Northeastern’s Research, Innovation and Scholarship Expo (RISE) announces Adam Broun, CEO of Kensho, as Keynote Speaker for 2019.
Professional Experience
Adam Broun is the Chief Executive Officer at Kensho, a company that applies machine intelligence to solve the hardest analytical problems for the world’s most sophisticated financial and governmental institutions. Kensho was founded in 2013 and was acquired by S&P Global in 2018.
Before Kensho, Adam served as Chief Information Officer at Credit Suisse, covering all three revenue-generating divisions: Investment Banking, Private Banking, and Asset Management. Combined IT headcount in those groups was around 5,000 and budget just under $2b. Adam oversaw cost efficiencies of over $190m in one year, and launched a program that delivered over $1b in savings across the IT organization over 3 years.
Prior to that, he was global head of IT Strategy for Credit Suisse. During that time, he was responsible for improving IT organization, making it more efficient, better aligned, and better positioned for the long term success of the bank. He was the catalyst for consolidating all back-office operations into a single global organization, delivering over $300m in annual savings.
Education, Early Experience
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in Physics, Adam began his career as one of the first class of technology analysts at Touche Ross (first in London, then moving to the US to broaden his experience). Having gained exposure to a number of industries, he focused on financial services, becoming one of the youngest consulting partners at Deloitte. He went on to serve clients that included most of the world’s largest financial institutions and a number of the largest private equity fund managers. He specialized in the intersection of technology, business strategy, and operations, and led projects that included three of the largest banking mergers in history. He was routinely asked to tackle some of the firm’s most challenging projects, and led the US buy-side practice for 4 years, growing and repositioning it significantly.
Global Citizenship
A committed global citizen, Adam is on the advisory board of Lend-a-Hand India, which provides vocational education in over 500 schools across rural India, increasing university enrollment and career opportunities for over 30,000 students. As CTO-in-residence for the Partnership Fund for New York City’s 2013 “FinTech Innovation Lab,” he provided strategic and operational guidance to startup firms in the finance industry. He is an active angel investor, with a portfolio that includes medical devices, next-gen infrastructure, and fintech companies.
Personal Notes
Adam lives in Lexington, MA, where he enjoys flying – he is an instrument-rated private pilot and Command Pilot and Regional Ambassador for Patient Airlift Services (which provides free air transportation for medical patients and wounded veterans) – road cycling, photography, cooking, and international travel.