Chief Information Officer
Standard Chartered
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If Jan Verplancke’s challenges are different from those of any complex, global financial institution’s chief information officer, they would likely be related to Standard Chartered’s strong emerging-markets orientation. But technology tends to bridge geographies and cultures, and Verplancke, the Singapore-based group head of technology and operations, seeks to harness that power for the bank’s and its clients’ benefit. Technology allows the $517 billion-in-assets Standard Chartered, with headquarters in London and 1,700 offices worldwide, to “drive relentlessly toward stability and standardization so we can deliver smart and innovative services that are commercially viable,” says Verplancke, 47, who joined the bank in 2004 after five years as computer maker Dell’s CIO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “Stability,” he explains, “means consistent and predictable service delivery that is continuously measured and improved.” Commanding an army of 26,000 — a third of Standard Chartered’s total workforce — in 70 countries, Verplancke notes that as the corporation aggressively pursues opportunities in fast-growing markets, “technology is becoming more embedded in the way we work and in the ways our customers interact with us.”