Sean Albertson is the Head of Client Experience Measurement & Analytics at Charles Schwab. Sean and his team provide analysis and actionable insights to leaders within the Investor Services, Advisor Services and Digital Services business units. In addition to traditional survey and research, Sean drives journey & text analytics strategies across Schwab’s contact channels.

Rahul Agarwal has over 20 years of cross-industry experience in strategy consulting, enterprise transformation and product management. As part of Wells Fargo’s Corporate Risk Strategy team, he has been involved in a multi-year transformational journey to strengthen, rationalize, simplify and automate the risk framework, policies, processes and technology. He is located in Raleigh, NC.

Suresh is a highly experienced Technology and Data executive leader with a diverse background that encompasses Software Engineering, Data Engineering, Data Analytics, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning. He has accumulated more than 23 years of expertise across various sectors, including Financial Services, Retail, Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Insurance. His career has seen him contribute to prominent organizations such as Bank of America, ODP Corporation, Medtronic, and Wipro.

Throughout his career, Suresh has demonstrated his thought leadership and innovation in the technology field. He has a track record of developing innovative and cost-effective technology products and solutions. These innovations have consistently driven improvements in customer acquisition, engagement, and retention strategies.

Moreover, Suresh has taken on various leadership roles where he played a pivotal role in shaping product vision, strategy, and execution. He has been instrumental in driving cutting-edge digital initiatives within his organizations, aligning them with the ever-evolving technological landscape.

Alethea Avatara is a product executive with 30 years of experience in Cards and Merchant Services. She is currently leading business transformation initiatives with Wells Fargo Merchant Services as the Head of Strategic Planning and Delivery.  Alethea’s team is responsible for Commercialization, Portfolio Optimization, Product Controls, and building new Data Products.  Alethea is also the Executive Co-Sponsor for the DE&I initiatives within Wells Fargo Merchant Services. As a neurodivergent female, Alethea is passionate about breaking down stereotypes in the workplace and supporting mental health causes. Alethea developed a passion for data and solving complex business challenges from her long tenure at J.P. Morgan Chase where she led several systems and data conversions, built a new Rewards Core Processing system from scratch, implemented new products such as Ultimate Rewards, Chasenet, and Chase Offers. Alethea also played a significant role in the integration of two, JPMC, Silicon Valley acquisitions: Bloomspot and WePay. In her spare time, Alethea enjoys mentoring, listening to podcasts, mountain biking, traveling, and spending time with her husband and their four children.

Barry Baird is the Head of Payments Capability and Delivery at TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®.
Barry is responsible for identifying innovative solutions to consumer payment issues, designing experiences that are appealing to all of TD’s customer segments and working across the Payments Strategy and Implementation teams to deliver an aggressive roadmap that differentiates TD as a leader in this space.
Previously at TD, Barry was responsible for customer experience measurement and benchmarking, escalated complaints, reward and recognition programs, omni-channel distribution strategy and customer experience business intelligence and analytics.
Barry joined TD Bank in May 2017 from PayPal, where he served as Head of Business Operations, Project Management Operations, and the PayPal Credit Card Program. Barry led the end-to-end program management of all new PayPal credit initiatives and roadmap prioritization, including all major product and platform builds. He joined PayPal Credit in 2012 as Head of Voice of Customer.
Prior to joining PayPal, Barry spent 19 years at Bank of America and MBNA, where he held a variety of leadership roles in product development, customer and associate experience, fulfillment, credit acquisition, collections and telemarketing.
Barry has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and earned his Master of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing from the University of Delaware. He resides with his family in Kennett Square, Pa.

Mike Borgia leads DWT’s information security group in the technology, communications, and privacy and security practice. He advises clients on data breach prevention, readiness and response, complex internal investigations, and compliance with global security laws and regulations. Mike draws on his years of experience as outside counsel, cybersecurity consultant, in-house counsel at a global technology consultancy, and implementation project manager at a major software firm to help clients identify and tackle their toughest information security problems.

Mike’s practice spans every phase of the information security lifecycle. He advises clients on compliance with global security, privacy and information technology laws, frameworks, and standards. He works with clients of all sectors and sizes to assess and improve their incident readiness and security posture.

