{"id":619293,"date":"2023-03-18T09:48:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T14:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/18\/cio-interview-russ-thornton-chief-technology-officer-at-shawbrook-bank\/"},"modified":"2023-03-18T09:48:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T14:48:40","slug":"cio-interview-russ-thornton-chief-technology-officer-at-shawbrook-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/18\/cio-interview-russ-thornton-chief-technology-officer-at-shawbrook-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"CIO interview: Russ Thornton, chief technology officer at Shawbrook Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content-header\">\n<h2>Russ Thornton swapped life on the theatre podium for financial services IT, but thrives in an environment where orchestrating IT teams is a core skill<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"content-center\">\n<ul>\n<li><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i data-icon=\"2\"><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"contributors-block\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Karl-Flinders-profile-pic-2022-140x180px.jpg\" alt=\"Karl Flinders\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.techtarget.com\/contributor\/Karl-Flinders\">Karl Flinders,<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tPublished: <span>17 Mar 2023 15:30<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"content-body\">\n<p>Orchestrating suppliers and IT teams during a major digital transformation is what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/russelllloydthornton\/?originalSubdomain=uk\">Russ Thornton<\/a> finds himself doing in his role as CTO at UK lending and savings bank Shawbrook.<\/p>\n<p>Bringing a large group of people with different skills together and making them collaborate is not new to him.\u00a0A musical conductor by education, Thornton \u201cfell into computers to pay the rent\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In the early 1990s, he was conducting orchestras in theatres in San Francisco, a city which he says, \u201ceven in the early 1990s was an expensive place to rent\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>But on his doorstep was another opportunity as the IT sector in and around the city grew rapidly. \u201cI found I was quite good with computers and was in Silicon Valley at the right time,\u201d he told Computer Weekly.<\/p>\n<p>After learning \u201ca bucket load\u201d about IT in Silicon Valley, Thornton moved to the UK in 1997 to experience life abroad for a year. Today, married with two kids, he is still here.<\/p>\n<p>In the past 25 years, he has since held technology roles at big banks and global consultancies and has established a couple of tech startups which he has sold.<\/p>\n<p>He said his job conducting large orchestras in theatres is analogous to his role as a CTO.\u00a0\u201cI was a good musician, but never great at any one instrument, but conducting is about bringing lots of people with great skills together,\u201d he said. \u201cI am good at a lot of tech, but not great at a single tech.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that while he would be unlikely to be hired as a senior developer, he is well rounded, with the skills needed to bring a team along.<\/p>\n<section data-menu-title=\"Making music at Shawbrook\">\n<h3><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i>Making music at Shawbrook<\/h3>\n<p>Branchless Shawbrook bank is a specialist savings and lending bank. It has a particular focus on the property sector but provides services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and consumers that are often underserved by the mainstream finance sector.<\/p>\n<p>The bank was the result of the coming together of five different finance firms in 2011. By 2017, after years of growth, the owners decided to take the bank into private hands and embarked on an IT transformation, which Thornton was brought on to orchestrate as the company\u2019s first ever CTO. Shawbook now has 1,200 staff after acquiring The Mortgage Lender in 2020.<b> <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thornton said: \u201cThe owners could see the company was growing really well, but the technology was all over the place, so I was brought in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said it was an opportunity to have a greenfield site, set the technology strategy and set off on a multi-year transformation strategy.<\/p>\n<p>The first job was to transform the IT department itself. \u201cFor the first few years I was here, we spent a lot of time creating a modern technology function rather than the old school one we had.\u00a0We went from a \u2018cloud over my dead body\u2019 strategy to a cloud-first policy, we invested heavily in cyber, infrastructure and productivity tools,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The early investments made were timely given the disruption that emerged a couple of years later\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/252503548\/Quarter-of-UK-financial-services-staff-want-to-continue-working-from-home\">when the Covid-19 pandemic ripped up the working model<\/a> of the world\u2019s businesses. These investments \u201csaved the bank\u2019s bacon\u201d during the Covid-19 pandemic, said Thornton, because the company \u201csuddenly went from having 900 people working in the office to 900 people working from home within two weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section data-menu-title=\"Five pillars of IT\">\n<h3><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i>Five pillars of IT<\/h3>\n<p>But Thornton was focused on the long term, with five key pillars set out when he joined the bank in 2018. These were: introducing a modern IT model, becoming cloud first, getting on top of cyber security, harnessing data and writing software in-house.<\/p>\n<p>The technology department itself was the first. Thornton said: \u201cThe technology model was completely broken with a really old school 1990s operations-led model.\u201d He brought in a model more like that of a fintech.