Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region and market leader in banking innovation, has announced two senior technology appointments as part of its end-to-end digital transformation strategy. Miguel Rio Tinto has been appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) to lead the Group’s Information Technology division, and Evans Munyuki has been appointed as Chief Digital Officer (CDO) to lead the Group’s newly established Digital Office.

The bank also announced the creation of a Digital Council, comprising representatives from Emirates NBD Group’s Executive Team, led by Group Chief Executive Officer, Shayne Nelson and Group Chief Operating Officer (COO), Abdulla Qassem, to oversee the Digital Office and progress its ambitious plans to drive the future of banking and payments in the UAE.

Miguel and Evans are seasoned international technology leaders, with strong reputations for leading high-impact technology transformations in financial institutions across developed and emerging markets. Miguel joins Emirates NBD from McKinsey & Company’s Iberia Office where he was a partner responsible for major IT and digital transformations for financial institutions across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Previously, Miguel was both COO and CIO for Novo Banco SA, one of Iberia’s largest financial institutions. Before joining Emirates NBD, Evans Munyuki undertook multiple CDO, CIO and P&L business leadership roles across a combination of traditional financial and technology companies such as Barclays Africa and IBM (USA and Africa). Evans was also recently CDO and CIO of MyBucks, a rapid growth, German-listed fintech operating across 14 African and European markets.

Commenting on the appointments, Abdulla Qassem, Emirates NBD’s Group COO said: “As we continue to accelerate our technology transformation, I am very pleased to have Miguel and Evans join our team. These exceptionally talented and proven leaders have the vision, experience and depth of knowledge necessary to help lead our bank into the digital future through an integrated strategy, leveraging world-class IT innovation and capabilities.”

As CIO, Miguel will spearhead Emirates NBD’s AED 1 billion IT transformation. This four-year initiative aims to build world-class IT capabilities including significant architecture, infrastructure, operating model and platform upgrades. The bank has also announced plans to launch its own private Cloud platform as a regional first.

As CDO, Evans will lead Emirates NBD’s newly created Digital Office mandated to accelerate the bank’s end-to-end digital capabilities, aligned with its broader strategic priorities. This includes all digital user experience and product development initiatives, as well as artificial intelligence, analytics, fintech and corporate partnerships, API business models, innovation, and Research & Development. A dedicated center of innovation excellence will lead the internal development of market-leading technology, whilst the Digital Office will also better harness the power of Big Data to drive customer-centric decision making and engagement.