Surendra Reddy Challapalli, a seasoned Technology Professional and Banking & Financial Markets Subject Matter Expert (SME), is a thought leader known for advancing cutting-edge B2B FinTech solutions that enhance financial markets’ efficiency and functioning. With over 16 years of experience, he collaborates with global financial institutions, gaining a comprehensive, worldwide perspective on the intricacies of the FinTech sector. As Vice President at a leading North American financial institution, he manages multimillion-dollar projects. Beyond his executive role, Surendra’s influence extends through mentoring, writing, speaking engagements, and serving on industry award judging panels & advisory boards.

Fiona is Head of Global Product Launch and Commercialization for Global Transaction Services (GTS) at Bank of America. She oversees the critical multi-dimensional function of a streamlined an effective go-to-market framework, moving solutions from build through commercialization. Ensuring thoughtful channel distribution and increasing speed to solution delivery for our clients. Partners with key stakeholders to focus rapidly changing technology, risk, improve margins and strengthen organizational effectiveness. Her extensive experience spans Global Banking and Markets businesses, including Global Transaction Services and Global Operations. Fiona has built a career based on curiosity and a deep understanding of balance sheet.

As VP of Strategy and Solutions, Jeff Evernham sets the strategy for Sinequa’s AI-powered Neural Search solutions and generative AI so that companies can Converse with their Content™. Jeff is a thought leader in applying AI and LLMs to solve business problems so that companies can “know what they know” to drive innovation, accelerate speed-to-market, and improve efficiency. Jeff previously led Sinequa’s Customer Solutions group, and his 30+ year career spans a variety of firms and includes data analytics, consulting, and professional services. He holds Bachelor and Master of Engineering degrees from MIT.

Clare Fortune is a senior leader within the J.P. Morgan Commercial Bank Global Liquidity & Account Solutions team and works with Large Corporates, Financial Institutions and Fintech on strategic solutions for managing Cash and Liquidity, including Virtual Accounts and handling of Third Party Money.

Clare has over 18 years experience in Payments and Liquidity and has held roles in Cross Currency/FX Payments Product Development and Management, both in the US as well as Singapore where she was responsible for creating and bringing to market solutions to help global companies manage and move cash and currencies globally.

Clare holds a Bachelors in Science from Monash University (Australia) with Postgraduate degrees in Technology (eCommerce Systems) and Financial Markets.

Gaurav is an information security professional with extensive security leadership experience in financial services firms such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase. Gaurav lead the divisional security program for GS Investment research and lead the secured migration of research business platforms ecosystem to public cloud and ensured business resiliency for millions of global customers. He is curently helping companies better manage their cybersecurity risks by (1) assisting their leaders in defining and executing enterprise security program and (2) implementing proactive cybersecurity strategies to safeguard digital assets and enable technology innovation in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.

Michael is a Managing Partner at Phyton Consulting, a specialized professional services firm that empowers data intensive businesses with subject-matter leadership and execution-focused delivery capabilities. Michael has over a decade of experience in Finance, Risk, Data Management, and Technology in both public and private sectors. His diverse background working across the enterprise and in numerous change management roles for many of the world’s leading financial institutions has helped him develop a unique perspective on how these organizations function and how to navigate a changing business, technical, and regulatory landscape.

Michael received an MS in Finance and an MBA in Risk Management & Insurance from Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business. He earned a Professional Risk Manager (PRM) certification from PRMIA, Basel Compliance Professional designation from BCPA, Project Management Professional (PMP) credential from PMI, and numerous professional industry licenses and data/IT certifications.

Isabelle Jang is a financial services leader in innovation with 15 years of professional work experience in strategy, product and implementation, and 10 years of practice and academic training in compliance. She excels at bridging between strategy and execution to deliver complex projects. She is currently Director overseeing credit, deposit and liquidity for a digital-first and client-led new business at Royal Bank of Canada. Isabelle has developed strategy and led execution in agile for global products from launch to scale in both business and compliance through her work at Citi Group, American Express, U.S. Bank and Hewlett Packard.

Sonam is an accomplished analytics technology leader with over 12 years of experience in developing enterprise products and delivering consulting engagements in the Banking and Insurance industries. Sonam possesses a broad range of expertise in analytics technology, software, and cloud solutions, having developed a proven track record of effectively leveraging data-driven insights to drive informed decision-making and achieve business goals. As a hands-on problem-solver with a strong background in multi-cloud, data engineering, machine learning, and data science, Sonam is known for her ability to lead global tech teams and build large-scale data, analytics, and cloud platforms.

Well-rounded general manager, transformation executive and business builder with a demonstrated history across strategy, design and execution in Banking/Financial Services. Passionate about solving complex business problems, designing & building customer-centric solutions, creating high performing teams, and mobilizing organizations to build new businesses or drive transformation for growth.

