This content is from: Portfolio
The 2016 Tech 50: David Gledhill
The head of group technology and operations at DBS Bank moves up to No. 26 from No. 31.

Can a bank seriously be “committed to creating joyful banking experiences for its customers”? That’s how DBS Bank describes its marketing mission these days. After several years of ramping up one of the banking world’s most aggressive digital strategies, under the leadership of David Gledhill, Singapore-based DBS may actually be delivering on that promise. Gledhill, head of group technology and operations since joining DBS from JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2008, is adding on to a well-laid foundation. In the Singapore home market alone, there are 2.5 million online and 1.25 million mobile customers, according to the 2015 annual report by DBS, which has 439 billion Singapore dollars ($324 billion) in assets. Now the focus is on enhancements like person-to-person payments and voice and fingerprint authentication to make transactions easier, safer and, Gledhill emphasizes, more fun. He has a vast geographical expanse in which to roll out innovations: 18 Asian markets served by 280 DBS branches. In April, DBS launched digibank, India’s first completely branchless and paperless mobile banking service; it uses Siri-like conversational technology, and customer authentication piggybacks on the national Aadhaar identification card. The digibank app in Singapore runs on Apple Watch as well as on smartphones that rely on fingerprint ID to let customers check their balances with a simple swipe. “Digibank brought together groundbreaking technology, from biometrics to artificial intelligence to dynamic security,” says Gledhill, 54. “Plans are in the pipeline to replicate this platform in other markets.” Digitization is not confined to consumer interactions. “DBS is applying analytics to better understand and serve our customers and employees, and to enhance our operations and risk surveillance,” says Gledhill, who oversees more than 5,000 of the bank’s 22,000-plus employees. “Analytic tools are also being used by DBS’s audit and global transaction services teams to swiftly identify potential errant behavior.” He adds that he is “hugely passionate about creating a fintechlike workforce that adopts the habits of digitally native companies.” Employees are encouraged to collaborate with start-ups in hackathons and can apply to join an incubation program, DBS HotSpot, for mentoring and potential seed funding. In 2015 more than 2,000 DBS employees participated in these initiatives, Gledhill says.
Visit The 2016 Tech 50: Making Financial Services Faster, Cheaper, Bigger for more.
![]() 2. Jeffrey Sprecher Intercontinental Exchange ![]() 3. Lance Uggla Markit ![]() 4. Phupinder Gill CME Group ![]() 5. Shawn Edwards and Vlad Kliatchko Bloomberg ![]() 6. R. Martin Chavez Goldman Sachs Group |
![]() 7. Robert Goldstein BlackRock ![]() 8. Adena Friedman Nasdaq ![]() 9. Deborah Hopkins Citi Ventures ![]() 10. Daniel Coleman KCG Holdings ![]() 11. Stephen Neff Fidelity Investments ![]() 12. David Craig Thomson Reuters |
![]() 13. Michael Spencer ICAP ![]() 14. Michael Bodson Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. ![]() 15. Charles Li Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing ![]() 16. Chris Concannon BATS Global Markets ![]() 17. Blythe Masters Digital Asset Holdings ![]() 18. David Rutter R3CEV |
![]() 19. Neil Katz D.E. Shaw & Co. ![]() 20. Lee Olesky Tradeweb Markets ![]() 21. Richard McVey MarketAxess Holdings ![]() 22. Seth Merrin Liquidnet Holdings ![]() 23. Robert Alexander Capital One Financial Corp. ![]() 24. Brad Katsuyama IEX Group |
![]() 25. Antoine Shagoury State Street Corp. ![]() 26. David Gledhill DBS Bank ![]() 27. Lou Eccleston TMX Group ![]() 28. Andreas Preuss Deutsche BÖrse ![]() 29. Dan Schulman PayPal Holdings ![]() 30. Scott Dillon Wells Fargo & Co. |
![]() 31. Mike Chinn S&P Global Market Intelligence ![]() 32. Craig Donohue Options Clearing Corp. ![]() 33. Gary Norcross Fidelity National Information Services ![]() 34. Steven O'Hanlon Numerix ![]() 35. Sebastián Ceria Axioma ![]() 36. Michael Cooper BT Radianz |
![]() 37. Tyler Kim MaplesFS ![]() 38. Neal Pawar AQR Capital Management ![]() 39. David Harding Winton Capital Management ![]() 40. Chris Corrado London Stock Exchange Group ![]() 41. Brian Conlon First Derivatives ![]() 42. Jim Minnick eVestment |
![]() 43. Stephane Dubois Xignite ![]() 44. Mazy Dar OpenFin ![]() 45. Yasuki Okai NRI Holdings America ![]() 46. Kim Fournais Saxo Bank ![]() 47. Jock Percy Perseus ![]() 48. Robert Schifellite Broadridge Financial Solutions |
![]() 49. Brian Sentance Xenomorph Software ![]() 50. Pieter van der Does Adyen |