Payment Expert’s ID Check: Payments Professionals offers insight from industry leaders and experts on how they got their start in the financial industry, from their early years in education, to how they have been able to climb the corporate ladder.
This week, Dr. Seena Rejal, Chief Commercial Officer of NetMind.AI, opens up about understanding and applying two highly-complex emerging technologies; AI and Web3, and how he has been able to break these sectors down with conversation and commercial curiosity.
Where did you go to university and what did you study? What impact did this have on your current journey?
I studied Engineering at Trinity College in Cambridge, graduating top of my class, before completing a PhD in Manufacturing Engineering and Economic Policy.
That combination of technical rigour and systems-thinking has shaped everything: it taught me to understand how complex systems fit together, which is exactly the skill you need when navigating emerging technology ecosystems like AI-powered payments and Web3.
What first drew you to the payments industry and why have you stayed?
My entry point was Web3 and AI infrastructure. At NetMind.AI, payments and value transfer are fundamental to how the platform operates at the intersection of decentralised compute and AI services.
What keeps me engaged is that payments is one of the few domains where technological change has an immediate, tangible impact on how people and businesses transact. The stakes are real, and the innovation is relentless.
Are there any lessons from your first role in the industry which you still draw on?
The clearest lesson has been that in Web3-native payments, trust is the product. Users and partners need to believe in the system before they’ll transact through it. Building that trust commercially, not just technically, is something I think about in every partnership and go-to-market decision I make.
When was your first big break in the industry? Why was this such a significant moment for you?
Being appointed CCO at NetMind.AI placed me at the intersection of AI-as-a-Service and the Web3 payments infrastructure at a genuinely pioneering company. Building partnerships across that ecosystem quickly demonstrated that my background in deeptech commercialisation translated powerfully into this space.
Was there a moment you faced in the industry which really challenged you? How did you overcome this?
The biggest challenge was articulating a payments and value-transfer proposition that resonated with both traditional enterprise partners and Web3-native audiences simultaneously; two very different languages.
I overcame it by anchoring every conversation in practical outcomes rather than technology, which turned out to be the universal currency.
What are some of the skills you deem essential to starting in your industry and how have yours developed over the years?
The ability to bridge deep technology and commercial reality is essential. At NetMind.AI, I’ve had to do that daily across AI infrastructure, decentralised systems and payment mechanics. My years leading go-to-market strategy across deeptech ventures gave me the pattern recognition to move quickly in a space I was new to, without needing to reinvent the wheel.
Who was your biggest role model – inside or outside of your industry – who continues to inspire you in your current career?
Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize winner and pioneer of microfinance, is someone whose vision genuinely resonates with what we’re building at NetMind.AI. The idea that financial inclusion, giving everyone access to economic participation, is both a moral imperative and a viable business model is directly relevant to where Web3 payments is heading, and it’s a north star I keep coming back to.
If you didn’t work in the industry, what other career option would you have pursued or would have loved to?
Something at the intersection of policy and economic development. I’ve always been drawn to how nations evolve and develop culturally, economically and technologically, particularly under pressure and over a compressed time frame.
Lastly, what is some advice you would give to an aspiring person looking to get a start in your respective industry?
Don’t be put off by not having a traditional payments background. I came in through AI and Web3, and that outsider perspective has been an asset, not a handicap. Find the intersection where payments meets emerging technology, get as close to it as you can, and bring genuine commercial curiosity with you.
