In this alumni interview, we speak with Mudit Agarwal, Founder of Digiup, an fintech aiming to make sustainable finance more accessible for businesses by addressing issues like traceability and transparency.
Mudit shares how his journey in financial technology has shaped his perspective on technology’s critical role in business and the importance of resilient digital infrastructure. He also discusses the importance of a clear mission and deep customer understanding in entrepreneurship, while highlighting the need for meaningful mentorship in today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape.
Mudit is a graduate of ICC’s Certificate in Digital Trade Strategy (CDTS) programme.
Career progression over the years
Hi Mudit! Can you tell us about your current venture and what inspired this career move?
My current venture, Digiup, is a fintech company that provides digital solutions for companies to incorporate in their decision-making processes. It also enables them to measure environmental and social impacts in the value chain. These solutions target the barriers that obstruct and slow down climate finance and blended finance, especially in cross-border trade and lending space.
We founded Digiup with the goal of addressing inefficiencies in the flow of finance needed for building sustainable businesses – sustainable finance, in short. Over the past 20+ years, I’ve worked in corporate roles across four continents in financial technology, including positions at fintech product companies and as technology Products leader in a bank.
During this time, I’ve had the privilege to observe firsthand how software and data can transform business operations, drive data-driven decisions, bring positive changes to the lives of customers and employees and move the top-line and bottom-line needles.
How have your experiences across various global markets influenced your perspective on technology’s role in business?
I’ve had the privilege of working across multiple geographies, which has connected me with businesses and customers from different backgrounds.
One common thread I’ve observed in all these regions is that businesses embracing technology as an enabler tend to succeed significantly more than those who don’t.
This success is evident in both efficiency and productivity, positively impacting their top and bottom lines. It has also eased the lives of employees by reducing repetitive tasks, allowing them to engage in more meaningful work.
This highlighted the importance of technology in providing financial services and how deeply customers rely on digital infrastructure. It also underscored the need to have resilient technological systems.
While technology can significantly enhance operations and customer experience, it must be robust enough to withstand unforeseen disruptions.
An experience that profoundly impacted my outlook was during my tenure as an account manager for a large public sector bank in India. The bank’s data center in Delhi suffered a major fire, disconnecting the entire branch and ATM network from the central system. Customers were unable to perform basic transactions because the bank couldn’t authorise them without access to account balances.
My team and I had to put in 48 hours of work to recover the system.
This experience taught me the importance of balancing innovation with scalability and resilience. As fintech companies – including ours – proliferate and digitalisation accelerates, many players are involved in delivering critical financial services. We must ensure all these systems are resilient to maintain customer trust and keep services running smoothly.
Certificate in Digital Trade Strategy (CDTS)
Challenges and successes in digital transformation
What prompted your interest in our CDTS programme? What impact has the certification had on your work?
In my last role as the Technology Delivery Head at DBS, I oversaw digitalising all manual and paper-based processes for the trade finance, lending, and onboarding platforms. I was heavily exposed to the financial aspects of trade then. However, I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the bigger picture in the trade ecosystem, such as the flow of goods and information, current challenges in digital trade, and the experiences faced by different players in the ecosystem.
The CDTS certification has been immensely valuable in helping me grow my knowledge. It has also provided me with a better understanding of what the current problems are and the digital public infrastructure and tools available to address some of the hard problems businesses face in cross-border trade.
I find myself referring to the notes from the CDTS programme during the design and delivery phases of the solutions we’re building at Digiup.
Reflecting on your time at DBS Bank, could you discuss a project that exemplifies the challenges and successes of implementing digital solutions in a large business?
One of the most impactful experiences for me was when we implemented an algorithmic and AI-based lending platform for working capital and trade finance for SMEs at DBS. The platform utilised non-traditional data for credit assessment and enhanced digital customer and employee journeys.
It massively reduced repetitive tasks for my colleagues across functions in product management, relationship management, credit, and operations. Plus, seeing the growth of funded SMEs was incredibly fulfilling.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we leveraged this platform with solutions like Lending and Trade Digi Doc to digitally process relief and moratorium requests for our clients. This digitalisation effort was critical in remotely distributing relief from governments and financial institutions to MSMEs.
The challenges included integrating new technologies into existing systems, ensuring data security and compliance, and managing change across various departments. But increased efficiency, improved customer satisfaction, and business growth were some of the successes, which outweighed the challenges.
What lessons did you learn from these career experiences that influenced the founding of Digiup?
One of the key lessons I’ve learned from my career is the importance of acquiring hard skills through execution. Reading and listening are relatively easy, but the real challenge lies in Execution – strategizing, planning, and implementing actions that deliver tangible and sustainable results for an organisation. Trade finance and lending are among the most complex areas in finance due to the inherent risks involved – especially when lending money.
As a technologist at my core, it was crucial for me to deeply understand these domains by working closely with product managers and operations teams in areas like trade finance, lending, onboarding, risk, and due diligence. This deep domain expertise became an asset over my 20-year corporate career in fintech and at DBS.
Another lesson is to have a clear purpose, especially when solving difficult problems. Knowing why you are doing something keeps you motivated through tough situations. Whether you’re running a start-up or working in a corporation, having clarity of purpose is essential.
I’ve also realised that focus and discipline are critical for success. These lessons continue to guide my work at Digiup today.
Leadership as an entrepreneur
What are the biggest challenges you face as a start-up founder?
Our biggest challenge as an early-stage, bootstrapped company has been identifying and prioritising the most impactful efficiencies to address in the sustainable finance space, which vary greatly from one customer to another.
