Louise Leavey is a distinguished technology executive with over 35 years of experience leading digital evolution and transformation initiatives across financial services, government, and private sectors. A Chartered Accountant by background, she brings a unique blend of financial expertise and technology leadership gained from senior roles at Metro Bank, Aviva, HM Revenue & Customs, European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD), and Virgin Media. Louise has also served as an Independent Non-Executive Director for Recognise Bank, Bank of Leumi, and SWIFT UK. She has a proven track record of driving cost optimisation, AI and data strategy implementation, and operational efficiency improvements that deliver measurable business value. Passionate about continuous innovation and mentoring future leaders, Louise is actively seeking new transformation leadership and board advisory opportunities where she can add strategic insight and guide sustainable change.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CIO Magazine, Louise shared insights on what drives her passion for digital innovation and business transformation, personal hobbies and interests, words of wisdom, future plans, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
What drives your passion for digital innovation and business transformation?
One of the most exciting things about my career is how long I’ve been doing what we now call “transformation” — long before it even had that label. I started working at 16, coming from a council house with no qualifications, but with a huge drive to make a difference. I led my first large-scale digital project 35 years ago, mapping processes and automating them at Monsanto as part of one of the UK’s first SAP implementations. Back then, we called it “information”; today we call it “data.” We spoke about automation; now we call it AI. The terminology evolves, but the core challenges are the same — how do we work smarter, reduce friction, and deliver value?
When I go into any organisation, the first question I always ask is: “What’s the business strategy?” and then “How is technology enabling the delivery of that strategy?” It’s phenomenal how many organisations I encounter where they either don’t know what their business strategy is, or technology has only ever been seen as a cost centre rather than an enablement centre. The first thing I do is create a business relationship function to get both parties working closely together — understanding the business strategy, looking at the current IT landscape, and identifying what technology needs to do to become an enabler to deliver that strategy.
But here’s the truth: I actually want to stop using the word *transformation*. It scares people. It makes employees feel they might lose their job, that the world they know is being ripped up overnight. It creates change inertia. What we really need to embrace is *evolution* — continuous improvement and innovation embedded into the everyday, not treated like a disruptive event every five years.
Once we’ve done the cleanup and implemented the three-pronged attack — simplification, automation, and data and AI — you want to keep it clean, and that’s why I call it evolution. The next critical step is embedding innovation within the organisation itself. One thing I absolutely love is having every employee include an element of continuous improvement or innovation in their performance contract. For example, if you’re a process owner, you’re given tasks to find ways of improving your processes, whether using AI or other technology.
The second area that excites me is bringing in early-stage fintech or start-up organisations. I work with investment companies such as Insight Partners to bring together a cohort of really talented early-stage businesses in showcase events, sharing how technology can solve current business problems — but more importantly, how technology can create products for the business they didn’t even know they needed, giving them competitive advantage. This helps early-stage businesses get branding while taking us away from being continuously dependent on big monolithic suppliers who charge significant amounts and lock us in
Having innovation days where we ‘speed date’ these early-stage technology businesses with our business owners is really exciting because it helps shape your product landscape for the next planning process. It’s about continuous improvement, innovation, and building relationships with nimble partners rather than being dependent on large monolithic suppliers.
Most of the “transformations” I’ve led across banking, insurance, government, and fintech have been about cleaning up the mess — getting under the bonnet, seeing what’s actually there, and then mapping out a pragmatic roadmap that drives real, measurable impact. I always look for what I call “low hanging fruit” when I go into an organisation to see how we can find money to fund these transformations. There are significant cost optimisation opportunities around decommissioning, simplifying the IT estate, and introducing data and AI strategies.
Most organisations never seem to have enough money to spend on technology, so technology becomes outdated. Many have duplicated applications costing significant money, and they’re held accountable to suppliers like IBM, Oracle, or VMware who shake up the tree trying to get everyone to think they need expensive upgrades. I’ve seen organisations spend millions on support with one of those suppliers and only have one or two helpdesk calls per year — meaning one call could potentially cost £1.5 million. Everyone’s nervous about doing something about it, but I work with companies like Origina that help take that burden away, providing comfort that you can have all your applications supported for less than 50% of what you’re currently paying without needing those costly upgrades.
My approach is always a three-pronged attack: first, simplification of the IT estate through consolidation, rationalisation, and switching off unused applications to free up low-hanging fruit. Second, automating business processes — working closely with businesses to identify pain points and using tools like Celonis and AI to automate processes, giving back revenue growth, cost optimisation, or customer satisfaction improvements. Third, writing the data and AI strategies — cleaning up the data landscape, consolidating and rationalising the data and BI technology stack, then using AI use cases to prove value around business pain points.
That’s the kind of digital innovation I’m passionate about — where we make people feel part of the solution, not victims of the process. And after four decades of using technology to drive commercial and customer outcomes across multiple sectors, that people-first approach to evolution is what excites me most.
What do you love most about your career in digital transformation?
What I love most is the opportunity to bring strategic clarity to complexity across diverse industries. Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of harnessing AI and data strategies to improve revenue and reduce costs across banking, insurance, government, and fintech sectors, which has been incredibly rewarding. I thrive on working with talented teams to simplify operations and build scalable solutions that deliver real business impact. Seeing the positive changes in customer experience and operational efficiency that technology can enable across different organisations and sectors keeps me motivated every day.
What opportunities or challenges do you foresee in the future of digital innovation?
The biggest opportunity lies in how businesses embrace continuous evolution rather than episodic change. The challenge, however, remains in overcoming the fear and inertia that come with change. As AI and automation advance, organisations must balance innovation with responsibility, ensuring security, privacy, and workforce inclusion. There’s also a real need to embed innovation into everyone’s daily roles — so improvement isn’t a project but a mindset.
