Head of Research; Banking & Payments

Evident is an intelligence platform that benchmarks and tracks AI adoption across the financial services sector. Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of AI across the sector by creating the most complete, unbiased and transparent public benchmarks of AI capability.

Since the launch of our flagship product in January 2023, the Evident AI Index has rapidly become the global standard benchmark for AI maturity in financial services.

We’re a Future Fifty company

Evident is a Future Fifty 2026 company, recognised by Tech Nation alongside some of the UK’s most ambitious and fast-growing technology businesses. With a team nearing 100 and a growing global client base, we’re entering an exciting next chapter of growth.

• We are index experts. Our Co-Founders Alexandra Mousavizadeh and Annabel Ayles have more than 30 years of experience building complex indices that drive positive change in the world
• We are building a cutting edge research team that uses the latest techniques in machine learning to build faster and better data collection and analysis tools
• We’ve been backed by some of the world’s leading tech investors, including the backers of Revolut and the tech commentator Scott Galloway
• We’re working with some of the world's largest banks, helping them shape their AI strategies impacting millions of customers

If you are interested in advancing your career at a fast-growing, innovative and impact-driven company, you can read about Our Values and Our Commitment to Responsible AI. Our commitment s to diversity and inclusion are set out at the end of this job description.

To that end, we are searching for a Head of Research (Banking & Payments) to execute and deliver research insights tailored to a sector‑specific audience.

Leveraging the data produced by the Evident AI Index (as well as private surveys), this role will be responsible for end‑to‑end production of original research insights – spanning ideation, research design, hypothesis testing, analysis, authorship, and delivery of key insights.

The ideal candidate will combine proficiency in research with technical expertise acquired through past work with leading global banks (either directly or on a consulting basis). Ultimately, the Head of Research will be expected to define the changing parameters of “frontier” AI applications and pace of deployment within the enterprise – by building out a supporting team of junior analysts to go deeper into individual lines of business.

Successful candidates will demonstrate equal comfort with quantitative (data) and qualitative (interview) methods and sources. Most of all, we’re looking for candidates that exhibit intense intellectual curiosity and a passion for data‑driven storytelling.

• Research Content
• Author a Key Findings Report in tandem with an updated ranking release, including:
  Banking, Payments, and Regional perspectives (MEA, LATAM)
• On a periodic basis, update the thematic research trackers in coordination with the cross‑sector research analysts (Uses Case tracker, Research Tracker, Ventures and Partnerships Tracker) - In the next 3 months this will include the Use Case Tracker for Q3 (Including Latam and MEA use cases) and the Ventures and Partnerships tracker
• Maintain a State of AI x Banking briefing deck that includes: hypothesis‑based trends, latest overview of use case landscape, recent examples of “frontier” use cases, and curated topics of critical enablers (previewing future inputs into the next ranking release) in coordination with the Managing Director of Banking & Payments
• Create presentation materials for Banking & Payments Round tables (Latam in September, Banking Index in October, and others throughout the year) in coordination with the Head of Research