Bread Financial is an established financial services organisation operating in a highly regulated environment, supporting a broad ecosystem of partners and customers through its finance platforms. Like many financial organisations, it is modernising its technology estate to better enable growth while continuing to meet operational and customer expectations.

In this session, forward thinking and finger on the pulse, Allegra Driscoll, CTO at Bread Financial, will share leadership perspectives on how the organisation has focused on modernising technology while maintaining a stable and reliable foundation. Rather than treating stability and change as competing priorities, the approach has centred on building confidence in how the technology estate behaves, while enabling teams to better support and evolve the platform as demands increase.

Drawing on an 18–20 month engagement, the discussion will explore how financial organisations with established platforms and complex operating models can:

·       Modernise technology in support of growth without destabilising core systems

·       Maintain predictability and confidence in platform behaviour while driving significant change

·       Support technology teams to build the skills and capability required to work effectively with evolving platforms

·       Ensure technology continues to serve the business as transformation progresses

·       Work collaboratively across internal teams and existing partners, recognising where different suppliers add value

·       Create clarity around priorities and ownership, helping define what comes next in an ongoing modernisation journey

The session is designed as a peer-level leadership discussion, focused on experience, decision-making, and lessons learned that are applicable to other financial organisations navigating similar challenges.

C-Suite Key Takeaways

Executives attending the session will gain insight into:

• How established financial organisations can modernise technology without compromising stability.

• Why confidence and predictability in the technology estate are critical enablers of growth.

• The leadership role in ensuring teams are equipped to support and sustain modern platforms.

• How a collaborative, multi-partner operating model supports effective transformation.

• Why clarity of ownership and priorities helps organisations maintain momentum over time.