Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I always loved the idea of using logic to ‘teach’ computers what to do. At age 8, I created my first program in BASIC. In middle school, I started creating games my friends and I could play, then moved on to programming math equations in my graphing calculator, and eventually built a poker bot to make some money in the real world. My passion for computing and problem-solving was nurtured from a young age. I saw technology’s potential to entertain, educate, solve problems, and generate income. I enjoyed pushing boundaries and taking risks, and it was definitely the journey, not the destination, that excited me as I learned and challenged myself.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Our commitment to innovation and real-world applications sets us apart. A great example is Synechron Nexus Chat. When we had to turn off ChatGPT for data privacy reasons, we built and deployed our first version of Synechron Nexus chat in two days to ensure all our employees could still benefit from using a large language model (LLM) safely. We tested and refined it internally, making sure it worked seamlessly for over 10,000 users before offering it to our clients. This hands-on experience allows us to stand confidently behind our solutions, and this approach of building, testing, and refining internally before client introduction is something we always follow.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I’d say grit, adaptability, and a customer-centric outlook.
First off, grit. It’s been essential for pushing through challenges, especially when we’ve been up against strict deadlines or technical obstacles. For instance, when we were introducing our clients to how Gen AI could be used, we faced a lot of pressure. Despite the technical issues and resource constraints, staying committed to the goal lead led to the successful deployment of our Synechron Nexus suite, elevating client satisfaction and driving business growth internally and for our clients.
Next, adaptability. Projects are successful when you’re able to pivot along the way, iteratively taking in feedback and data and making changes. Careers are like that too. I spent the first 12 years of my professional life at banks working on Equity Derivatives trading systems. These are complex instruments that need flexible solutions to meet their goals. To expand my knowledge and challenge myself further to quickly learn new markets and technologies, I moved to a technology focused firm and worked on FX and Fixed Income trading systems. These systems are all about speed to execute.
Lastly, having a customer-centric outlook. In my career, I’ve run technology teams for banks and across customers. I’ve learned to be successful in technology, understanding and engaging with all key technology and business stakeholders is critical. To provide the most value on any solution, having an inclusive approach is essential.
Can you explain how AI is disrupting your industry? Is this disruption hurting or helping your bottom line?
AI is enhancing our operational efficiency and that of our clients. For instance, AI streamlines the software development lifecycle (SLDC), making processes faster and more efficient. Internally, we use AI on our documents and policies, like our HR bot, which saves significant time and provides easy access to information. In those examples, internally we’ve improved the productivity of our software engineers by 39% and saved 400 hours per month on HR queries.
What really helps is the trust we’ve built with our clients through long-term relationships and successful deliveries. This consistent track record of reliability and innovation means clients know they can count on us to provide solutions that truly benefit their operations. Overall, AI is definitely helping our bottom line by improving efficiency and fostering stronger client relationships through the delivery of real, tangible value.
Which specific AI technology has had the most significant impact on your industry?
Machine learning (ML) and predictive analytics have made the biggest impact so far. These technologies have completely changed how we analyze data to make predictions and aid us in making decisions. Natural language processing (NLP) has also significantly transformed how we handle and interpret language data, improving communication and data processing. While GenAI has advanced very quickly and is seen as a future disruptor, it hasn’t yet had the same scale of impact because we’re still at the beginning of that journey. We expected expect to continue enhancing current AI technologies by providing more creative and comprehensive decision-making support in the future.
Can you share a pivotal moment when you recognized the profound impact AI would have on your sector?
I first saw AI’s potential through trading algorithms and fraud detection. Watching AI handle the sheer volume of transactions and seeing how the predictions improved over time was eye-opening.
On a personal level, my experience with my brank’s fraud alert system made me realize two things. First, AI can provide incredible benefits, like enhanced security verification through voice recognition and how credit card transactions can be processed in real timereal-time to detect fraud. Second, the need to stay vigilant, such as when banks had to later remove voice recognition due to deepfake concerns. This experience made me realize early on both the potential and challenges of AI, and its big impact on everyday life and our industry.
How are you preparing your workforce for the integration of AI, and what skills do you believe will be most valuable in an AI-enhanced future?
We focus on extensive training and development programs, investing in educating employees about AI’s capabilities, as well as its limitations. We have an internal innovation center called Finlabs, where we release software every 6 months on technology and domain themes relevant to our customers. We’ve released 13 Accelerator programs with over 90+ solutions that are available for free to our clients. Two of these programs, Synechron Nexus and Synechron Nexus Plus, have been released in the past year — leveraging Gen AI and providing valuable working software to our clients, as well as hands-on experience to our employees. Key skills include prompt engineering, cloud, data, and API training for AI models. We’ve seen major improvement in SDLC efficiency, with positive feedback from developers on the training programs.
