Qashio’s Lydia Foott discusses finding your way to the right job and navigating Ireland’s complex fintech landscape.
“I always wanted to work in technology,” explains Lydia Foott, founder and COO of Dubai-based fintech Qashio. Growing up in his hometown of Cork, he found that most of the adults in his field were involved in one way or another in the tech industry and naturally thought he would follow suit.
He told SiliconRepublic.com, “I originally wanted to be a tech journalist because I loved seeing how technology could solve real problems in new ways.” So after graduating during the Great Recession and seeing how hiring in the tech sector was limited by economic problems, he made the decision to move to Dubai, where he worked as a teacher and completed his master’s degree at the same time.
Foot said, “At the same time, I continued to apply for technical roles. The transition from teaching to technology it was difficult. Breaking into the industry without experience was challenging, especially as a woman with no local experience. Fortunately, I got a lucky break and never looked back.”
Although luck is part of Foott’s experience, and there was a lot of hard work and skill building, to that point, he credits many of the people-oriented and technical skills he has now with those that were developed in the early days of teaching and working.
In 2024, an old colleague, Armin Moradi, came to him with the idea of a fintech company and thus Qashio was born. Regarding his entry into the world of business and technology, Foote said, “Looking back, it’s funny how I started recommending technology companies to help found them for myself”.
Ireland’s fintech scene
Towards the end of 2025, Qashio announced plans to further invest in the organization with a $19m expansion identifying Dublin as the base for the company’s European headquarters.
“For us, choosing Ireland was not easy,” said Fott. “Besides the personal connection Armin and I have to go to Ireland (I’m from Ireland and Armin worked for Oracle in Dublin before moving to Dubai with them), the level of talent available in the Irish market, we saw was unmatched anywhere else.
“The Government of Ireland, through the Irish Development Authority (IDA) has also provided exceptional support to Qashio. IDA has joined us at a crucial time in our expansion journey and we have been impressed with the range of support services provided which have really helped seal the deal for Ireland as our European destination.”
Future plans include the creation of Qashio Labs, which will serve as an R&D center focused on developing the Qashio platform and driving innovation across the industry. Initially, there are plans to onboard 50 staff to the Dublin office and a planned satellite office in Cork. Roles will be available in sales, customer support and technology.
In anticipation of potential challenges, Foot explained that, as with many businesses operating today, fintechs operate in an environment of constant uncertainty. This is largely driven by major economic pressures, global instability and rising costs. Companies are also struggling amid rapid technological change and increasing pressure to quickly adapt to AI.
He said, “Because fintech companies are very close to consumer spending behavior, they are often among the first to feel the impact of economic changes. When costs increase, consumer behavior changes quickly. Spending on non-essential purchases decreases and fintechs can see those changes reflected in purchase prices almost immediately.”
For Irish businesses in particular, Foot finds that one of the most effective ways to navigate uncertainty is to implement strong financial controls and facilitate greater data transparency. It is also important for fintechs in the process of building and scaling to prioritize security.
He said, In my opinion, one of the most misunderstood aspects of building and scaling a fintech company is the importance and complexity of security. Before founding Qashio, I thought the toughest challenges would be product market fit and sales. What I quickly realized is that, in fintech specifically, security and compliance are very important.
“If you want to successfully grow fintech, you need to invest heavily in security, compliance and the right information from the start. Hiring the best industry experts and getting the necessary certifications is essential to building long-term trust and credibility.”
The future of fintech
Looking to the not-too-distant future, Foott is excited about what he believes is potential in the fintech space and what artificial intelligence might create.
He said, “Many companies that consider themselves modern and innovative still rely heavily on manual processes that waste both time and resources. Even moving from cash to cards was just the beginning. The financial technology infrastructure is incredibly impressive and as AI enters the space, the opportunities are endless.”
He concluded, “I think one of the most exciting things about fintech right now is that we’re still very much at the beginning of the journey. The pace of innovation is accelerating, especially with AI, and the successful companies will be the ones that focus on solving the real problems of business operations.”
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