Barclays goes down under to hire new chief data officer

Barclays has literally gone to the other side of the world to recruit its latest data chief, hiring the former chief analytics officer at Australian bank Macquarie to take up the role and lead the finance giant’s quest to drive value using data and analytics.

Sheetal Patole takes up the post of chief data officer and managing director with immediate effect and will work closely with the Barclays payments CDO John Hussey, who has spent nearly 30 years at the bank.

In her new role, Patole will lead a multidisciplinary global team and be responsible for defining and delivering the bank’s data and analytics strategy, including its realtime operational data platforms, martech systems, information management and artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Patole: Moved from Australia

She started her career as a consultant at EY in Sydney, then had spells at Rabobank, ING, Deloitte, PwC and Rio Tinto in Australia before switching to Macquarie as chief analytics officer. She left the bank in March last year.

On LinkedIn, Patole posted: “Day one as chief data officer (UK) at Barclays. A new chapter and journey begins. I am excited to be part of an amazing organisation at a critical moment in history.”

Barclays first embarked on its data-driven digital transformation strategy in 2012 with the launch of the Barclays Mobile App. A year later, it set up the Digital Eagles initiative to establish a stronger connection and boost engagement with existing customers in branches.

As part of the programme, Barclays installed iPads in its branches for staff to use, in a move aimed at further improving the customer experience. The Digital Eagles scheme has now trained over 16,000 staff to become digitally savvy, allowing other employees, older and younger, to become more comfortable with digital technology.

In 2019, Barclays secured a minority stake in loyalty app Bink after leading a £10m investment in the company, as part of plans to integrate its own loyalty scheme with the programme.

Launched in 2015, the Bink app allows consumers to link their loyalty card with their bank payment or credit card, and automatically accrue points. Former Tesco marketing chief Matt Atkinson sits on the board of the company.

Since launch, Bink has signed up a number of high profile UK brands, including Co-op, Morrisons, River Island, Harvey Nichols, Virgin Atlantic, Topshop, Pizza Express and Iceland, but now plans to expand overseas.

Barclays marketing and advertising agencies include Droga5, Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Iris.