The loss of chief innovation officer Neil Cross is a tough blow for DBS. fintech.asia takes a look at the two individuals taking the reins after his departure.
On Monday, after five years leading DBS' digital transformation, tech evangelist Neil Cross announced his departure from the bank to devote more of his time on the two social enterprises he established in Indonesia, which focus on land and ocean-based conservation, as well as Picture Wealth, the Australian wealth fintech firm he co-founded with David Petit several years ago.
He leaves behind a legacy. According to Euromoney, «DBS has approached everything through the filter of disruption and technology. When it launches a new product, it does so like a tech company, with beta versions it updates constantly as the bank learns from what the market is telling it. It takes every process it can and puts it on the public cloud.»
In an email to finews.asia, DBS confirmed that innovation at the bank would continue to be overseen by the Transformation Group headed by Paul Cobban, the bank's Chief Data and Transformation Officer who has been with DBS since 2009. At the same time, DBS has promoted innovation ecosystems head Bidyut Dumra to the Head of Innovation and innovation management head Mark Evans to lead Experience Strategy.
Startup Culture
Maintaining DBS' reputation as the «World's Best Digital Bank» (Euromoney 2016, 2018) and the «Best Bank in the World» (Global Finance, 2018) won't be easy, but Dumra and Evans, who both have backgrounds in strategy and consulting, can be expected to continue the startup culture DBS has created in recent years that has allowed for experimentation and rapid iteration of ideas.
Dumra joined DBS in 2016, having previously led innovation at Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong and managed a technology delivery team for Hong Kong power company CLP, while lending his hand to a variety of media, entertainment and lifestyle businesses, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Evans also joined DBS in 2016, and was previously based in Shanghai, where he held a digital strategy role at advertising agency Blue Hive before moving to rival R/GA. At the same time, he was involved with the startup scene in the city, having been a mentor for startups and running workshops, hackathons and events for technologists and entrepreneurs.
