Diego Ignacio Cáceres Saldaña

“I’m great at making ceviche, it’s my specialty and my favourite way to share my culture”

Hometown: Piura, Peru

Undergraduate School and Major: Universidad de Piura – BSc Industrial & Systems Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Mastercard – Manager, Implementations

What makes London such a great place to earn an MBA degree?

London is one of the few places in the world where business, technology and culture intersect so naturally. Coming from Latin America and working in fintech, I’ve found London to be both a global laboratory for financial innovation and a city that embraces international perspectives. You can discuss AI ethics with a classmate in the morning, meet a startup founder in the afternoon and attend an industry event in the evening… all along the same tube line.

What makes London truly special is its constant movement. The density of ideas, people and opportunities creates an environment where learning continues long after you leave the classroom.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Imperial Business School’s MBA curriculum and programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you?

The decisive factor for me was Imperial’s identity as a Business School embedded within a science and technology driven university. I wanted an MBA that would challenge me analytically while placing me close to innovation, and Imperial’s curriculum is built exactly around that balance.

The integration of analytics, innovation and real-world project work stood out immediately. The opportunity to learn alongside engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs at South Kensington creates a uniquely interdisciplinary environment. For someone who has implemented fintech products across Latin America, I knew this blend of strategy and technology was the right next step.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Imperial Business School?

I’m especially excited about joining the Entrepreneurial Journey and working closely with the Imperial Enterprise Lab. This project will allow me to work an idea into a product or service that I’ll then pitch to a panel of venture capitalists.

My background is in launching digital payment solutions across multiple markets. Now I want to take that experience and explore product ideas at the intersection of fintech, inclusion and digital ecosystems. The Enterprise Lab’s mentorship, workshops and access to technical talent across Imperial will allow me to test and refine ideas in a way that’s both structured and creative.

The Imperial MBA is known to strike a balance between core business knowledge and skills that emphasize vision, judgment, and innovation. What area do you hope to strengthen during your year of business school and why?

I want to strengthen my strategic leadership capabilities, especially in environments where decisions must be made with imperfect information.

My professional experience has been very hands-on: coordinating banks, merchants, developers and global product teams to launch complex payment solutions. Executing at that level taught me how to deliver, but now I want to elevate that perspective into shaping the strategy behind the execution.

Imperial’s blend of analytics, decision-making and innovation-focused coursework is exactly the training I need to evolve from an operator who “makes things happen” to a leader who defines what should happen and why.

What is your unique quality that will enable you to make a big contribution to the Class of 2026?

I’m a connector. I naturally bring people together across cultures, functions and perspectives.

Working across 10+ countries in Latin America taught me how to align diverse stakeholders, balance competing priorities and communicate clearly between technical and non-technical teams. That same instinct translates well into the MBA classroom: I’m the teammate who keeps discussions grounded, clarifies complex ideas and helps turn concepts into workable plans.

The Imperial MBA is also known for its strong emphasis on technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Why does the program’s focus on technological insights and mindful leadership appeal to you? How have been able to leverage this approach in your career so far?

Fintech moves fast, but trust in the products can be slow, and both sides matter. That’s why Imperial’s focus on technology combined with mindful leadership resonated strongly with me. In my career, launching solutions across Latin America required not only technical understanding but also thoughtful leadership. Whenever we introduced a new product, I tried to consider its broader implications: consumer trust, unintended behaviours, onboarding simplicity and long-term inclusion.

Whether it was redesigning integration processes at a fintech startup or guiding banks through major payment rail changes, I’ve always believed that innovation should be both ambitious and responsible. Imperial’s philosophy reflects that balance.

When you think of Imperial, what is the first word that comes to mind? 

Driven. What strikes me most about Imperial is how motivated everyone is – students, faculty and researchers alike. It’s a place where people come with a purpose, and that energy pushes you to raise your own standards.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far:

My biggest accomplishment has been leading the rollout of key digital payment solutions across Latin America, including tokenization projects and the onboarding of more than 30 financial institutions into Peru’s Immediate Payment System (IPS).

The technical coordination was demanding – aligning banks, fintechs and multiple product teams – but what made this project stand out is the impact it had on people’s daily lives. For the first time, millions of Peruvians could send and receive money instantly across different platforms, no matter which app they used.

Seeing how that change helped small businesses get paid faster, reduce reliance on cash and made everyday transactions easier for families is the reason I consider it my biggest accomplishment. It reminded me that behind every integration call or timeline negotiation, there are real people whose lives improve when payment systems work better.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Imperial Business School’s MBA program?

Be clear and honest about why Imperial specifically aligns with your goals, not just in terms of prestige, but in how its strengths match your next steps.

Show that you value the Imperial’s commitment to innovation, analytics and problem solving. Reflect on your journey, your motivations and where you hope to grow. And most importantly, speak to current students or alumni; those conversations will help you understand the culture and decide whether Imperial is the right environment to take your next leap.

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