Executive Education

I'm an internationally experienced Business Development Manager with a background in people and organisation development; 'bringing to life’ organisational themes and messages through experiential learning.

Working in collaboration with UEBS faculty and faculty across the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities and the wider University, our Executive Education team is taking the lead on developing innovative Executive Education programmes and creating ground breaking partnerships with clients in banking and financial services, energy, utilities, the public sector and through collaborations with international academic institution partners.

At UEBS Executive Education we are all about delivering real world teaching and learning with a focus on engagement and impact, and through custom and open programme provision delivered to challenge, inspire and transform thinking across the following areas:

  • Leadership and Strategic Change; masterclasses, learning labs and custom leadership and management development programmes.
  • Climate and Sustainability; including climate finance and net zero transition programmes, and with nature and biodiversity and circular economy in the pipeline for 2024-25.
  • Short Course provision; including Climate Change Risk in Finance, Future is FinTech and AI for Senior Finance Leaders (also Future of Marketing, Innovation-driven Entrepreneurship, Leading Technology & Innovation in Organisations, and Global Governance of Law and Technology).
  • Custom residential programmes on the latest business themes and topics, tailored for inbound MBA and Executive MBA level groups from overseas.
Khaladdin Rzayev

Khaladdin Rzayev

Senior Lecturer in Finance at the University of Edinburgh Business School & Edinburgh Centre for Financial Innovations Co-Director for Education

Get in touch to discuss executive education

Whatever your sector, whatever your goals, our School is ready to work alongside you. We are here to stimulate challenging new thinking, support strategic change and help you put the latest theory and thinking into powerful practice.