Strategic Transformation Leader in Financial Services
I'm a strategic transformation leader in Financial Services with a passion for implementing cutting-edge technology solutions that drive real business value.
I'm a former Group Chief Digital Officer and CTO with a track record delivering technology, digital and cultural change in large organisations in the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East.
I led the bank's transformation agenda, including all information technology/core, cyber security, digital, programme management, marketing, FinTech & Open Banking, AI/Data, innovation, customer experience & process re-engineering.
At the largest systemically important bank in Northern Europe, I was responsible for creating and driving the bank's 3-year digital transformation plan. I championed the introduction of AI, ML, data analytics and the move to the cloud (front and back office). I also established Nordea Ventures to invest directly into FinTechs to underpin and support the bank's franchises. My most exciting outcome was portfolio company Tink's exit for $1.8B.
I've led digital change agendas for companies such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide Building Society and the global events giant, Reed Exhibitions.
I was born in Scotland, moved to England aged 9 and grew up near London. I finished my studies at University College London in 1999, then founded a dotcom startup, raised $1m and proceeded to spend my twenties and early thirties building several successful digital service start-ups.
Although I can speak plain English, I'm also a total geek. I was practising DevOps and SaaS before they were terms we all knew. I'm a coder - I'm more or less fluent in PHP and I wrote the code for all of my start-ups myself using the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack - some of which supported millions of users and transactions.
You can find me online writing for:
Interested in discussing how I can help transform your organisation? Available for C-suite appointments and strategic advisory roles.