Backbase, the creator of the Engagement Banking Platform, has announced the appointment of Chris Shayan as the new Head of Artificial Intelligence. This strategic move is set to significantly advance Backbase's AI vision and adoption across its technology offering, reinforcing its commitment to re-architecting banking around the customer.
A digital leader renowned for scaling digital banking transformation programs, Shayan has a demonstrated ability of driving business growth through technology and brings a wealth of expertise and hands-on experience with AI to Backbase.
- Known for its corporate banking expertise, HD Bank saw a complete digital transformation under Shayan’s leadership. As a customer-centric Chief Digital Officer, Chris co-owned the P&L at HDBank and fuelled a remarkable 4x customer base growth. His focus was on customer journeys, technology optimisation, ecosystem partnerships, and data and AI. Notably, 84% of new customer acquisition (+500%) came through digital channels, while active customers soared 7x with logins increasing by 5x. This digital transformation led to an 11x increase in online deposits, nearly tripling growth in operating income per customer, resulting in over 96% of retail transactions happening digitally.
- Previously, in his capacity previously as Chief Technology Officer at Techcombank, Shayan spearheaded the bank's digital transformation by implementing Backbase for both Retail and Business Banking in a record-breaking nine months. This shift from monolithic architecture to microservices and a micro-frontend not only fuelled significant business growth but also unlocked the bank's first-ever profitable year, exceeding US $1 billion, paving the way for further innovation and investment.
This appointment brings AI to the forefront of Backbase’s mission of rearchitecting banking around the customer. It not only drives the company's commitment to amplifying AI initiatives in research and development but also marks the inception of a new Centre of Excellence (COE) in Vietnam, supported by a team of dedicated subject matter experts.
"I'm excited to be joining Backbase as its first Head of Artificial Intelligence," said Chris Shayan."I believe that AI’s potential extends beyond just process optimisation. The existing technology at Backbase is remarkable, and I am genuinely excited about contributing to the development of a robust Gen AI track that will empower banks to enhance productivity and further accelerate their modernisation efforts. I'm particularly interested in leveraging LLMs to personalise and innovate the customer journey, unlocking new avenues for banks to increase customer lifetime value.”
Backbase is leading digital banking transformation by helping financial institutions modernise their customer journeys and optimise operations and the integration of AI into the company’s Engagement Banking Platform (EBP) is a critical step in this mission. Shayan’s primary focus on LLMs (large language models) and AI is expected to further revolutionise the company’s on-going momentum in building the world's leading Engagement Banking platform.
"We are pleased to announce Chris Shayan as our new Head of Artificial Intelligence," said Thomas Fuss, Chief Technology Officer of Backbase. "With his demonstrated expertise in digital banking solutions and a true passion for technological advancement, Chris is a true business leader who drives innovation and is set to lead our AI initiatives into an exciting future.”
About Backbase
Backbase is on a mission to re-architect banking around the customer. We are the creators of the Engagement Banking Platform – a composable platform that empowers banks to accelerate their digital transformation through progressively modernising their main customer journeys. From onboarding, to servicing, lending and investing, our platform streamlines every aspect of the customer and employee journey. Pre-integrated with leading core systems and cutting-edge fintechs, it enables institutions to unlock innovation at scale, driving instant value creation.
Industry analysts Forrester, Gartner, Celent, Omdia and IDC continuously recognise Backbase’s category leadership. Over 150 financials around the world have embraced the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform — including AIB, Banorte, Barclays, BIAT, Bank of the Philippine Islands, BDO, BNP Paribas, Banque Saudi Fransi, BRD, Citibank, Discovery Bank, First National Bank, HDFC, Ila Bank, KeyBank, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Navy Federal Credit Union, OTP Group, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, Standard Bank, Saudi National Bank, Société Générale, Truist, and TPBank.
Backbase is a private fintech company, founded in 2003 in Amsterdam (Global HQ), with regional offices in Atlanta (Americas HQ), Cardiff, Dubai, Hyderabad, Kraków, London, Mexico City, Singapore (Asia HQ), Sydney, and Toronto.
