Former PayPal and Barclays strategist Sarah Clark joins Public Digital board

Public Digital recently announced the appointment of Sarah Clark as a non-executive director. She sits with Consultancy.uk to discuss Public Digital’s future plans.

You’ve worked across global corporations, scale-ups, venture-backed businesses and now several boards. Looking back across your career, what experiences have most shaped your perspective on leadership?

There have been a few experiences that have particularly shaped my views on leadership.

Working for the Virgin Group taught me the value of empowerment. One of the principles was “first to know, best to deal with”, trusting front line teams to resolve customer issues because they have the greatest context and insight. It also reinforced the importance of different perspectives and recognising that no one has the monopoly on good ideas, meaningful contribution can come from anywhere.

At PayPal, when I was GM for Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, I led a team that was geographically dispersed and culturally diverse. I understood they were the experts in their respective markets and my role was to ensure they had the resources and support required to be successful, rather than to tell them what to do. It’s a form of ‘servant leadership’, but to me it’s a continuation of that same philosophy of empowerment.  

Growth creates opportunities, but also new challenges. What have you learnt about scaling a business while preserving the qualities that made it successful in the first place? 

It’s a tricky balance to strike as a business grows and needs to implement more structure and processes. I think maintaining a clear vision of the value the business brings to its customers and using that as a guiding light, in a “does this make the boat go faster?” kind of way, helps keep people aligned and minimises unnecessary complexity.

The key is to make sure those new processes support the mission rather than becoming an end in themselves. 

When technologies such as mobile payments and cryptocurrencies first emerged during your time at PayPal, organisations faced difficult decisions about where to invest and how quickly to move. Do you see any parallels with the conversations leaders are having about AI today? 

There definitely are some similarities, although I think the breadth and speed of AI’s impact are on another scale.

A key lesson I learned during the emergence of mobile payments was to keep a broad perspective. One of the biggest shifts in consumer payments in the last 15 years was Uber embedding payments into its app, completely changing customer expectations around seamless transactions. The innovation didn’t come from a payments company, and there is a clear parallel with AI today. Organisations that focus only on their direct competitors or industry risk missing wider shifts.  

The rise of crypto highlighted the importance of separating hype from reality. While there was enormous initial excitement about its potential, widespread consumer adoption for payments never materialised. It reinforced the importance of focusing on technologies that solve real problems rather than pursuing innovation for its own sake.

I think the same principle applies to AI. It can deliver genuine benefits, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. The organisations that will benefit most are likely to be those that stay open to innovation while remaining focused on where AI can create meaningful value for customers and employees.

How should leaders navigate the trade-offs between growth, efficiency and innovation?

I’m not convinced that it is always a question of trade-offs. Often, these priorities can be mutually reinforcing. You generally need innovation to drive efficiency and growth, while efficiency can free up resources to drive innovation.

As leaders, we need to think carefully about sequencing, maintaining focus and accountability, being clear about the expected outcomes we are trying to achieve, and measuring progress against them. Strategy is as much about what you don’t do as what you do, and having the discipline to prioritise rigorously is essential. 

You’ve held leadership roles across a range of organisations including PayPal, Barclays, Virgin and Clearco. Are there any leadership lessons that you believe apply regardless of sector? 

Much of my management philosophy stems from studying the feudal system as part of my medieval history degree. Feudal lords had three core responsibilities to their tenants, and I think there are clear parallels with leadership today:

• A church - providing a clear vision of where the organisation is going.
• A school - giving people the skills, capabilities and tools they need to succeed.
• An army - protecting teams from external noise and distractions so they can focus on delivering.

I think those principles hold true regardless of the industry or organisation you’re leading.

As Public Digital continues to grow, where do you see the biggest opportunities for the business over the coming years?

I think there are two opportunities for growth. The first is geographic expansion, where Public Digital’s expertise and experience have relevance well beyond its existing markets. The second is helping more private sector organisations tackle challenges that increasingly mirror those faced by governments, particularly around transformation, service design and digital capability.

What attracted you to Public Digital, and why did this feel like the right moment to join the Board as a Non-Executive Director?

I was attracted to the scale of impact that PD’s work has on people’s lives. It’s rare to find an organisation that combines commercial success with such a clear public purpose

With the business at an important stage in its growth story, I hope my experience of scaling businesses will help it to avoid the mistakes I have made, or seen others make elsewhere.