Investec's Shabhana Thaver: 'It’s not all about the tech'

Meet the CIO is presented by Wipro. --- There is much more to being a chief information officer than being an advocate of the latest technology. In fact, articulating a vision, and architecting it, is critical. That’s according to Shabhana Thaver, CIO at Investec Specialist Bank, who is the guest in the hot seat in episode 2 of TechCentral’s new interview series, Meet the CIO, which is presented by Wipro. According to Thaver, technology is changing banking and many other industries in fundamental ways, and CIOs need to play a big role in providing an holistic view to the rest of the C-suite of what those changes mean for their company and for their industry. “You have to be a risk officer, you have to be a compliance officer, you have to be a CIO, you have to understand the commercials and the revenue side of things… I'm a technologist, I love the fancy new stuff and dabbling and playing with it, but being in in a bank, which is systemic, you have to consider the impact of what you are doing, not just the change and the benefit.” In the interview, Thaver discusses: • Her career background in software development, and what led her to Johannesburg from Durban, her hometown, and then to Investec; • Her career at Investec, leading to her appointment as CIO; • The role of the CIO in a modern bank like Investec, and how the role of an IT leader differs in a bank compared to other industries; • What makes a good CIO – and the role the CIO should play in helping establish organisational strategy; • The big IT projects she is leading at Investec and the impact these will have on the bank; • Investec’s technology stack and how it compares to other banks in South Africa; • The likely impact of artificial intelligence – including generative AI – on Investec and its clients, including a look at how the bank is approaching AI; • How AI will impact the banking industry – as well as what it means for productivity and jobs; and • How else technology is changing the banking industry Don’t miss a fascinating interview. TechCentral