Dr Hossein Sharif

Overview

Dr Hossein Sharif is Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence and FinTech. He is Head of the FinTech Innovation Lab and Programme Director for the MSc in Project Management, Finance & Risk.

His research examines how emerging technologies — artificial intelligence and machine learning, generative AI and large language models, distributed ledger technology and crypto-assets — are reshaping the infrastructure of financial services. He works particularly at the point where technical feasibility meets institutional adoption: what actually gets deployed inside banks, regulators and financial technology firms, on what evidence, and against what constraints.

The FinTech Innovation Lab

Dr Sharif leads the FinTech Innovation Lab, which brings together researchers working on applied problems set with and for the financial industry. Current themes include credit scoring and the use of alternative data in credit risk assessment; personal finance, financial wellbeing and consumer financial decision-making; the design, resilience and security of advanced payment systems; and blockchain and crypto-asset applications across financial infrastructure. The Lab works on a partnership model, combining doctoral and postdoctoral research with industry-embedded projects, prototypes and independent evaluation studies.

Background

Dr Sharif joined City St George's in 2023, following more than two decades spanning industry leadership, entrepreneurship and academic research. He was Chief Technology Officer of CreDA (Credit Data Alliance), leading an international team of 25 engineers building a decentralised credit rating system designed to link on-chain activity with traditional credit assessment. At Imperial College London's Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering he worked with Professor William Knottenbelt on blockchain applications in agri-food supply chains, developing prototype systems in Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Iroha with Dunbia and Breedr. From 2018 to 2023 he established and led a dedicated research group on blockchain, cryptocurrencies and FinTech, convening over twenty academics from across disciplines.

Earlier, he founded and directed SEERIO, a research and innovation consultancy of more than seventy researchers, engineers and consultants serving public and private sector clients, and was Director of Innovation & Analytics at Femto, delivering market analytics and customer segmentation for banking and telecommunications clients alongside EY, McKinsey and Deloitte. He has advised chief executives and investors on the design and governance of crypto-asset and blockchain ventures.

Education and professional standing

Dr Sharif holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Manchester and a First Class BEng in Computer Science and Electronic Engineering from the University of Liverpool, where he graduated top of his course, department and faculty. He is the winner of the William Rathbone Medal (2003) and the IEE Prize (2003). He has completed executive programmes at MIT Sloan School of Management and the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School.

He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and serves on the editorial boards of a number of acdemic journals. He teaches advanced postgraduate courses in big data and financial technology, and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research.

Collaboration and supervision

Dr Sharif actively seeks new research partnerships and welcomes approaches from:

• Academic collaborators — co-authored research, joint applications to UKRI, Innovate UK, Horizon Europe and equivalent international schemes, and co-supervision arrangements with partner institutions.
• Visiting researchers and academics on sabbatical, whom the FinTech Innovation Lab is able to host.
• Banks, financial institutions, FinTech firms and start-ups interested in sponsored research, proof-of-concept development, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, funded doctoral studentships, student placements and guest teaching.
• Prospective PhD candidates working on AI and machine learning applications in finance, credit risk and alternative data, payment systems, or blockchain and crypto-asset infrastructure.

Enquiries are welcome at Hossein.Sharif@citystgeorges.ac.uk

Research interests: artificial intelligence in financial services · machine learning and credit scoring · alternative data and credit risk · generative AI and large language models in finance · personal finance and financial wellbeing · payment systems · blockchain and distributed ledger technology · crypto-assets and decentralised finance · agent-based modelling and simulation · technology and innovation management

Teaching

Big Data in Finance INM447

Delivering Big Data in Finance module for Masters students undertaking the FinTech Programme