As Web3-based technologies penetrate banks and other financial institutions, companies are revising old roles and allocating new positions.
What is Web3 and why it matters
Web3 (or Web 3.0) is a next-generation Internet concept built on blockchain, decentralization and cryptography technologies. Unlike the current Web2, where platforms like social networks and marketplaces are controlled by large companies, in Web3 users themselves own their data, digital assets and can directly interact with each other without intermediaries.
The main elements of the Web3:
- Blockchain – a distributed database in which all transactions are recorded (for example, transactions with cryptocurrencies).
- Digital financial assets (DFAs) – tokens, cryptocurrencies, digital financial instruments that can be stored and transferred on the blockchain.
- Smart contracts – self-executing programs that automatically fulfill the terms of the transaction when the specified conditions are met.
- Decentralized applications (dApps) – services running on the blockchain without a single central operator (for example, DeFi protocols for trading, staking, and lending).
Web3 is already used in finance: for cross-border payments, working with digital assets, creating DeFi protocols (financial services that work without intermediaries).
After the launch of the law on the regulation of cryptocurrency turnover in Russia, we expect that the demand for digital currencies will multiply, as well as new investors will appear – individuals, mutual funds, etc. Expecting this trend, companies are increasingly coming with a request to integrate solutions in the field of digital finance, but most projects run into the same barrier: who within the company will support, configure, control and accompany all this? Teams, as a rule, do not have the necessary skills and knowledge.
So, to work with technology, Web3 business needs to revise the content of roles and introduce new positions. Let’s figure out which ones.
Risk managers
A serious barrier to the development of the digital financial assets market is associated with the analysis of the risks of using Web3 technologies. Financial institutions must learn to work not just with cryptocurrencies, but with complex financial crypto tools. Such as DeFi protocols or cryptocurrency staking (analogue of a deposit). At the same time, the assessment of risks in the field of digital assets has little in common with classical practices.
In conventional banking, the risk manager looks at the client’s rating, collateral, volatility, dynamics of past periods. To work with DeFi protocols, he needs specific knowledge. It is important to understand how smart contracts work, to be able to assess the risk of financial losses of liquidity providers during staking and the behavior of oracles (services that connect blockchain and smart contracts to the outside world). And finally, predict what will happen to the blockchain protocol if everyone rushes to withdraw assets. The base of the traditional economic school helps, but only as a start. Further, specialists need serious retraining and deep immersion in the topic.
If a bank or financial institution does not understand how to manage risks in a particular instrument, then it will not be able to work with this instrument. Risk managers who previously focused only on fiat flows should be able to read confidently blockchain analytics, understand what the Travel Rule is, track onchain activity and control the functions of a tax agent.
Some teams already allocate small groups for Web3 risks. And the difference in the speed of decisions is felt immediately.
Moreover, in the near future there will be a need for special roles. For example:
- Web3 Data Officer – an employee who works with online data, draws practical meaning from it and embeds it into business solutions.
- Web3 AML Officer – a Web3 compliance specialist who specializes in classic AML, taking into account the characteristics of decentralized protocols.
- Cybersecurity experts who close Web3 vulnerabilities typical of blockchain.
AI orchestrators
The trend that is actively developing in the West is programmable stablecoins and agent economics. These are virtual money that can be customized for specific operations, as well as AI agents capable of making payments on their own according to predetermined rules and algorithms.
Google is now experimenting in this direction with the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), which supports stablecoins, and MetaMask. Similar initiatives are developed by Stripe (Machine Payments Protocol / MPP) and Mastercard (Agent Pay).
How does it work? The AI agent sees that the contract has been fulfilled according to all conditions, and automatically pays the supplier. A human person sets rules, monitors security, and parses exceptions. Such automation is the ability to create financial processes for a specific business. Exporters, for example, can simplify significantly external and internal settlements.
The development of such scenarios requires employees who can be called orchestrators of AI agents. Such a specialist understands how agents interact with each other, determines the logic of smart contracts, selects suitable tools, programmable stablecoins or other crypto assets.
For the Russian market, this is still a prospect – the trend has not fully reached us. But when such solutions begin to be used in cross-border payments or internal processes of companies, AI orchestrators will be in great demand.
How and what to learn
The question managers are facing is: where to get specialists for new roles? Classical learning in isolation from real tasks loses its effectiveness. The digital finance industry is developing much faster than the education system and the corporate sector manage to train qualified personnel.
Therefore, it is better for young specialists to get immediately internships in teams that implement real projects. For those who already work in the industry and want to rebuild, the path is similar – practice plus competent use of AI tools. You can get experience working on real projects within the framework of corporate educational programs and additional courses in universities that provide internships in specialized companies. Fintech companies and banks that enter the cryptocurrency market should look at employee profiles in a new way. Searching, or even better, raising specialists who understand the capabilities and risks of the Web3 industry, digital assets and compliance, and understand how to work with data and agent systems.
By Kirill Antonov, Web3 Tech Development Director