Women Leading the Way 2026 is now available, and with it, we have rethought what the magazine should be. Initially, Drofa Comms launched this project to make female expertise in financial services more visible. This year, we reconsidered what a magazine with that goal should look like at a time when the industry itself changes so quickly.
So, we redesigned Women Leading the Way into a full-fledged industry publication in which women lead the conversation as experts, executives, founders and specialists. They discuss gender inequality and analyse the questions that will define financial services over the next decade. The issue is fully digital, bringing together experts from around the world and giving them a way to share their knowledge with readers everywhere.
Why We Changed Women Leading the Way in 2026
Women Leading the Way began with the idea that the industry has never lacked female expertise but has not given it an equal chance to be heard. Our interviews and podcast series kept confirming this and they also show that the women we speak with want others to judge their work on merits. All our work, ultimately, aims at promoting this.
As Valentina Drofa, Founder and CEO of Drofa Comms, writes in her opening letter, the project was never meant to tell women which topics they should discuss. In the 2026 edition, our experts write on AI, the financial industry, regulation, and many other topics that deserve to be seen. And, notably, gender is only one of the subjects.
What’s Inside Our Women in Finance Magazine 2026
The 2026 edition combines formats ussually scattered across different publications. We published original research by our team, analytical features, infographics and exclusive interviews. Our goal was to cover the most important topics that shape the finance industry.
Original research
The research piece “The Missing Half of the Record” by Nigar Ibrahimova shows that women are much less visible in AI search results when asked to name leading experts in finance. The closer the question came to capital, the fewer women appeared. Eventually, as more people use AI to find expert sources and speakers, that gap starts to influence who receives the next opportunity.
Exclusive interviews with women in finance
On the following pages, we introduce exclusive interviews with women changing the financial industry itself. Experts such as Bianca Zwart, Chief Strategy Officer at bunq, Sonia Shaw, CEO of OneAsset, and Holly Atkinson, CPTO at 1inch, bring the view of leaders who run strategy and product and describe what finance will look like in the future.
Infographics on women in financial leadership
We also use infographics to set out the numbers behind the debate, from women’s 26% share of AI hires in the US to their representation in C-suite roles across AI, fintech and commercial banking.
Key Topics in Women Leading the Way 2026
The analytical section covers five themes that are shaping financial services:
- AI in money management
- Generational wealth transfer
- AI-driven fraud
- Leadership and careers in the age of automation
- 24-hour finance
These topics seem broad, but the underlying idea they share is the same and states that financial decisions are changing due to advances in technology. Deals are executed at the speed of light, but the institutions and career paths around them are still adjusting. This difference in understanding makes it more important than ever for someone to remain accountable for outcomes. The industry needs to know whose judgement it can rely on.
The women in this edition state that the more finance runs on automated systems, the more trust depends on people who can make a final decision and defend it.
Different Voices Across the Financial Industry
Women Leading the Way exists to make female expertise more visible, but it also wants to highlight that the financial industry develops thanks to the combined efforts of all participants. This issue also includes perspectives from men. Their visions strengthen the analysis by adding another view on many of the same issues explored by women throughout the magazine.
Many men in the industry have supported the project from the start, often by recommending female colleagues for interviews. Their contributions reflect that shared commitment and show how the industry develops through the ongoing ideas’ exchange.
The Next Stage for the Project’s Community
Previous editions were printed, so copies mostly reached people we met in person at major events. However, this time the issue is entirely digital, which gives readers in any market the opportunity to open it and share it with colleagues. For a project whose purpose is to give more people access to strong expertise, the format should not be a barrier for those who want to read it.
Women Leading the Way 2026 marks the next stage for the project, which over the past year has grown into an international community with a written interview series, a podcast and partnerships with major industry events such as TOKEN2049 and RWA WEEK.
We believe that people should first judge professionals by their knowledge and ideas. And every named contribution in this issue adds to that record and helps female expertise receive the recognition it has lacked. Read the full edition.
