Meet Chris, our new Head of Financial Crime Solutions

Welcome to Sopra Steria! Can you tell us about your role and what you’ll be focusing on here at Sopra Steria?

I’ve joined the team as Head of Financial Crime Solutions, with a key focus on shaping and delivering strategies that help our clients stay ahead of ever evolving fraud threats. My initial priority will be taking our Optimised Decision Engine (ODE) to market. Demonstrating how it can help organisations maximise the value of their existing fraud infrastructure, whilst improving detection accuracy and reducing operational costs.

You’ve had an impressive career in fraud prevention and analytics - can you share a highlight from your previous experience?

One that stands out for me was building an APP fraud solution from scratch. It had to meet the strict regulatory standards that for were needed for Banks to share data but also be scalable – this meant that balancing innovation with precision was key. I worked with engineers, data scientists and clients to merge machine learning, real-time decisioning intelligence and advanced analytics into a single solution. When we saw it materially cut false positives while improving detection rates, it was a real moment of proof that you can protect customers more effectively without making their lives harder. This is the balance we must make sure we are delivering on.

How do you think technology has changed the way we approach fraud detection and prevention?

Technology has moved us from blunt, static rules to precision-first prevention. AI and advanced analytics have, without doubt, allowed us to detect complex fast-moving threats in near real-time and adapt strategies without significant manual retuning. However, the challenge now is making these tools explainable and trustworthy, for regulators, customers and the teams using them. Crucially, making sure that we understand the power of AI is important – it is not enough to just use AI, we need to understand what it is doing and why, so it doesn’t become a black box exercise.

What’s one common misconception people have about fraud or fraud prevention work?

That increasing the volume of alerts automatically means better protection! Higher alert volumes, without increasing precision of detection, just creates noise, wasted analysts’ resources, and frustrated and disengaged customers. The real goal must be fewer high-quality alerts that lead to faster more accurate interventions.

Are there any trends in fraud prevention or data analytics that you're keeping a close eye on?

There are two for me. Firstly, the rise of AI-generated fraud. The attack vectors from this are numerous from deepfakes and synthetic identities, to bot automated attacks with compromised credentials. Secondly, is the shift in regulatory focus; this is looking at how regulators are providing consumer protection and is not just about loss recovery. Both trends must force the industry to rethink how success is measured, and subsequently how it structures its defence strategies and practices.

Are there any values or principles that guide the way you work with clients and teams?

Be data-led, but people-focused. Fraud prevention is as much about trust and collaboration as it is about algorithms. When I am looking at building and supporting solutions, it is imperative that they deliver three key outcomes: be explainable, be measurable and be commercially viable.

And finally, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I am a massive cricket fan, and captain of my local team in Sheffield – hopefully to promotion this year! Outside of that, I have three daughters from 11 to 21 so spend a lot of time ferrying them around the place. I am fortunate to live on the edge of the Peak District and therefore love being outside and have a passion for photography, especially landscape and wildlife.