\u00a0He then established an in-house cloud engineering function, which he said was \u201ca major piece of work\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The appointment of a chief information security officer was also made to get infosec up to date. The bank then put in the foundations for a cloud-based data lake to \u201clook at analytics much more positively, and the final piece was around writing our own software\u201d.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Russ-Thornton-Shawbrook.jpg\" alt width=\"140\" height=\"180\">\n  <\/p>\n<p><span><strong>\u201cTechnology used to be a side part of our strategy, but now it is absolutely at the core\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><em>Russ Thornton, Shawbrook<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>x<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Thornton said of the final piece: \u201cWe were a bank that was afraid of writing our own software, but we quickly realised we can write our own software to deliver customer experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most significant decision was made in 2018 when the owners decided to invest in IT. \u201cTechnology used to be a side part of our strategy, but now it is absolutely at the core,\u201d said Thornton.<\/p>\n<p>Today, he said the company wants to ensure its staff, who are skilled in a very complex and specialist part of financial services, have the tech they need to do things more efficiently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur strategy revolves around combining our deep human expertise with leading edge tech and data. We retain the human element, because we play in\u00a0complicated markets, but we want specialists to have the right technology and data around them to make decisions quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Shawbrook has around 110 full-time IT staff and around 70 through its IT suppliers who are outsourced to the bank and \u201cpart of the team\u201d, according to Thornton.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, there needs to be a balance between full-time staff and those from suppliers. A 60:40 balance works nicely with a stable base of staff at the top layers augmented by staff from suppliers to help make delivery happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thornton recently oversaw the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/365532021\/Shawbrook-Bank-choses-Pegasystems-for-low-code-business-process-rewrite\">rewrite business process software<\/a> and automate customer journeys in part of its loans business, using low code technology platform which is already saving 1,500 hours a month as a result.<\/p>\n<p>It now plans to digitise processes in its savings business to speed up the time it takes customers to open an account and make deposits.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"DigDeeperSplash\">\n<h4>\n\t\t\t<i data-icon=\"m\"><\/i>Read more on CW500 and IT leadership skills<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/365532021\/Shawbrook-Bank-choses-Pegasystems-for-low-code-business-process-rewrite\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero Images\/software-code-keyboard-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/software-code-keyboard-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/software-code-keyboard-adobe.jpeg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>Shawbrook Bank uses Pegasystems for low-code business process rewrite<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Karl-Flinders-profile-pic-2022-140x180px.jpg\" alt=\"KarlFlinders\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Karl\u00a0Flinders<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/microscope\/news\/252509068\/A-view-inside-the-Bytes-and-NetApp-partnership\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero Images\/Handshake-merger-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/Handshake-merger-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/Handshake-merger-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>A view inside the Bytes and NetApp partnership<\/h5>\n<p><span>By: <span>Simon\u00a0Quicke<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/microscope\/news\/252509002\/Multithread-Consultants-completes-MBO\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/cloud-choice-decision-crossroad-3-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/cloud-choice-decision-crossroad-3-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/cloud-choice-decision-crossroad-3-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>MultiThread Consultants completes MBO<\/h5>\n<p><span>By: <span>Simon\u00a0Quicke<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/feature\/How-companies-are-rethinking-digital-customer-experience-in-wake-of-pandemic\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/happy-customer-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/happy-customer-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/happy-customer-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>How companies are rethinking digital customer experience in wake of pandemic<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Madeline-Bennett-140x180px.jpg\" alt=\"MadelineBennett\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Madeline\u00a0Bennett<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/365532642\/CIO-interview-Russ-Thornton-chief-technology-officer-at-Shawbrook-Bank\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Margarett Michaud<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russ Thornton swapped life on the theatre podium for financial services IT, but thrives in an environment where orchestrating IT teams is a core skill By Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA Published: 17 Mar 2023 15:30 Orchestrating suppliers and IT teams during a major digital transformation is what Russ Thornton finds himself<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":619294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22316,46,22770],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-619293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interview","8":"category-technology","9":"category-thornton"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}