What are the biggest challenges in upskilling your workforce for an AI-centric future?
The main challenges are overcoming resistance to change and realizing that efficiency gains may not be immediate. We have found that upskilling can take 3–4 months and should have a wide variety of training material and hands-on experience to help overcome that challenge. We use domain-specific training and real-life use cases to demonstrate AI’s value. For instance, our recruitment team now uses AI for job descriptions, our legal team to aid in contract reviews, and our development team to code and test applications. We continue to keep a “human-in-the-loop” approach to review output from AI models, and have found with training programs we can greatly increase productivity over time.
What ethical considerations does AI introduce into your industry, and how are you tackling these concerns?
We prioritize regulatory compliance and addressing data biases. We review ethical use cases to avoid misuse, ensuring data is sent only through approved channels and maintaining human accountability. A senior steering committee reviews AI use, applying a risk-based approach aligned with frameworks such as the EU AI Act. We have a team of dedicated regulatory experts who understand the existing regulatory frameworks in depth, and track new frameworks as they emerge. It’s critical to have a holistic view of how regulation across data, cloud, and AI fit together in the financial services sector to remain compliant at the enterprise level.
What are your “Five Things You Need To Do, If AI Is Disrupting Your Industry”?
My top five tips would be:
Embrace AI with strategic adaptability: Maintain flexibility and adaptability in the company’s technology strategy. Diversify AI investments to leverage the best tools available and stay ahead of the curve. Create an internal “innovation lab” to test new AI-powered products, and continuously monitor AI trends and technologies to remain responsive to changes over time. Fostering a culture of innovation and agility within the organization will empower teams to experiment with and adopt emerging AI solutions.
Enhance customer engagement through AI-driven personalization: AI offers opportunities to transform customer engagement. Companies can offer highly personalized financial advice and services tailored to each customer’s needs. Implementing AI-powered chatbots for easy access to a knowledge base, categorizing and summarizing issues can help understand pain points, and generating personalized content dashboards for customers based on their interests are all ways to get started. Some companies, with customer permission, are starting to gather a customer’s spending data from numerous sources and proactively offer financial advice based on spending habits and financial goals.
Establish robust AI governance and regulatory compliance: Banks should develop comprehensive policies to address ethical considerations, data privacy, and regulatory requirements. This includes implementing transparent AI systems that can be audited and explainable AI to ensure decisions made by AI are understandable by regulators and customers. Having an understanding of relevant existing regulations such as the EU AI Act and GDPR is important, as well as having a forward-looking view of regulations in the drafting phase.
Invest in continuous learning and workforce upskilling: Employees using and integrating AI in financial services need to understand how to best leverage AI. Technical skills are needed to safely work with AI when building tools, and critical thinking skills are needed to get the best responses from the models and interpret AI-generated insights. Employees also need ethical training to ensure they are aware of biases that may arise. Prior to training our engineering teams, we saw no efficiency gains using AI; it was only after 3 months of training that we saw great productivity improvements and the best use-cases to apply AI.
Drive innovation through strategic partnerships: Deep knowledge of AI regulation and effective data management is non-negotiable for maximizing AI’s full potential safely. Collaborating with academia and tech leaders can fast-track AI initiatives and provide insights into industry-wide trends. External partners can also offer expertise in navigating the dynamic regulatory landscape, ensuring compliance and ethical integrity.
What are the most common misconceptions about AI within your industry, and how do you address them?
One common misconception is that AI will deliver immediate, massive gains or no gains at all. People often think AI is a silver bullet that will solve all problems instantly, or they doubt its effectiveness entirely. In reality, AI’s impact is more nuanced and gradual.
To address these misconceptions, we set realistic expectations through practical demonstrations, educational events, and hands-on training. We show how AI can improve processes over time and help clients understand how to integrate it effectively into their operations. AI should be thought of as one of many tools available to engineers to build products that provide business value.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
“Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.” — John Wooden
Success is a journey. I still continuously look to push the boundaries and seek new challenges to strive for improvement. This means updating skills, exploring new technologies, and innovating. I’ve also learned that courage is essential, to take risks and build resilience and determination in the face of challenges; and when mistakes are made, failure is a learning tool: we need to embrace setbacks as opportunities for growth and development, which will build us up for our next success.
Off-topic, but I’m curious. As someone steering the ship, what thoughts or concerns often keep you awake at night? How do those thoughts influence your daily decision-making process?
Key concerns include the long-term uncertainty of AI’s impact, balancing benefits with ethical and privacy concerns, and ensuring AI’s transparency and explainability. These thoughts shape our strategic planning — we’re always discussing how to stay ahead of regulatory changes and maintain public trust.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
It would be something healthcare-related — leveraging technology to save lives and enhance wellbeing.
How can our readers further follow you online?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryancox/
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!