Meet Melba Montague: Leadership, Growth and Finding Your Voice

When you join Endava, you join a community shaped by leaders who combine deep domain expertise with a people-first mindset. 

In this edition of our leadership spotlight, we speak with Melba Montague, Chief Growth Officer for Financial Services. With a career rooted in financial services and shaped by board-level experience, Melba brings both technical depth and strategic vision to her role, qualities that are essential as we drive responsible growth across the sector. 

 

You recently stepped into the role of Chief Growth Officer for Financial Services. What does that role mean in practice, and what excites you most about bringing our financial services community together? 

My role brings together our banking, capital markets, payments and insurance capabilities, uniting like-minded experts across the sector. 

I’ve always loved financial services; not just the technical side, but the service element. It’s an industry built on trust, collaboration and impact. That’s what’s kept me in it throughout my career. 

 

Since you joined Endava, what has stood out to you about the organisation and its people, and what do you value most about the way we work? 

I will describe it through one of my favourite moments at Endava. I was with the team in Krakow, and we were building a video for a client who was going to visit the following week. And within a couple of hours, the team put together the most incredible video, featuring all their own opinions. 

And at the end, one of our delivery leaders finished the video by looking straight into the camera and said to our new prospect client, ‘When you get one of us, you get all of us’. That was a really defining moment within Endava.  

 

As you’ve grown into senior leadership roles, what have you learned about finding your voice, building influence and showing up with confidence? 

Very early in my career, as a trainee accountant, I received feedback that I ‘lacked gravitas’. Looking back, I understand it differently now. 

I realised I was staying within my swim lane. I would contribute when it was my agenda item and then retreat into the shadows when it wasn’t. I was technically competent, but invisible in the wider leadership conversation.  

Leadership isn’t about dominating a room. It’s about engaging the whole room. It’s asking questions beyond your direct remit. It’s praising peers publicly. It’s celebrating when someone else wins a deal. It’s showing curiosity about the bigger picture. 

Ironically, lifting others up is what makes you stand out. 

That was a real ‘aha’ moment in my career. 

 

The financial services industry is undergoing rapid change, particularly with the rise of AI. From your perspective, how is AI reshaping it? 

AI is one of the most significant shifts we’ve seen in financial services in decades, but it’s not just about automation or cost efficiency. AI is not just a technical shift; it's a cultural shift. 

For banks, insurers and payments providers, AI is about smarter decision-making, better customer outcomes and more effective risk management. It has the power to reshape underwriting, fraud detection, customer service and credit modelling, but also regulatory compliance and consumer protection. 

Financial services operate on trust. AI must enhance that trust, not undermine it. 

That means governance, transparency, explainability, and asking not just ‘Can we do this’? but ‘Should we’? and ‘How do we do this responsibly’? 

Growth in this space isn’t about chasing technology for its own sake. It’s about applying AI in ways that create meaningful, sustainable impact and outcomes for our customers and society. 

 

For women building their careers in financial services or technology today, what advice can you share, especially when it comes to confidence, visibility and navigating feedback? 

Look out for each other. Lift each other up. Advocate for your peers, whether they’re women or men. Leadership is not a solo sport. 

And don’t hide in your swim lane. 

Be curious beyond your remit. Engage. Celebrate others. Ask questions. Show up in the room, even when it’s not ‘your’ moment on the agenda. That’s how you grow.