From Code to C-Suite Podcast

In the AI era, building is cheaper. Distribution is everything.   In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Liam sits down with David Attermann, former Head of Web3 and AI investments at M31 Capital, to unpack the brutal truth about what actually getsfunded, what kills Web3 projects, and why timing and go-to-market matter more than most founders admit.   David also shares why he’s moving from inves...

Self-employed people don’t get paid monthly, but every bill still is. In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Liam sits down with Brandon Wright, co-founder and CEO of Tongo, to break down the hidden financial traps of irregular income, why credit scores misread millions of people, and what it takes to build a venture-backed fintech in a system that wasn’t designed for this audience. Brandon expl...

Waiting doesn’t make it safer. Sometimes the loss is bigger when you decide later. In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Liam sits down with Maggie Zhou, Managing Director and COO at Alpha Square Group, a family office investing in global innovation across public and private markets. Maggie breaks down the fatal flaws that keep founders from getting funded, why execution is the hardest part, an...

Waiting doesn’t make it safer. Sometimes the loss is bigger when you decide later. In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Liam sits down with Maggie Zhou, Managing Director and COO at Alpha Square Group, a family office investing in global innovation across public and private markets. Maggie breaks down the fatal flaws that keep founders from getting funded, why execution is the hardest part, an...

English is now the programming language for AI.   In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Liam sits down with Mek Stittri, CTO at Stuut, to break down what’s changing in engineering right now, and why AI is pushing companies toward leaner teams and faster execution.   Mek shares the leadership lesson he learned the hard way: trust is earned, not assumed. He explains how AI agents are changing how...

Build too long without revenue and something breaks.   In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Liam sits down withShihab Khalil, Founder and CEO of Zag Trader, a nearly 20-year-old fintech company that started before the word “fintech” even existed. Shihab breaks down what it really takes to bootstrap anenterprise-grade trading platform, sell into an “absolute conservative industry,” and survive...

Most people never see what it really takes to build a startup. In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Murtaza shares how he left a high-paying engineering role in the UAE to build a fintech company from scratch, and the reality that followed. He reveals what the journey actually looked like:• Pitching more than 100 investors before getting a yes• Almost running out of money and struggling to pay...

Booms are loud. Crashes are honest. In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Halid breaks down how crypto fundamentally changed after industry-shaking events like FTX, Luna, and 3AC , and why regulation is no longer optional. He shares how crypto moved from a regulatory grey zone to one of the most scrutinised financial sectors in the world, and what that shift means for founders, builders, and us...

Fintech looks glamorous from the outside. The reality is very different. In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Prashant Kumar Shrivastava (PK) cuts through the hype to talk about what it actually takes to build and survive a fintech business, especially in regions where nothing works the way the Silicon Valley playbook says it should. He breaks down:• Why building startups is “like eating glass...

Most Muslims want to invest. Very few have the tools to do it properly. In this episode, Liam sits down with Samy Mohamad, founder of Tabadilat, the world’s first global Sharia compliant trading platform, to break down the realities of halal investing in today’s financial system. From professional trading desks and futures markets to riba, derivatives, and the hidden costs Muslim investors face ju...

Same situation. Different outcome. Leadership makes the difference. In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Anton Chislov shares what it really takes to build and lead as a CTO across multiple continents, and why success comes down to how individuals respond to pressure, responsibility, and pain. He breaks down: • Why the first five people you hire determine whether you survive • How leadership s...

Shobit’s story starts with a credit-card swipe, and a moment where he realized something had to change. From failed startups and personal debt to hiring a CEO for his own company so he could stay true to being a CTO, this episode is a masterclass in resilience, focus, and execution. In this conversation, Shobit breaks down: • Why junior engineers should work like seniors • How “fail fast” actually...

In this episode, Ellis the disgruntled FX broker who walked away from the industry breaks down exactly how hidden margins work, why SMEs are the easiest targets, and how he walked out of a legacy brokerage under legal threat to build Glide a transparent FX platform that lets small businesses set their own rates and keep their own money. We go deep into his story going from law school to FX sales,...

In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Liam sits down with Mohammad Omar, a founder leading one of the fastest growing EV startups in the region. Mohammad’s journey began in a small village in Lebanon, driven by curiosity, resilience, and a hunger to build. From sleepless weeks perfecting early prototypes to developing technology that can swap and charge EVs in under a minute, his story is one o...

In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Kevin Kilty breaks down what it really takes to build a successful fintech company in the UAE. From AI-driven payments to instant onboarding, Kevin reveals how HubPay is transforming property transactions and cross-border payments, executing at a level where speed, precision, and trust define success. We go deep on: How HubPay opens business accounts in jus...

In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Liam sits down with Karim, co-founder of Flow48, who is tackling the SME funding gap across the GCC and Africa by building a scalable digital lender. Karim’s path weaves through Citibank, Uber, and Fetcher, where he learned the realities of execution, team-building, and scaling under pressure. Now, at Flow48, he’s applying those lessons to empower small and...

In this episode of From Code to C-Suite, Liam sits down with Luís Rodrigues, CPTO at Lab49, whose journey spans pioneering AI before it was cool, facing machine guns in Lagos, and learning the brutal lessons of failure. Luís has built and scaled companies across Europe, Africa, and Asia. He helped launch QuickCheck, a Nigerian neobank that grew to over 500,000 customers, and scaled Seedstars into...

In this episode of From Code to C-Suite , Liam sits down with Adam, co-founder of SoliChain and co-author of multiple Ethereum standards. Adam’s journey began with mining bitcoins in the early days, when 200 BTC seemed almost worthless and electricity bills forced him to stash mining rigs at a friend’s house.  From working 120-hour weeks to helping over 50 Web3 startups go from zero to deployed, h...

In this episode, Liam sits down with Sergei Rakov, Director of Technology & AI at Binghatti, one of the UAE’s most innovative real estate brands. Sergei’s journey spans from contributing to spaceship projects in Russia to pioneering computer vision AI designed to detect cheating during exams. He shares a deep dive into the Russian tech landscape, highlighting how language barriers impact talen...

In this episode, Liam is joined by Khalil Alami, CEO of Telr, an award-winning online payment gateway operating across the GCC. With more than two decades of experience in fintech, payments, and financial services, Khalil has built and led high-performing teams while earning recognition from Forbes Middle East and LinkedIn’s Top 23 Influential Figures. Khalil shares his philosophy on leadership, c...

n this episode of From Code to C-Suite , Liam sits down with Ritesh Kumar, a seasoned CTO who has built and led high-performing engineering teams across Berlin, New York, Jakarta, and now Dubai. With experience scaling platforms that serve millions and managing teams of over 100 engineers, Ritesh shares his journey through the fintech and AI landscapes—offering sharp insights into global tech lead...