Complex financial services transformation, planned and delivered.
Aulay helps financial institutions and high-growth fintechs plan, mobilise and deliver change, from strategic planning, to programme leadership, M&A, and executive coaching.
The challenge
Innovation is no longer the issue. Execution is.
The financial services industry is under pressure to modernise faster, build better client propositions and make sharper partner decisions. But transformation often slows down when strategy is not translated into practical delivery structures, aligned governance and realistic execution plans.
New client journeys
New entrants continue to redefine client experience, cost-to-serve, and speed of execution.
Operating model complexity
Enterprises and high growth businesses are increasingly challenged by organic growth, complex partnership options, and M&A execution.
Digital acceleration
AI, cloud, data and platform economics are changing how products and services are built and operated.
Execution risk
Transformation Programmes fail when strategy is not translated into a practical hands-on approach that works for all stakeholders.
Solutions
Hands-on leadership for complex transformation.
Aulay works where strategy, operating model, technology, sourcing and delivery intersect.
Strategic Planning
You have an ambition. We shape the strategy and the operating model to deliver it.
Aulay helps leaders shape market positioning, the target operating model and the investment case, decide what to own, industrialise or source, and plan for Day 1.
Programme Leadership, Recovery & Assurance
Deliver complex change on time and on budget, with independent assurance along the way.
Aulay plans, mobilises and leads complex programmes, reports to C-level and steering committees, and provides independent quality assurance and regulatory readiness support.
M&A Integration & Separation
From Day 1 to full value capture, M&A that lands cleanly.
Aulay sets up the Integration Management Office, plans integrations and carve-outs, designs Transition Services Agreements and tracks synergy realisation through to full value capture.
Executive Coaching
Equip executive teams and senior leaders to navigate high-stakes change, align cultures and sustain performance.
Aulay advises boards, C-suite executives and business unit heads on leadership effectiveness, cognitive transformation and organisational change during critical growth phases, restructuring and tech-driven disruption.
Case studies
Examples of practical delivery.
Marketplace payments, core banking, group-wide sourcing and multi-country carve-outs, led hands-on, from mobilisation to delivery.
EUROPEAN BANKING GROUP
Marketplace payments platform build and go-to-market
Led programme leadership for the design, build and go-to-market of a marketplace payments platform spanning merchant onboarding, payment collection, payouts, compliance and payment initiation.
FINTECH VENTURE
Fintech SaaS venture build
Founded and built a fintech SaaS platform offering a single system of record covering cards, bank accounts, payroll, accounting and tax for freelancers and small businesses.
LEADING FINANCIAL SERVICES INSTITUTION
Group-wide procurement outsourcing programme
Led a group-wide procurement outsourcing programme focused on reducing non-personnel costs and improving source-to-pay standards.
Where Aulay helps
A focused service model for leaders who need clarity, momentum and delivery confidence.
Aulay helps financial services and fintech leaders make the decisions that matter, design the operating and technology model to support them, and lead complex transformation through delivery.
Strategic Planning
- Market positioning, competitive analysis and go-to-market
- Target operating model design, including what to own, industrialise or source
- Investment cases for business build, transformation and digital change
- Sourcing and procurement transformation, including outsourcing strategy, provider selection, transition and vendor governance
- Day 1 planning
Programme Leadership, Recovery & Assurance
- Programme planning, set-up and mobilisation (delivery approach, roadmap, and people, sourcing and financial plans)
- Resource, risk, exception and milestone management
- C-level and steering committee reporting
- Independent quality assurance and programme reviews covering planning, financial management, people, sourcing and technology
- Regulatory readiness: gap assessment and remediation planning
M&A Integration & Separation
- Integration Management Office (IMO) set-up
- Integration and carve-out planning
- Transition Services Agreement (TSA) design, pricing and exit
- Day 1 readiness
- Synergy realisation and tracking; stranded cost management
Executive Coaching
- Confidential 1:1 executive coaching for C-suite leaders and business unit heads
- Executive team alignment, high-performance dynamics and decision-making under pressure
- Leadership through complex transformation, post-merger integration and restructuring
- AI adoption leadership, cognitive transformation and managing organisational shift
- Change leadership, culture evolution and talent retention during critical transitions
Our Team
Boutique focus. Hands-on operator experience.
