Greater London, England, United Kingdom
For more than 25 years I have worked at the intersection of payments, financial services and technology, involved/leading transformation initiatives, shaping architecture and keeping critical systems stable in complex, regulated environments. My focus has always been practical: solutions that scale, hold up under pressure and genuinely improve how people and organisations operate.Two principles have consistently guided my approach. The first is that the best technology solutions are those people choose to use, not because they are told to, but because they are designed so well that adoption becomes natural. The second is that what already exists is rarely without value. Legacy systems and established processes usually carry hard-won institutional knowledge, and the most responsible path to the future is one that builds thoughtfully on what works rather than replacing it reflexively.When leading change, I anchor decision-making in outcomes: what will this deliver for real users, and is the benefit tangible and lasting? That discipline becomes especially important in environments where priorities compete and resources are finite. Across all of it, my goal has remained the same, to use technology as a means to solve real business problems and move organisations forward, through decisions that are clear, considered and built to last.
Deputising for the Head of IT and holding broad regional accountability across EMEA, this role meant operating in practice as the senior bridge between regulatory expectations and operational reality. Covering core banking, payments, AML, regulatory reporting, treasury, data and infrastructure, the work required equal parts analytical leadership and organisational authority, translating the expectations of the FCA, the Bank of England and multiple national authorities into standards and systems the business could meet, evidence and sustain. Leading cross-functional teams across internal disciplines and external partners, the focus was threefold: keeping critical payment services reliable for the consumers and businesses that depend on them; modernising infrastructure in a way that preserved what worked while enabling what was needed; and strengthening controls through rigorous analysis of risk, data and regulatory change. Every significant decision began with the same question: what does this need to deliver, for whom, and how will we know it has worked? The clearest illustration of that approach was the overhaul of the bank's payment screening capability, replacing a legacy batch process with real-time, cross-border screening, reducing false positives by 94%. The number matters less than what it represented: a fundamental improvement in compliance quality and a materially better experience for legitimate payment users previously caught in the friction of an imprecise system. A similar logic drove the adoption of an automated reconciliation platform that brought straight-through processing to 80% of transactions, reducing operational risk, but more importantly giving regulators and management data they could actually trust. Across both, and across the broader modernisation programmes delivered without disruption to live services, the value lay not in the technology itself but in the rigour of the analysis that preceded every decision.
Expanded scope from single-branch delivery to multi-country programme leadership, managing a team of analysts responsible for technology change across multiple EMEA branches. Working directly with compliance, risk, operations and senior leadership, the role demanded the ability to translate complex regulatory, commercial and operational requirements into solutions that firms could adopt, sustain and evidence, in jurisdictions where the regulatory context, business culture and operational reality were rarely the same. Key contributions included defining the business and technical model for a cross-border Money Transfer Marketplace using open APIs to extend payment accessibility for retail customers; leading the end-to-end requirements and procurement process for an enhanced AML and due diligence platform across the region; and delivering a multi-branch document and content management platform on time and within budget. What connected all three was a commitment to building solutions that worked in practice, not just in design, and that regulators and auditors could scrutinise with confidence.
Built the foundations of a career in payments from the ground up, translating business, regulatory and user requirements into product launches, distribution partnerships and compliance programmes across Italy, Brazil and wider European markets. At a time when cross-border remittance and digital payment channels were still taking shape, this role provided direct, hands-on experience of what it takes to bring regulated payment products to market, balancing what regulators required, what users needed and what the business could actually deliver. Key contributions included designing the requirements for a remittance product that captured approximately 15% market share within its first year; extending its reach through a distribution partnership with Poste Italiane across more than 16,000 branches; defining product and compliance requirements for a new debit card launch in Italy; and supporting the AML certification programmes that underpinned the bank's regulatory standing. Each of these required the same discipline: understand the problem fully before proposing a solution, and ensure the solution holds up when regulators look closely.
Provided technology consultancy to financial institutions across infrastructure and applications, working closely with clients to understand their operational needs and translate them into fit-for-purpose solutions. This early exposure to the technology challenges of regulated financial environments established the practical, outcomes-first approach that has shaped every role since.