Chicago-based Alliant Credit Union has selected Jamie Warder as its chief information officer and head of business strategy, effective July 8. 

In his new role, Warder is responsible for the technology and business strategy at the $20 billion credit union, according to a company release.

His experience as chief digital officer for KeyBank and time at USAA and Capital One have prepared him for his role as CIO, he said.  

“I have been fortunate to work at the intersection of consumer banking and digital at several outstanding institutions throughout my career,” he told Bank Automation News.  

For now, he is monitoring generative AI and large language models, he said. “At Alliant, we believe AI will play a crucial role in improving our member services.” 

Cambridge Savings Bank shakes up leadership team

Cambridge Savings Bank named a new chief operating officer and chief information officer in July. 

Kevin McGuire was appointed COO and Chris Johnson was appointed CIO, according to a release from the $7 billion bank.

McGuire joined the bank in 2022 from investment firm John Hancock taking on the bank’s inaugural CIO role “and the mandate was largely to come in and do similar type work for growing a bank, looking to invest deep in technology, augmented digital experiences, move to modern platforms, really focus on customer experience,” he told BAN.  

McGuire is now responsible for evolving the holistic banking strategy, he said. He will be setting up the bank’s operating model for success. 

McGuire said he will work closely with Johnson, noting that they worked together at MassMutual. Johnson “is a super talented, really strong CIO and really an even stronger digital-platform, forward thinking CIO,” McGuire said. 

Hapax names Hank Seale CEO

AI-driven financial services platform Hapax named Hank Seale chief executive at the end of June replacing Tom Ferries, Kevin Green, chief operating officer, told BAN.

Hapax, which launched in April, in June rolled out its enterprise-designed generative AI solution, which enables financial institutions to answer institution-specific questions, regulatory questions and questions frequently asked to bank leaders, Green said. 

Hapax frees up time that was historically spent answering frequently asked questions; now those answers are built into Hapax Enterprise and are available at employees’ fingertips, Green said. 

Hapax is being used at Bank of the West and Texas First, according to a Hapax release. 

Brex appoints Ngako as chief compliance officer

Expense management solutions provider Brex has appointed Sibongile Ngako as chief compliance officer, according to the company’s July 22 release. Ngako will be replacing Nick Passarelli who left the company in February, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Ngako has joined Brex from buy now, pay later provider Affirm and will be tasked with the company’s compliance program and manage the company’s regulatory risks, the release stated. 

“Her appointment will further enable trust with the tens of thousands of customers, both local and international, and over 100 public companies, that Brex continues to serve on a daily basis,” a spokesperson told BAN. “Additionally, her experience working with a public company was important for us as we think about a future IPO.” 

Ngako will bring more than 20 years’ experience as a compliance and risk management executive to the company and wants “to ensure that Brex continues to operate with integrity and transparency, providing our customers with the highest level of trust,” she told BAN. 

Aquilance names Carey as CEO 

Wealth management technology platform Aquilance named John Carey CEO on June 24. He previously was head of consumer experiences at wealth management company Envestnet.

Carey has more than 40 years of experience working in the wealth advisory sector and aims to modernize Aquilance’s tech platform using AI to improve the operational throughput of its service teams and develop new, more intelligent insights for its clients and partners, he told BAN. 

“My short-term goals are to create efficiencies within our relationship management and service teams that will improve the onboarding and client and advisory experiences,” Carey said. “Longer term, I want to build out information access tools and client and advisory insights, which will seamlessly integrate within the existing advisory practice management platforms.” 

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