Isabel Naidoo

Since joining Wise, Isabel Naidoo has driven a bold people strategy focused on attracting and inspiring global talent to fuel the company’s mission and growth. Her leadership centres on three pillars: building future skills, creating an irresistible employee experience, and optimising ways of working.

Under Isabel’s direction, Wise’s talent acquisition team has scaled rapidly, increasing sourcing volumes by 60% and reducing aged roles by 45% in 2024. She has championed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), boosting representation of women (52% overall, 46% in leadership) and ethnic minorities (40% overall, 32% in leadership). Wise now ranks in the top 5% of tech companies for inclusion.

Isabel has enhanced employee engagement, positioning Wise in the top 25% of tech companies globally. Transparency and clear career pathways drive a top-tier employee value proposition. Workspace redesigns, informed by data, improved satisfaction and earned multiple Leesman+ awards.

She revamped key rituals such as biannual Mission Days, engaging 75% of employees and strengthening alignment with strategic goals. Isabel’s Leadership Strengths programme empowers over 100 senior leaders through personalised development journeys.

Isabel’s innovative people team emphasises customer centricity, data-driven decision making, and working smart. Tech innovations cut recruitment time drastically, while new analytics tools ensure HR efforts align with business impact.

Through visionary leadership, Isabel has transformed Wise’s people function into a high-impact, data-led, and inclusive operation that fuels growth and sets industry standards for HR excellence.