To tackle this, we dedicate our time and financial resources to deep research and open-minded team deliberation. We attend industry events, engage with various stakeholders, and conduct thorough discussions.
I think this approach pushes us to think more creatively during the design process. It allows us to invest our limited resources strategically by building modular micro-capabilities – much like assembling Lego blocks – that can be tailored to address the unique challenges our clients face.
What tips do you have for entrepreneurs, professionals stepping into management roles, or those considering starting their own ventures, on how to facilitate collaboration among diverse teams?
The first thing is to establish a larger, higher purpose that everyone can align with. When you focus solely on individual goals, conflicting interests can make collaboration difficult. As a leader, you need to channel the energy of your team members towards this shared purpose and help them understand how moving from individual objectives to a collective mission benefits them personally.
This isn’t just about words; it’s about demonstrating tangible results through small wins. When people begin to see the benefits of working together toward a common goal, they naturally begin to align and contribute more effectively.
The second thing is to have fun while working. Encouraging a culture where people can work hard and play hard fosters team bonding. Leaders need to create an environment where employees work together and have fun doing it.
What skills and attributes are essential for succeeding in the fintech sector that might not appear on a typical job description?
In the fintech sector, success often hinges on qualities that extend far beyond the usual technical or academic credentials. Specific domain expertise and experience can be helpful, but thriving in this space requires a combination of adaptability, mindset, and personal values.
One key factor is having a deep belief in the overarching purpose of your work. Understanding and truly caring about why you’re doing what you do helps maintain motivation through challenges and setbacks.
Resilience and determination are crucial traits as well. The fintech landscape is fast-paced and can be unpredictable, with regulatory shifts, evolving technologies, and changing customer needs. It’s important to stay focused, adapt swiftly, and persevere through challenges.
High levels of intellectual, emotional, social, adversity quotients (IQ, EQ, SQ, and AQ) also play a major role. Being successful in fintech requires not only problem-solving abilities and technical aptitude (IQ) but also empathy, communication, and collaboration, as well as the capacity to cope with setbacks and turn them into growth opportunities.
These personal, human attributes – mission-alignment, resilience, and multifaceted intelligence – are what set high-performing professionals apart in the fintech space.
Certificate in Digital Trade Strategy (CDTS)
Advice for entrepreneurs
What advice would you offer someone looking to start a technology-focused business in today’s digital landscape? What mistakes should they avoid?
At this stage of the start-up, I spend more time seeking mentorship so that I can build an impactful organisation. I’ll share two key lessons.
First, it’s important to deeply understand and validate customer problems and needs. This ensures that your solution is addressing a real pain or gain point and delivering tangible benefits.
Second, is to keep your solution simple and focused on the specific problem. It’s challenging to create and deploy simple solutions that solve problems. If you do it well, your chances of success will be much higher.
From my experience as a finance and technology solutions leader and entrepreneur, I’ve observed that technologists often become fixated on their technology or place too much emphasis on securing funding. This can lead you to neglect the business context and the actual value you provide clients. The imbalance can make the business model unsustainable.
How do you view the importance of mentorship and networking in the tech industry, especially startups? Any tips you have for young professionals in this area?
I’ll share insights from my journey transitioning from a corporate employee to a corporate leader and eventually to a startup founder.
When you’re successful in the corporate world, it’s easy to think you can start your own business based on your technical expertise. For example, a skilled hairdresser might decide to open their own salon because they’re excellent at cutting hair and have happy customers. I refer to these as technical entrepreneurs—people who are highly skilled in a particular area and believe that alone will lead to business success.
However, running a business is very different from excelling in a technical role. You need to handle sales, legal matters, finance, human resources, service delivery, technology, marketing, product development—all these aspects must come together seamlessly.
Being good at a technical job doesn’t guarantee success in managing all the facets of a business.
It’s important to recognise this difference and be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. Identify what you’re good at and where you need help. This is where networking becomes crucial. Without a network, you won’t know who to reach out to for assistance in areas where you’re less experienced.
Mentorship is equally important.
Once you understand your gaps, you can leverage mentors to help you develop in those areas. It’s vital to find mentors you trust and whose advice you value. If you don’t trust them enough to take their guidance seriously, it becomes counterproductive—you waste both your time and theirs. While you’re ultimately responsible for your actions, treating your mentor like a guru and seriously considering their input can be immensely beneficial.
For professionals seeking to enhance their skills and knowledge in the industry, how do you advise them to go about it?
The goal should be to invest time and money in learning that genuinely helps you do your job better. So, don’t pursue education merely for certifications or to embellish your resume or LinkedIn profile. The best way to achieve this is to apply what you’ve learned immediately. When you read, you might retain about 10%; when you listen, maybe 25%; but when you apply the knowledge, retention can increase significantly.
Second, in today’s era of digital content and AI-generated material, there are countless programmes and content available online. Spend time assessing the relevance of the content to your job or aspirations and validate the authority of the provider. I’ve seen many charismatic speakers on platforms like YouTube who don’t have a deep understanding of the subject matter. It’s important to prioritise quality over quantity, even if it costs more in terms of time or money.
Remember, the top results on Google might be the best-marketed content but not necessarily the best for you. Seek out authoritative and unbiased sources like the United Nations, WTO, World Bank, and organisations like the ICC. Personally, over the past two years, I’ve attended around 11 or 12 courses. I also got my Certificate in Digital Trade Strategy from ICC Academy. These programs are high-quality, unbiased, and delivered by experts in their fields.
