UBS Seeks Innovation Fuel

AI and Cloud Know-How

The hire of Hardwick and Carey will trickle down into more organizational and staffing changes – the first victim is Hans Juergen Riede, the tech chief whom Carey, who is based in New York, replaces.  

Carey, an ex-J.P. Morgan banker, is focusing on UBS' information technology systems as well as cloud migration. Meanwhile digital chief Hardwick will represent UBS as the bank's main tech and innovation thinker. She will also build an «Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence», a bid to extract more value and efficiency for the bank through automating processes and services.  

Old Guard Departs

The old-guard of UBS' innovators and figureheads are almost all gone: Alex Batlin, head of UBS' London-based Level39 lab, followed Bussmann out the door. Batlin's successor, Peter Stephens, seems to have also since left the bank. UBS recently hired Thomson Reuters veteran Sam Chadwick, a well-known face in Zug's crypto valley, to run Level39.

Dave Bruno, the quirky head of UBS' wealth lab in Zurich, was replaced by Martin Meyer, who previously worked in UBS' marketing department. In Singapore, James Aylen now runs the «Evolve» innovation center after the departure of Ketan Samani last year.

UBS Tech Holdovers

And little is heard from Andreas Kubli, the public face of the bank's digitization efforts in Switzerland. Dirk Klee fell prey to a revamp sparked by the merger of UBS' private bank with its U.S. brokerage last year; the widely-respected banker was responsible for building an united European booking platform for UBS.

The holdovers from the previous era are Markus Iofcea, who runs UBS think-tank Y, and Veronica Lange (pictured above). The five-year veteran of UBS still holds the role of head of innovation, but who with Hardwick now has a new boss in London who is likely to shake up the organization to her taste.

Realize Rapidly, Fail Fast

Will the new set-up take flight for UBS? The torpid, process-driven bank won't turn into an agile fintech overnight – but Dargan and Hardwick can focus on the how and the why, or on empowering his people and improving UBS' processes. 

Budget, resources, and development speed will play the largest role. In other words, Dargain needs to show that he can deliver ideas and projects with tangible added value, as well as turn them into reality on budget. Or – just as important with innovation – fail doomed projects fast.