Currently, as the General Manager of New Digital Initiatives at BBVA, responsible for founding and managing BBVA Group’s next generation Digital Banking business, managing a multi-geography team of ~150 people spanning across Product, Engineering, Marketing, Operations, Credit Risk, Legal & Compliance, Finance, HR, and Agile functions.

Gregory is a Group Product Manager with specific areas of expertise in enterprise readiness, internationalization, and privacy, security & compliance. He joined FullStory in 2019 to advance their mission to help organizations perfect their digital experiences. In that time he’s helped shape the product and the product management practice as the company experienced a period of hyper growth. Prior to making the jump to start-ups, Gregory held director-level positions across product management, marketing, and operations for both private equity and public companies in the business intelligence industry.

Gregory is a Group Product Manager with specific areas of expertise in enterprise readiness, internationalization, and privacy, security & compliance. He joined FullStory in 2019 to advance their mission to help organizations perfect their digital experiences. In that time he’s helped shape the product and the product management practice as the company experienced a period of hyper growth. Prior to making the jump to start-ups, Gregory held director-level positions across product management, marketing, and operations for both private equity and public companies in the business intelligence industry.

Rob MacPherson will be speaking at CeFPro’s Digital Banking Congress

Jim Maimone, CTP, SVP, Senior Payment Hub Product Manager, has over 25 years of commercial payments experience in a variety of roles from ACH to Integrated Payables to Commercial Cards, and now Real Time Payments. Jim is currently responsible for developing and implementing payments strategies to help clients achieve the benefits of Invoice-to-Pay solutions. A graduate of UMass Boston, Jim holds a BA in Economics and a MS in Finance from Boston College. Jim resides in Stoneham, MA and enjoys coaching and playing ice hockey.

Ben Maxim joined MSU Federal Credit Union in 2007 and currently serves in a dual role as Chief Digital Strategy and Innovation Officer for MSUFCU and as Chief Technology Officer for MSUFCU’s wholly-owned CUSO Reseda Group. He is responsible for assessing emerging business trends and technologies, providing strategic direction for existing and future digital channels, and facilitating innovation throughout the Credit Union including leading their innovation center The Lab at MSUFCU. He is also responsible for the technology and product pillars of Reseda Group and its subsidiaries. Maxim began work initially as a Web Developer and in 2014, he became E-Commerce Manager before moving into roles including Assistant Vice President of Software Development. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a professional certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship from Stanford University. Maxim was honored as Finopotamus’s 2022 Tekkie Awards Technologist of the Year.

Rey is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in client-facing roles, possessing diverse expertise in solutioning, implementation, and delivery across enterprise and startup sectors. As the Manager of Process and Operational Excellence at Phyton Consulting, she is committed to driving customer value and operational efficiency.

Rey is a forward-thinking futurist with an unwavering passion for emerging technologies and digital transformation. She is dedicated to guiding financial services clients in preparing their businesses to thrive

Born and raised in Philippines, I first started developing in the 5th Grade, thanks to Ramon (my brother) for teaching me Turbo Pascal to create our first game together. From there, he started teaching me Visual Basic and PowerBuilder. Moved to the US in 2001 and from there, I started learning C++, Java, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, etc. When Apple announced that people will be able to develop and publish their own Mobile Apps, I downloaded XCode and got my hands dirty with Objective-C and then Swift. I started NMigMa Entertainment and created a few apps for both iOS and Android because it was fun and started monetizing my love for End to End Mobile app Development and Product Management. My past role in TD Bank was the Head of Voice and Emerging Platforms and currently a Business Technology Executive, Conversational AI External Delivery in KeyBank. Outside of work, I am swimming in everything Conversational AI and Web3 (more NFTs and metaverse) while I experience as much awesome times with my family.

Over the past 20 years, Chris has worked with the digital teams at companies including Google, Allstate, Zurich, TD, Cigna Healthcare and The New York Times. All in an effort to help them better understand their digital customer and apply this insight to their acquisition and growth strategies.

Currently, Chris is the Chief Growth Officer at Flybits – a leading customer experience platform for the financial service industry. Enabling banks to design, launch, and measure data-driven personalization that delivers the right information to the right customer at the right time, while preserving their privacy.

Curt Queyrouze joined Coastal Community Bank in 2022 and currently serves as the President. Mr. Queyrouze has a background with expertise in credit, risk management, and financial technology.

