🎧FIS CTO Firdaus Bhathena: Closing 'The Harmony Gap' and Fostering Innovation at a Global Fintech Giant

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Jul 2, 2025

Firdaus Bhathena, CTO of FIS, shares his journey from healthcare to fintech innovation. He discusses managing innovation at a colossal scale, emphasizing the balance between hiring industry veterans and fresh talent. The concept of 'The Harmony Gap' takes center stage, exploring AI's role in addressing financial operational challenges. Firdaus also tackles the legacy COBOL problem, demonstrating how generative AI can aid in modernization. His insights into prioritizing impactful ideas and staying adaptable provide a fascinating glimpse into the future of fintech.

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ANECDOTE

Firdaus' Career Journey

Firdaus Bhathena shared his journey from startups to healthcare to becoming FIS CTO.
He emphasized the importance of building products that users find valuable.

ADVICE

Create Adaptable Tech Organizations

Build a nimble and adaptable organization to succeed in a rapidly changing tech landscape.
Invest in modernization and AI to maintain resilience while enabling agility.

ADVICE

Build, Buy, Partner Framework

Build what differentiates your company; buy what accelerates progress.
Modernize products focusing on customer needs, not just updating technology.

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In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Firdaus Bhathena, CTO of FIS.

FIS is one of the world's largest financial technology companies, building solutions for leading financial institutions, businesses, and developers. Their scale is incredible...Over $16Tn moves through their systems annually. They process $75 billion of transactions globally, serve tens of thousands of clients, and employ over 50,000 people worldwide.

In today's episode, Ryan and Firdaus discuss:

2:44 - Firdaus' long path from venture-backed startups and F500 healthcare to CTO of FIS.

5:53 - Managing innovation at a global giant like FIS and his trusted adage for the Build Buy Partner debate.

12:31 - How FIS balances hiring industry insiders vs. outsiders to best serve their customers (some of whom they've served for 50+ years).

15:15 - A deep dive into The Harmony Gap, an in-depth report from FIS and Oxford Economics exploring the use of AI by businesses to combat the sources of financial, operational and technological disharmony.

30:35 - His thoughts on the great COBOL migration problem facing institutions today, and where AI can and cannot help.

32:46 - A rapidfire round including his first job, CTO role model, and more.

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Firdaus Bhathena serves as FIS’ Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Firdaus is responsible for driving the company’s technology and infrastructure initiatives across the enterprise. He is also responsible for leading the company’s digital transformation efforts to advance FIS’ global solutions portfolio while also leveraging technology investments to drive profitability.

Prior to FIS, Firdaus spent 25+ years driving innovation and large-scale digital, business, and cultural transformations across technology startups as well as Fortune 50 corporations. Recent roles include general manager at Noom (the fastest-growing pre-IPO consumer digital health company), enterprise chief digital officer at CVS Health; and chief digital officer at Aetna. Firdaus also currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Tufts Medicine, where he is the chair of the Digital Transformation Committee.
Firdaus holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has been granted eight patents for software and distributed systems.

Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor at OMERS Ventures, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with $130Bn+ in net assets. OMERS Ventures focuses primarily on Series A through C direct investments in Software, Fintech, and AI. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.