Backbase strengthens AI capabilities with industry veteran Chris Shayan

Backbase, the developer of the Engagement Banking Platform, announces the appointment of Chris Shayan as its new Head of Artificial Intelligence. This strategic move is designed to significantly advance Backbase’s AI vision and adoption across its technology offering and underscores its commitment to reimagining banking around the customer.

A new era at Backbase

Backbase is leading the digital transformation of banking by helping financial institutions modernize their customer experiences and optimize operations. Integrating AI into the Engagement Banking Platform (EBP) is a critical step in that mission.

“We are excited to announce Chris as our new Head of Artificial Intelligence,” said Thomas Fuss, CTO of Backbase. “With his proven expertise in digital banking solutions and a genuine passion for technological advancement, Chris is a true business leader who will drive innovation and lead our AI initiatives into an exciting future.”

Introducing Chris Shayan

Chris Shayan brings a wealth of expertise and practical experience with AI to Backbase. As a digital leader known for scaling digital banking transformation programs, Chris has demonstrated the ability to drive business growth through technology.

“I am excited to join Backbase as the first Head of Artificial Intelligence,” he explained. “I believe the potential of AI goes beyond just process optimization. The existing technology at Backbase is remarkable and I’m really looking forward to contributing to the development of a robust Gen AI track that will enable banks to increase their productivity and further accelerate their modernization efforts.”

His professional achievements and careers include:

• Leading digital transformation at TCB: In his role as CTO, Chris led the bank’s digital transformation by implementing Backbase for retail and commercial banking in a record-breaking nine months. This move from a monolithic architecture to microservices and a micro frontend not only resulted in significant business growth, but also enabled the bank to achieve its first profitable year of over $1 billion, paving the way for further innovation and investment.
• Transform HD Bank: HD Bank, known for its expertise in corporate banking, experienced a complete digital transformation under Chris’ leadership. As a customer-centric Chief Digital Officer, Chris co-owned HDBank’s P&L and drove a remarkable 4x growth in the customer base. His focus was on customer journeys, technology optimization, ecosystem partnerships, and data and AI. Notably, 84% of new customer acquisitions (+500%) occurred through digital channels, while the number of active customers increased 7x and the number of sign-ups increased 5x. This digital transformation resulted in an 11x increase in online deposits and a nearly 3x increase in operating profit per customer, resulting in over 96% of retail transactions being conducted digitally.

Chris is passionate about using technology to continuously improve operations, develop tools and create value by solving customer problems. His focus on LLMs (Large Language Models) and AI is expected to further revolutionize Backbase’s ongoing momentum in building the world’s leading engagement banking platform.

Impact on strategy and industry

This appointment puts AI at the heart of Backbase’s mission to reimagine banking in a customer-centric way. It not only underscores the company’s commitment to increasing AI initiatives in research and development, but also marks the establishment of a new Center of Excellence (COE) in Vietnam, supported by a team of dedicated subject matter experts.

This brings the number of Backbase employees in the country to over 40, further strengthening Backbase’s presence in the Asia Pacific region and making Vietnam a key hub for the company’s R&D and customer success teams.

Shayan was excited about this development and emphasized that Backbase’s commitment to innovation is consistent with his own vision: “I am particularly interested in leveraging LLMs to personalize and innovate the customer journey, opening up new opportunities for banks to increase customer lifetime value. The recognition of the exceptional talent pool in Vietnam solidifies the company’s vision of synergies that promise to address complex banking challenges and position Backbase as a leading provider of AI-driven banking solutions.”