Andreas Simou will be speaking at CeFPro’s Digital Banking Congress

John Stewart is the Global Head of Product & Client Commercialization for Bank of America Global. John is responsible for developing and leading commercialization programs that increase client engagement, product adoption and revenue for Global Transaction Services across payments, FX, receipts, corporate cards, liquidity management, trade and supply chain finance. In this role John leads digital content and experience management programs that transform client engagement and drive sales efficiency and effectiveness by delivering personalized content to prospects and clients.

Prior to this role, John held leadership roles in marketing, corporate strategy and operations for BNY Mellon, Thomson Reuters, Citigroup and State Street.

Akita has over 22 years of international experience in retail financial services and payments, with U.S. Bank (Elavon), Mastercard, Visa, Citi, Barclays and HSBC, across different roles in business transformation, propositions, strategy and business development. Having lived and worked in five different countries, she brings a rich understanding of markets at different stages of development, and diverse cultures, across Asia, Europe, Middle East & Africa. She completed her bachelor’s from Delhi University and MBA from XLRI-Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, in India.

In her role as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion at U.S. Bank and as a member of the Advisory Boards for Women in Payments ASEAN and Money 20/20 AMPLIFY, Akita relentlessly drives constructive actions on building diversity, equity and inclusion in the industry. She was also shortlisted for the Women in Payments 2021 ‘Advocate for Women’ Award for EMEA.

Biography Coming soon

Thomas will be speaking at CeFPro’s Digital Banking Congress

Steve Turner Bio: Steve is a Managing Director at Empyrean Solutions focused on introducing Empyrean to some of the largest, most sophisticated banks in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.  In this role, he leverages his experience as a successful financial services industry executive and consultant leading engagements in treasury, liquidity management, balance sheet and capital strategies, finance, regulatory risk compliance, and credit portfolio oversight.

He regularly presents and chairs industry risk conferences including CeFPro Risk Americas and Marcus/Evans Liquidity Summit.  He has published in numerous industry journals including Bank Director, Bank Accounting and Finance, Commercial Lending Review, and American Banker.

Prior to joining Empyrean Solutions, Steve held Managing Director positions at Novantas and First Manhattan Consulting Group.  He started his career leading treasury at Shawmut National Corporation, a leading Northeast regional bank.  He has an undergraduate degree in economics from Allegheny College and an MBA in finance from Tulane University.

Jonas Ng currently serves as COO for Laurel Road, KeyBank’s fast-growing Fintech subsidiary. In this role, he leads acquisition, onboarding, credit/underwriting, risk management, quality control, and sales/servicing.

Previously, Jonas served as Head of Commercial Digital for KeyBank, driving strategic direction of digital properties/capabilities for KeyBank’s Commercial and Payments businesses. He also ran the Financial Wellness Product and Strategy Teams, bringing Financial Wellness to market for KeyBank’s Consumer Bank.

Prior to KeyBank, Jonas worked at Nationwide, Discover, Enova Financial, MBNA, and seven start-ups and consulting boutiques. He has had leadership roles in Marketing, Product, Finance, Operations, Strategy, Business Development, Mergers & Acquisitions, Application Development, and Innovation.

Stan is the Head of Americas Supervision at Citadel Securities covering trading, technology, and risk management, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law teaching Trading, Risk Management & Market Structure Regulation. Stan previously worked at Marshall Wace architecting the US compliance program and scaling globally to EU and APAC. Prior to that he worked at Knight Capital Group focusing on algorithmic trading, market structure, and surveillance. He holds a J.D. in Law from Fordham University School of Law where he was an Associate Editor on the Journal of Corporate & Financial Law, and additionally holds an M.Eng. in Engineering Management, M.S. in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Engineering, and M.A. in Technology, Policy & Ethics from Stevens Institute of Technology. When not lecturing on regulatory trends, product development, and technology, Stan can be found on the tennis courts.

Phyton Consulting focuses on the most complex initiatives facing our clients and strives to be the best subject matter-led, execution-focused group on the street. Our services are conceived to address your industry-specific business and data challenges with the right blend of tactical and strategic execution. Phyton excels at enhancing the way organizations approach change across people, culture, processes, and technology. Our cross-industry understanding of Data Management best practices is our core strength. By integrating Phyton’s refined data framework and the core governance pillars that support it with subject-matter expertise, we are driving the harmonization of best practices across industries.

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