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CTIO · Executive Board Member · EU Citizen

Hermann
Tischendorf M.Sc.

Chief Technology & Information Officer  ·  Executive Board Member
FinTech, Banking & Digital Innovation Leader

FinTech & BankTech Digital Transformation AI & Big Data Cloud Strategy M&A · Board Advisory Mobile Money
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Johannesburg, South Africa
Austrian Citizen · EU Passport
25+ Years Experience
Hermann Tischendorf – CTIO & FinTech Leader
135+
Countries Explored
$5B+
Value Created
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Executive Profile

A Leader Who Delivers

Award-winning visionary leader with more than 25 years of international experience in the financial services sector — occupying C-level positions as CIO, CTO, CTIO, CDO and CPO across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Austria.

I have led large multinational IT organisations, driven major digital and banking transformations, owned annual budgets exceeding $60M, managed teams of up to 1,000 FTEs spanning up to 12 time zones, and contributed to over $5 billion in value across all leadership positions combined.

My track record spans FinTech startups and regulated tier-one banking institutions alike — from building full mobile financial services stacks from scratch, to rescuing failed core banking implementations and steering multi-billion dollar investor due diligence processes.

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Global Operator Lived & worked in 6 countries across 4 continents
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Award-Winning Multiple international banking & FinTech accolades
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Digital Innovator AI, Blockchain, Cloud & Big Data — delivered in production
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Board-Level Leader Executive Board Member and Independent Supervisory Board Member
🇬🇧  English — Fluent
🇩🇪  German — Native
🇷🇺  Russian — Professional
Hermann Tischendorf
0+
Years in Banking & FinTech
0M+
Active Clients Served (MTN MoMo, Dec 2025)
$0B+
Value Created Across All Roles
0+
FTEs Led in Global IT Teams
0+
African Countries — MTN MoMo Footprint
Core Competencies

Areas of Expertise

Deep domain knowledge across strategy, technology and leadership — forged through decades of hands-on delivery in the world's most demanding banking and FinTech environments.

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FinTech & Banking Technology

End-to-end expertise in building, transforming and scaling financial services technology platforms across consumer finance, mobile money and retail banking.

Core Banking Mobile Money Card Processing Payments Lending Remittance
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Digital Transformation

Proven track record of leading large-scale digital transformations — from cloud migration strategies that halved infrastructure costs to launching AI-powered products at scale.

Cloud Strategy DevOps Agile IT Modernisation PaaS / SaaS
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AI, Big Data & Innovation

Introduced and delivered AI, ML, Big Data and Blockchain strategies in production — including AI credit scoring, OCR-based lending apps and ML-powered code quality assurance.

AI / ML Blockchain Big Data OCR Chatbots
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Leadership & Organisational Design

Built and led IT functions from scratch — including the entire MTN MoMo IT organisation — spanning recruitment, governance, budgeting and multi-continent team management.

C-Suite Board Governance Turnaround KPI / OKR Culture Building
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M&A · Due Diligence · Advisory

Participated in multi-billion dollar M&A and strategic investor processes. Currently Independent Supervisory Board Member at Halyk Bank Group, a leading Central Asian financial institution.

M&A Due Diligence Supervisory Board Investor Relations
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IT Security & Compliance

Deep security and compliance background: CISA-certified since 2000, ISO 27001 certification leadership, SOX/Basel II/PCIDSS implementation and regulatory engagement across multiple jurisdictions.

