Fergus Stevens
AboutExperienceCase studiesThemes
AboutExperienceCase studiesThemes

Fergus Stevens

Technology Executive

I lead complex, compliance-driven technology environments in regulated industries, and leave them simpler, safer and easier to run.

Sydney, NSW

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Portrait of Fergus Stevens

About

Clarity in complex environments

I lead technology in regulated, member-owned organisations. Most recently I was CIO of a member-owned bank, where I led a full technology merger integration and kept the organisation compliant and resilient while it happened.

I like inheriting complex environments and leaving them simpler, safer and easier to run. I work closely with boards, regulators and executive peers, and I build teams that can keep it that way.

10+Years in mutual banking
Banking, Telco, GovernmentSectors
Chief Information OfficerMost recent role
  • Enterprise Architecture & Integration
  • Technology Strategy & Roadmapping
  • Cyber & Operational Resilience
  • Regulatory Accountability (FAR, CPS 230, CPS 234)
  • Vendor & Partner Orchestration
  • C-Suite and Board Engagement

Experience

Career timeline

Unity Bank

2025 - 2026

A national member-owned bank with a geographically dispersed branch network, formed through a merger.

Chief Information Officer

Mar 2025 - Mar 2026

  • Appointed on a fixed term to lead the technology integration of the merged bank, and completed the mandate in full.
  • Accountable for the stability, security and performance of customer and staff systems, spanning infrastructure, core banking, data, vendor partnerships and cyber security.
  • Reported to the CEO and briefed the Board, Board Risk Committee and Operational Risk Committee on technology performance, risk and resilience.
  • Registered as an accountable person under the Financial Accountability Regime for the technology portfolio.
  • Drove cyber, data governance and resilience in line with APRA CPS 230 and CPS 234, ISO 27001 and the ACSC Essential Eight.
  • Established the bank's AI governance framework, giving the business a safe path to experiment with generative AI tools.

Teachers Mutual Bank

2013 - 2024

One of Australia's largest mutual banks, running an agile cloud-based hybrid estate supporting a large portfolio of line-of-business applications.

Progressed through four roles: Technology Lead, Contact Centre Operations; Digital Technologies Manager; Application Support and Delivery Manager; Head of Enterprise Applications

Aug 2013 - Dec 2024

  • Stabilised the core technology environment and restored regulatory compliance.
  • Authored the bank's multi-year technology strategy and established its enterprise architecture function with C-level backing.
  • Introduced Agile delivery and test automation, removing a large share of manual regression testing.
  • Delivered the bank's first public-cloud workload on a platform-as-a-service, cutting deployment time from days to hours.
  • Led disaster recovery and business continuity planning.

Macquarie Telecom

2009 - 2013

Australian telecommunications and hosting provider.

IT Infrastructure Program Manager

Oct 2011 - Jul 2013

Contact Centre Operations Manager

May 2010 - Oct 2011

Business Analyst

Oct 2009 - May 2010

Earlier career: Consultant, Accenture / Senior Analyst, Ross & Julia Ross / Senior Siebel Developer, QAS / Siebel Administrator, NSW Department of Community Services

Case studies

Selected work

Unity Bank

Merging two banks onto one technology platform

Challenge
A merger left two complete technology stacks, two productivity-suite tenants and two branch networks to run in parallel, with a fixed 12-month mandate.
Approach
Unified vendors, systems, infrastructure and telephony into a single environment, sequencing cutovers around branch and member impact.
Outcome
One consolidated estate delivered inside the term with no member-facing disruption, and redundant core-banking tenancies decommissioned.
  • Integration
  • Vendor strategy
  • Change management
Unity Bank

Regulatory compliance ahead of the deadline

Challenge
APRA CPS 230 raised the bar on operational risk and third-party resilience while the merger integration was still under way.
Approach
Uplifted agreements with material service providers against the enterprise risk framework, introduced ongoing third-party risk monitoring, and tested business continuity plans.
Outcome
Full CPS 230 compliance delivered ahead of the regulatory deadline, in parallel with the integration programme.
  • Governance
  • Risk
  • APRA
Member-owned bank

Round-the-clock security monitoring

Challenge
Security operations needed to scale to continuous coverage across a growing estate.
Approach
Moved to an outsourced managed detection and response model and consolidated the tooling.
Outcome
Enterprise-grade round-the-clock monitoring and faster incident response, with lower security spend and wider capability.
  • Cyber
  • Operating model
  • Cost optimisation
Teachers Mutual Bank

Restoring stability, then modernising

Challenge
The applications function was under audit and regulatory pressure.
Approach
Restored stability first, then wrote the multi-year technology strategy, built the enterprise architecture function, introduced test automation and moved the bank's first workload to public cloud.
Outcome
Stability and compliance restored within six months, followed by a platform that was faster to change and more reliable to release.
  • Turnaround
  • Architecture
  • Cloud
  • DevOps

Themes

Technology leadership at scale in member-owned, regulated organisations

Running technology for owners rather than shareholders, under the scrutiny of regulators, without losing the mutual model as the organisation grows.

Topics I can speak to

Scale

How does a mutual keep its technology capable without losing its simplicity as it grows?

Lean operating models, orchestrated partners and the discipline to keep the estate simple as the organisation grows.

Mergers

How two member-owned banks become one without members noticing

A fixed-term mandate, two complete technology estates, and a cutover sequenced around branches and members.

Regulation

Ahead of the deadline: preparing for CPS 230 mid-merger

Meeting the new operational risk standard while the integration was still under way.

Cyber

Round-the-clock security for a mid-sized bank

Why a mid-sized mutual moved to continuous monitoring and consolidated its security tooling.

Areas of focus

  1. 01

    AI governance in financial services

    Giving staff a safe path to use generative AI without losing control of risk.

  2. 02

    Executive accountability under FAR

    What personal accountability for technology means for senior leaders in Australian financial services.

  3. 03

    Cyber security governance

    Where boards and executives are accountable, and what good oversight looks like in practice.

  4. 04

    Board and regulator engagement

    Briefing boards, risk committees and regulators on technology risk in plain terms.

Background

Short40 words

Fergus Stevens is a technology executive based in Sydney. He has led technology in regulated industries including banking, telecommunications and government, and was most recently Chief Information Officer of a member-owned bank, where he delivered a full technology merger integration.

Long111 words

Fergus Stevens is a technology executive with more than 20 years in technology, across banking, telecommunications and government. He was most recently Chief Information Officer of a member-owned bank, accountable for the stability, security and performance of its systems under APRA prudential standards and the Financial Accountability Regime. He led the technology integration of a bank merger, delivered CPS 230 compliance ahead of the regulatory deadline, and established an AI governance framework. Earlier, he spent more than a decade at one of Australia's largest mutual banks, restoring stability to its core technology environment and building its enterprise architecture and digital delivery capability. He holds an MBA and is based in Sydney.

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