HSBC hired a tech fellow MD from Citi to protect its data amid constant attacks
HSBC may be winding down its M&A and ECM teams in London, but tech hiring in the city is going strong. The bank just brought in an infrastructure engineering specialist who has spent three decades working in technology across financial services and the public sector.
Stephen Deakin has joined HSBC as a managing director (MD) and its head of data platforms. He spent the last three and a half years at Citi in London; he joined as an MD and head of data and security architecture for the bank's global functions technology team. A year later, he was named as one of Citi's tech fellows, a title bestowed upon the bank's most technically excellent professionals. Recently, Deakin worked on a number of cutting edge technologies for the bank, including agentic AI and post-quantum cryptography. He's not the only senior Citi technologist to join HSBC this year; Milly Webb joined in January as CIO and global head of functions technology.
Deakin has held a number of other senior positions at financial services firms. He was head of technology architecture and engineering at insurance firm Lloyds of London, and was interim chief information officer of MoneySupermarket. Most notably, though he spent 12 years at Barclays, rising to the role of group head of infrastructure engineering. In the role, he says he managed 330 people across nine countries.
Beyond finance, Deakin has extensive experience in public sector technology. He spent two and a half years as interim CTO of the Metropolitan Police in London, as well as 16 months as interim technology director of the UK Home Office. In the latter role, he specialised in cloud, big data and cybersecurity architecture.
Ian Stuart, HSBC's UK CEO, said earlier this year that cybersecurity is atop the list of priorities for the bank, noting that its technology is "being attacked all the time." Deakin, it seems, isn't likely to have it easy in his new gig.
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