Rob Alexander, CIO of Capital One

Episode Overview

This is one in a series of interviews with financial services CIOs conducted in collaboration with CIO Straight Talk  magazine. Read additional articles by other technology executives at www.straighttalkonline.com.

Among other topics, Rob discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:

• Rob’s preview as CIO of Capital One, and his untraditional IT background
• How the organization has adopted agile development, as well as the agile mindset
• The IT department’s implementation of Dev Ops, and how they measure its effectiveness
• Using technology and organizational best practices to facilitate collaboration
• The company’s digital transformation, and the importance of understanding and positioning for disruptive change
• Competing with as well as partnering with Fin Tech startups, tapping into innovation ecosystems, and how Capital One leverages the advantages of its scale
• Some of the forward-looking products Capital One is developing for its customers

Rob Alexander’s Biography

Robert has been the Chief Information Officer of Capital One since 2007. As CIO he is responsible for enterprise-wide IT strategy, IT unfractured and architecture, and central data management, information risk and business continuity. Before becoming CIO, Robert served as Capital One’s Executive Vice President for Internet and Enterprise Customer Management, where he served as the lead executive for the largest IT system replacement program in the company’s history. Prior to joining capital one in 1998, Alexander worked as Bain & Company.

Robert got his MBA at Harvard Business School, and obtained an undergraduate degree in Physics from Harvard University.

I recently caught up with Robert over the phone, and our conversation covered World Class IT Principle One, People, as we discussed how capital one facilitates collaboration; Principle Two, Infrastructure, as we discussed how Capital One integrates its systems after acquisitions; Principle Three, Project & Portfolio Management, as we discussed the IT organizations adoption of agile development, and Principle Five, External Partnerships, as we discussed how Capital One taps into various innovation ecosystems.

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