Among other topics, Denis and Gill discussed the following issues with Metis Strategy:

* The role of technology in advancing the World Bank Group’s mission, and how it goes about exploring how it can leverage emerging technologies

* How Capital One is balancing the need to explore and leverage new technologies with the reality of its legacy systems

* The rationale, key activities, and challenges around both organizations’ migration to the cloud

* The World Bank’s transition from waterfall development to agile development

* The value WBG sees in blockchain, and some of the proof of concepts they are exploring in their blockchain-focused innovation lab such as land titles and remittances

* The implications of blockchain in the financial services industry, especially regarding the security benefits

* How large organizations can facilitate trust with their customers, and the challenges of competing  with consumer-focused technology companies

* The challenges facing the WBG ITS department, such as budget cuts and expectation to deliver more results with less resources

* Gill’s perspective on Capital One’s innovation lab, such as the way in which it is organized, its impact on attracting talent, and some of the innovations that have come out of the lab

* Eye on the trends: artificial intelligence, voice interfaces, and cognitive insights

Denis is the VP of Information and Technology Solutions (ITS) and CIO of the World Bank Group, an international organization and development bank focused on the twin goals of ending extreme Poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of population in every country. As CIO, Denis manages the World Bank Group’s information management and information technology portfolio, which is tightly linked with the institutions’ overall strategic direction.

Denis joined the World Bank in 1998, where he has held a variety of leadership positions before ascending to the CIO role.

Denis has a degree in Civil Engineering from Laval University.

Gill Haus is SVP Retail and Direct Bank CIO at Capital One, a Fortune 100 company with $25.5 billion in revenue. At Capital One, Gill is responsible for building and sustaining an innovative technology organization while fostering a culture of excellence in software engineering, all in pursuit of Capital One’s strategic mission.

Gill joined Capital One in January 2016 and has held a variety of leadership roles, most recently as Managing VP Retail and Direct Bank CIO. Prior to Capital One, Gill had technology executive positions at AOL, Curb, and at PayPal.

Gill received a Bachelors in Information Systems from the University of Maryland.