As a Women in Tech Advocate, what are your thoughts on diversity and inclusion in tech? How important is it to have authentic conversations with leaders, professionals, and changemakers to create more acceptance across the globe?
Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to true innovation. When teams reflect a broad range of experiences and perspectives, the ideas and solutions they create are richer and more impactful. Authentic conversations are essential because they break down barriers and challenge unconscious biases. Leaders must be vulnerable and open to listening, which fosters a culture of acceptance and belonging. Creating these spaces globally will be key to unlocking the full potential of technology and business.
What personal or professional philosophies have contributed to your success, and how have you applied these principles throughout your career?
My guiding philosophy is that “evolution “ is about people, not just technology. I believe in leading with empathy, being curious, and maintaining commercial discipline. Throughout my career across different sectors, I’ve always applied a pragmatic approach — focusing on measurable outcomes and building sustainable capabilities rather than quick fixes.
When I sit down with businesses, I often find that when IT has been a cost centre rather than an enablement centre, the business has cobbled together processes, going from one system to the next with spreadsheets, not even using the full functionality of existing systems because IT hasn’t been supporting that evolution. My strategy always focuses on automation — using tools like Celonis and early-stage AI companies that specialise in automating processes. This frees up significant productivity opportunities for businesses to reinvest, whether in revenue growth, cost optimisation, or customer satisfaction improvements.
The biggest wins in AI are often in technology delivery and testing areas first — you get significant savings within the IT stack, change delivery becomes much more productive, cleaner, with less rework and defects going live. Once you’ve proven AI use cases internally and cleaned up your data, then you can start using AI for customer-facing opportunities like marketing channels. Staying adaptable and continuously learning has been key to navigating this evolving landscape across banking, government, insurance, and fintech environments.
Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?
I’m grateful to many mentors and colleagues who have supported and challenged me over the years across various organisations. Those believed in me, gave me autonomy to make a difference, had my back being a female in a man’s world wasn’t easy especially when you are disrupting people’s comfort zones. Early in my career, leaders who believed in me despite my unconventional start made a huge difference. Throughout my journey across different sectors and roles, working with talented teams and board colleagues has been instrumental in shaping my perspective and capabilities. The support network I’ve built across industries has been invaluable in both my personal and professional growth.
What are some of your passions outside of work? What do you like to do in your time off?
Outside of work, I enjoy mentoring young professionals and supporting women in technology. I’m passionate about continuous learning and often dive into books or courses related to leadership and innovation. I’m also an avid runner — I ran my first marathon when I was 50, which was an incredible personal milestone. I love yoga and travelling, and particularly enjoy combining the two by travelling around the world doing intensive yoga. The intensive yoga practice keeps both my mind and body fit, which I find essential for maintaining the energy and clarity needed for complex transformation work. I also value time with family and friends, and enjoy activities that recharge me and help me reflect on new ideas.
Which technology are you investing in now to prepare for the future?
Right now, my focus is on AI and data analytics — particularly how they can drive smarter decision-making and operational efficiency across different business models and sectors. I’m particularly interested in process automation technologies using tools like Celonis and early-stage AI companies that specialise in automating business processes. The biggest opportunities I see are in using AI first within technology delivery and testing areas where you can achieve significant productivity gains and cost savings, before expanding to customer-facing applications.
I’m also very focused on cost optimisation strategies — working with partners like Origina to help organisations reduce their technology support costs by up to 50% without compromising service quality. Beyond technology itself, I invest time in understanding the governance and ethical frameworks necessary to use these tools responsibly across various regulatory environments, and importantly, how to clean up data landscapes so that AI strategies can be built on solid foundations.
What advice would you give to aspiring leaders in tech?
My advice is to focus on continuous learning and people. Technology changes fast, but leadership is about inspiring and enabling others. Be curious, stay adaptable, and never underestimate the power of empathy. Build diverse teams and foster authentic conversations — that’s where innovation truly flourishes. And always connect your tech initiatives to clear business outcomes and real human impact. But remain true to your authentic self. People will try to block your passion and energy but if you believe in something never give up. Start at route A and if you have to get to route Z and it’s the right thing for the organisation then go for it!
Looking ahead, what’s next for you in your career journey?
After four decades of delivering large-scale change across sectors — from government and banking to insurance and fintech — I find myself at a career crossroads that’s actually quite exciting. I’m incredibly proud of the digital evolution I’ve driven across multiple organisations — from AI and data strategy through to cost optimisation, simplification, and enabling growth. But perhaps more than anything, I’m proud of the teams I’ve mentored and the talent I’ve helped shape across different sectors — many of whom are more than capable of carrying the torch forward.
What’s next for me is twofold. I’m looking for another major transformation challenge — ideally with a business that has a real burning platform around cost, complexity, or customer experience. I’ve built a career out of coming in, getting under the skin of an organisation, and not only fixing what’s broken but creating a foundation for continuous improvement. That’s where I thrive.
At the same time, I’m building a portfolio of board roles. I’ve previously held NED and board advisor positions in financial services — including Leumi UK, Recognise Bank, and now SWIFT — and I’m particularly interested in advising tech-driven businesses, scale-ups, and organisations navigating complex digital shifts. I bring both financial rigour and deep transformation expertise to the boardroom, and I love helping leadership teams think differently.
Ultimately, I want to use my experience to continue delivering value — whether that’s in the boardroom, in an executive capacity, or mentoring the next generation of digital leaders. And whatever I do next, it will absolutely be about people. You don’t change businesses by changing systems — you change them by empowering people.