In this episode of the UKAI Women in AI Podcast, Zahra sits down with Lida Cepuch — a technologist-turned-governance heavyweight whose career has zig-zagged through derivatives trading floors, complex risk management, and the boardrooms of some of Europe’s most regulated financial institutions.

Lida cuts through the usual platitudes and lays out the raw mechanics of building a career at the intersection of technology, finance, and governance, starting from her early days in computer science at the University of Waterloo (back when coding required punched cards) all the way to shaping AI strategy for a UK-regulated alternative investment manager.

Across this conversation you’ll hear about:

Surviving Black Monday (1987) and making decisions with imperfect information

Remote team leadership long before Zoom made it fashionable

How technological literacy became her most valuable long-term asset

The structural reasons girls fall out of STEM at age 11–12

Why governance around AI is still a conceptual minefield

How allyship, networks, and unvarnished mentorship shape a career

The reality of navigating male-dominated rooms in the 80s and 90s

Raising four children while handling high-volatility roles in finance

Her current project Lectern, using AI to help families save for education

Why society cannot afford a generation priced out of university

How AI can support — rather than distort — education, decision-making, and equity

Lita also speaks frankly about personal challenges, and how resilience, clarity of thought, and a deep network of mentors carried her through chaotic inflection points — from 9/11 to market collapses.

If you’re interested in:
AI governance, female leadership in finance, long-term strategy, risk, education policy, or the hard practicalities of deploying AI responsibly, this episode is essential.

Connect with Lita: linkedin.com/in/lidacepuch

Subscribe to the UKAI Women in AI Podcast for more conversations with the women shaping the future of AI — not in theory, but in the bruising, high-stakes world where technology meets power.

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