In holding the position of Global Head of Global Business Services at Standard Chartered Bank, Matthew Norris pioneered technological innovation in a “non-CIO” role.

With the client journey front and centre, Norris pivoted the organisation from a traditional shared services model to an end-to-end aligned customer journey model.

Promoting new ways of working, Norris’ strategy placed emphasis on business agility and client co-creation, leveraging “fit for purpose” technology and innovative initiatives such as SuperCharger - the world’s first accelerator dedicated to both global fintech start-ups and scale-ups.

Central to this was transforming the department from a traditional operations back-office relying on low-cost labour to housing a “technological best-in-class” ecosystem, evident through the Collective Intelligence and Command Centre (CnC), a Digital Lean and Robotics Centre of Excellence (GBS X) and aXess Labs and Academy.

Specifically, CnC was designed to be the nerve centre of the bank, providing situational awareness, predictive analytics and response management. The centre is staffed by software engineers, cyber security experts and operations specialists who are physically co-located with a real-time view of the bank’s worldwide transactions.

Meanwhile, GBS X is a multi-faceted innovation centre of excellence for group operations across Standard Chartered Group, with core competencies including lean digital, robotics process automation and data science, in addition to machine learning, Python, chat bots and blockchain technologies.

Furthermore, aXess Labs and Academy enables co-creation and experimentation with “cutting-edge technologies”, alongside accelerating ideation for clients. Labs offer new technologies such as like blockchain, Internet of Things, 3D printing, facial recognition and analytics capabilities.

The multi-year transformation, spearheaded by Norris, focused on delivering three key pillars, spanning client and business; technology and process as well as people and culture.

To achieve this, Norris developed leading technology solutions integrated across the bank, backed up by a focus on talent development, learning and empowerment to attract and retain top talents within the organisation.