Barry O'connell
About Barry O'connell
Barry O'Connell serves as the Managing Director for the Americas at Thought Machine, where he leads efforts in launching innovative banking products. With extensive experience in the banking sector, he has held senior roles at IBM, Accenture, and Capco, and has worked with over 50 global banking clients.
Work at Thought Machine
Barry O'Connell serves as the Managing Director for the Americas at Thought Machine, overseeing operations in the United States, Latin America, and Canada. He has held this position since 2022, where he leads sales, sales engineering, and business development efforts. His focus includes launching innovative deposits and lending products on the Vault platform, a cloud-native core banking and payments solution. O'Connell's role involves collaborating with various banking clients to facilitate the adoption of the Vault platform.
Previous Experience at IBM
O'Connell worked at IBM from 2016 to 2022, where he held two significant roles. Initially, he served as Vice President, Digital Strategy & IX Practice Lead for Financial Services North America from 2016 to 2019. He then advanced to the position of Senior Partner, Banking and Financial Markets Consulting Leader from 2019 to 2022. His tenure at IBM was marked by a focus on consulting within the banking and financial markets sector.
Career Background in Financial Services
O'Connell has extensive experience in the financial services sector, having worked at several prominent firms. He was a Managing Director at Accenture, leading North American Financial Services Strategy from 2000 to 2014. Following that, he was a Partner at Capco from 2014 to 2016. Additionally, he worked as a Consultant at Enterprise Ireland for a brief period in 1999. His career has involved significant contributions to core transformation, payments, and digital marketing within banking.
Education and Expertise
O'Connell studied law at Durham University, where he earned his LLB from 1995 to 1999. He furthered his education at KU Leuven, achieving a Diploma in International Law in 1998. His academic background complements his extensive expertise in core transformation, payments, and digital strategies in the banking industry. He has worked with over 50 global banking clients, enhancing their operations through the adoption of cloud-native solutions.
Industry Engagement and Recognition
O'Connell actively participates in industry discussions and events. He contributed to a panel at the Money20/20 Banking Infrastructure Summit and engaged in a session on core modernization at Thought Machine. His contributions to the field were recognized when he received an award from JPMorgan Chase's Hall of Innovation in 2022. He also attended JPMorgan Chase's Technology Innovation Symposium in Menlo Park, California, highlighting his commitment to staying at the forefront of banking technology.