Where fintech ambition meets executable transformation. Aulay combines consulting discipline and operator perspective with senior, practical support for leaders who need clear choices, credible plans and delivery confidence.
Cross-industry depth
Experience across financial services and fintech, plus manufacturing, agri-business, mobility, consulting, technology and corporate transformation environments.
Business operator perspective
Practical experience building technology-enabled businesses from concept to market, bridging strategy and execution.
Cross-functional mobilisation
Ability to align internal and external C-suite executives covering product, engineering, sales, marketing, operations, logistics, procurement, finance, legal, and compliance.
Partnership and sourcing credibility
Experience shaping partner ecosystems, vendor economics, commercial strategy and make / buy / partner decisions.
Board-level confidence
Clear options, realistic roadmaps, executive reporting and unbiased trade-offs for senior decision-making.
About
Who you would work with
Senior experience, directly involved.
Claudio Romano
Claudio has a management consulting background (Deloitte, Accenture) with corporate development (UBS) and entrepreneurial experiences as a founder. He is comfortable operating across industries and different stages of growth, from early-stage to enterprise, with international experience across the UK, France, Switzerland, and Canada. Subject matter expertise in financial services and fintech.
Skills
Industries
Sophie Toumieux
Sophie combines an international career in investment banking (Merrill Lynch, RBS, Thomson Reuters, JP Morgan) with more than a decade of experience in executive coaching, cognitive transformation and organizational change. She works with executive teams and leaders across Europe and internationally to build high-performance cultures, navigate complex restructuring and adopt AI effectively, with human judgment at the center.
Skills
Industries
Languages
- FrenchNative
- EnglishFluent
Patrick Mackinlay
Patrick brings more than two decades of systems architecture and engineering leadership across tier-one investment banks, quantitative market makers, and high-performance technology ventures. His background includes leading electronic trading, FX algorithmic pricing, and distributed execution platforms at institutions such as HSBC, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Crédit Agricole, and DRW (Cumberland), alongside core systems engineering for the high-throughput database engine QuestDB. He specialises in low-latency architecture, real-time market infrastructure, and mission-critical distributed systems.
Skills
Industries
Languages
- EnglishNative
- ItalianNative
- FrenchFluent
Perspective
Transformation needs more than strategy.
Transformation now sits at the intersection of innovation, operating model design, partner ecosystems, technology delivery and governance. Aulay exists for leaders who need to convert that complexity into clear decisions, credible plans and practical execution.
Follow Aulay on LinkedInFAQ
Questions leaders ask before getting in touch
What does Aulay do?
Aulay is a boutique advisory firm for financial services and fintech. It helps leadership teams turn ambition into an executable plan and then delivers it, covering strategy, investment cases, technology and architecture, partner sourcing, programme leadership, go-to-market, risk and compliance, and M&A execution.
Who does Aulay work with?
Aulay works with banks, payment companies, asset and wealth managers, insurers, fintechs and the investors and partners around them. Typical clients are executive sponsors, chief operating officers, chief technology officers and founders who own a complex change and need senior, hands-on support to make it land.
Which countries does Aulay work in?
Aulay is based in London and Geneva and works internationally. Work is delivered on site and remotely, and engagements regularly span teams and vendors in several countries at once.
What are Aulay's service pillars?
Strategic Planning shapes the strategy and the operating model to deliver an ambition. Programme Leadership, Recovery & Assurance delivers complex change on time and on budget, with independent assurance along the way. M&A Integration & Separation runs from Day 1 to full value capture. Executive Coaching helps executive teams lead through high-stakes change and sustain performance.
How does an engagement typically start?
It starts with an introductory conversation about priorities and constraints. That is usually followed by a short scoping or diagnostic phase to frame the decisions and the plan. From there, Aulay either takes hands-on programme leadership or delivers a fixed-scope piece of work with a defined outcome.
How is Aulay different from a large consultancy?
Our consultants have worked for leading management consulting firms and have operator experience in fintech and financial services. They have strong end-customer focus and the communication skills required to work in multi-disciplinary cross-border teams at senior levels.
How do I get in touch?
Email info@aulayco.com, or use the contact form on this page. Aulay responds within 24 hours and starts with a short call to understand the context before providing a proposal.
Introductory conversation
Let's start with a focused conversation.
A short discussion to understand your priorities, current challenges and where Aulay may help.
Prefer to email?
claudio@aulayco.com