---
title: "Outlook 2019: Vafa Vahid, New Bridge Consulting"
description: Fintech spending set to increase, but will skew to proven technologies.
---

[Articles Marketmedia](https://articles.marketsmedia.com)

# [Outlook 2019: Vafa Vahid, New Bridge Consulting](https://articles.marketsmedia.com/outlook-2019-vafa-vahid-new-bridge-consulting)

 Written by [Rob Daly](https://articles.marketsmedia.com/author/rdaly) | Jan 8, 2019 5:53:31 PM

*Vafa Vahid is a partner at New Bridge Consulting Group.*

 Vafa Vahid,   
New Bridge Consulting

**How should 2019 be known?**

The new year will be known as “The Year of Increasing Middle- and Back-Office Efficiency Through Innovation.” It will not be through traditional headcount/expense reduction methods that are centered on cost arbitrage— traditional brute force methods.

**What is the next major watershed for the industry?**

It will be the spread of GDPR-like privacy rules to the US.

**What was the most important lesson learned in 2018?**

Speculative bubbles always pop from the Tulips bulb bubble in Amsterdam in the year 1637 to cryptocurrencies in 2018.

**Which hot topics should be left in 2018?**

That would be blockchain immediately gaining widespread adoption

**Will 2019 will be the ’Year of Institutional Crypto?”**  
 It will not be due to a lack of market structure, regulation liquidity, and demand.

**Will fintech spending rise, plateau, or trail off this year?**

Fintech investment will continue to rise in 2019 due to billions of investor dollars sitting on the sidelines. However, the investments will skew towards more mature fintechs

**What will be the skill sets most in demand in 2019?**

Highly skilled technologists will continue to be in demand, and we anticipate a return to high demand for general management skills to complement the subject matter experts in senior positions.

[View full post](https://articles.marketsmedia.com/outlook-2019-vafa-vahid-new-bridge-consulting)

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