CISA ISO 27001 PCIDSS Basel II SOX
Professional Journey

Career Timeline

November 2021 — Present
MTN Group FinTech
CTIO · Executive Board Member
📍 Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Market leader in 15+ African countries — 69M+ active clients and 1Bn+ transactions/month (Dec 2025)
  • Built the IT function from scratch: recruitment, governance, IT Operations and DevOps
  • Participated in due diligence for the first strategic investor into MTN MoMo at a $5.2B valuation
  • Launched QR payments, remittance, cards and loan products across the footprint
September 2019 — July 2021
4Finance Group
CTO · Executive Board Member
📍 Riga, Latvia
  • Led 300-person globally distributed IT team with €40M+ annual IT budget
  • Drove 50% reduction in infrastructure spend via end-to-end cloud migration
  • Achieved 50% reduction in DevOps cycle times by consolidating 5 delivery hubs into 2
  • Saved the core banking implementation project through successful contract renegotiation
August 2018 — August 2019
FEC VPBank Finance
CIO · Head of IT Division · Executive Board Member
📍 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • Led 700+ IT team with $50M+ annual budget at Vietnam's #1 consumer finance firm (25M+ customers, $7B+ loan book)
  • Launched AI lending app with OCR & face/voice recognition — over 1M+ decisions in 2018 after launch
  • Achieved ISO 27001 certification and zero-downtime migration of multi-million card portfolio
  • Built the largest contact centre in Vietnam (15k+ agents) on Genesys
October 2017 — August 2019
SmartNet / SmartPay
CTO · Executive Committee Member (Startup CTO · remains shareholder)
📍 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • FinTech startup: designed and delivered a full MFS wallet stack from zero to market in 6 months
  • 250k+ clients and 3k+ SMEs active within 3 months; 1.7M+ customers and 200k+ merchants by 2020
  • Secured regulatory licence (2019); continues as shareholder
October 2016 — October 2017
MARFOR International Advisory
Shareholder · Investment Advisor
📍 New York & Jacksonville, USA
  • Investment SPV — lead generation, due diligence and deal closing
  • Member of Investment Committee; operational management at portfolio companies
  • Focus on finance and retail technology leveraging cloud, AI, Blockchain and Big Data
May 2012 — October 2016
Eurasian Bank
CIO · Managing Director · Management Board Member
📍 Almaty, Kazakhstan
  • Led 400+ team with $30M+ annual IT budget; full IT transformation programme
  • Delivered merger with Bank Pozitiv within 3 months of announcement
  • Core banking upgrade, new Tier-2 data centre, SAP ERP (9 modules), PCIDSS, MasterCard Principal launch
  • Multiple international awards — Bank of the Year (The Banker 2012 & 2014), Best Bank in Kazakhstan
June 2010 — April 2011
Russian Standard Bank
Vice President · Business Development Director, Strategic Projects
📍 Moscow, Russia
  • Developed & launched Europe's first mobile money transfer / remittance service (ECAF Best Product 2011)
  • Implemented loyalty card scheme for Inditex (Zara) in Russia
  • Developed online card acceptance for P2G payments (Republic of Tatarstan)
August 2007 — January 2009
CB Renaissance Capital
CIO · Senior Vice President
📍 Moscow, Russia
  • Owned $60M+ IT budget at one of Russia's fastest-growing consumer finance businesses (150k+ credit decisions/day)
  • Revived stalled core banking implementation; tripled system capacity over 3.5 months
  • Launched Russia's first credit broker platform; saved $30M in investment assets
August 2000 — August 2007
Raiffeisen Bank
CIO Russia & Information Security Officer (Austria)
📍 Moscow, Russia & Vienna, Austria
  • Managed 450+ employees across 46 Russian cities; $50M+ annual IT budget
  • Led IT streams for Impex Bank acquisition integration; implemented new core banking (Midas Plus)
  • Built network infrastructure achieving 99.999% availability across 32+ locations
1990 — 2000 · Earlier Career
Deloitte & Touche · Tischendorf & Margreiter
Senior Consultant ERS (Enterprise Risk Services) · Senior Accountant
📍 Vienna & Graz, Austria
  • Launched the ERS service line in Austria at Deloitte; management consulting for multinational companies
  • Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) — external system reviews and SOX compliance audits
  • Full accounting cycle, ERP implementation and tax planning at family firm
Industry Recognition

Awards & Achievements

International recognition across multiple years and institutions — the result of consistently delivering first-to-market innovation in some of the most competitive banking markets in the world.

2015
Best Bank in Kazakhstan & Domestic Retail Bank of the Year
EMEA Finance · Euromoney · Asian Banking and Finance
2015
Best Securitization Deal in CEE
EMEA Finance — First landmark synthetic securitization in Kazakhstan
2014
Bank of the Year & Best Bank in Kazakhstan
The Banker · EMEA Finance · Euromoney
2013
Best Retail Bank in Kazakhstan & Domestic Retail Bank of the Year
EMEA Finance · Asian Banking and Finance
2012
Bank of the Year · Best Bank in Kazakhstan · Domestic Retail Bank of the Year
The Banker · EMEA Finance · Euromoney · Asian Banking and Finance
2011
Best Product — Mobile Money Transfer & Remittance
ECAF — European Card Award Foundation · First & largest implementation in Europe
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Independent Supervisory Board Member — Halyk Bank Group One of Central Asia's leading financial groups with over 100 years of tradition — Kazakhstan's largest bank by assets.
Academic & Professional Development

Education & Credentials

Academic Background

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Master of Business Administration (M.Sc.)

Karl-Franzens University, Graz, Austria
Master's thesis awarded with distinction — Best of 1997

1997
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Finance & Banking — Exchange Programme

UCLA Anderson School of Management
University of California, Los Angeles

1997

Certifications & Professional Training

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CISA — Certified Information Systems Auditor

ISACA — Information Systems Audit and Control Association

Since 2000
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Six Sigma Black Belt

Full training cycle — Six Sigma methodology

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FinTech Revolution

Wharton / University of Pennsylvania

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Management Consultant Accreditation

Austrian Chamber of Commerce — UBIT

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Cost & Efficiency Management in Operations and IT

Arthur D. Little, Vienna

Let's Connect

Get in Touch

Whether you are exploring a senior technology leadership opportunity, looking for an experienced board member, or seeking strategic advisory expertise in FinTech and digital transformation — I would welcome the conversation.

Send an Email Connect on LinkedIn

I can also be reached on WhatsApp or Signal on my Austrian mobile number.

Johannesburg, South Africa · Austrian / EU Citizen — available globally · +43 650 96 68 886  ·  Available on WhatsApp & Signal