Avtar Sehmbi, areas of practice
Areas of Practice
Avtar Sehmbi leads where operations, technology, risk and capital converge. His work has centred on running complex global operations, restructuring under pressure, executing major transactions, supporting entry into regulated markets and building operating models that sustain growth, control and resilience.
Global Operations & Resilience
Leadership of global operations across regulated markets, including service performance, Global Capability Centres, shared services and innovation hubs. Location and sourcing strategy, supplier and critical third-party management, operational resilience, business continuity and crisis management across mission-critical services.
Operating & Technology Convergence
Single accountability across run and change. Target operating models spanning people, process and technology, organisational design and decision rights, front-to-back integration, removal of functional silos, control-function consolidation, platform standardisation, performance management and executive reporting.
Turnaround, Restructuring & Productivity
Stabilising organisations under regulatory, cost and execution pressure. Organisational restructuring, workforce transition at scale, cost transformation, process simplification, automation and productivity improvement, from initial assessment and remediation through to sustainable operating control.
Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures
Operational, technology and risk leadership across due diligence, integration, separation and carve-out. Standalone operating model design, Day 1 readiness, cutover, transitional service agreements, regulated-platform detachment, competitor ring-fencing and stranded-cost reduction.
Market Entry, Regulatory Readiness & Sovereignty
Technology, operations and risk support for entry into regulated markets. Operating model, systems and controls readiness, local and sovereign-data requirements, partner and joint-venture structures, evidence supporting licence applications and regulatory authorisations, ongoing assurance, certification and supervisory review.
Risk, Regulation & Remediation
Financial and non-financial risk governance spanning operational, technology, cyber, fraud and conduct risk, with interfaces into credit, portfolio, market and model risk. Risk appetite, taxonomy, controls, lines of defence, consent-order remediation, examinations, attestation and direct supervisory engagement.
Technology, Data & Responsible AI
Enterprise architecture, cloud and platform modernisation, API-first integration, automation, data platforms, payments and cyber resilience. Responsible AI governance across policy, inventories, use-case classification, model lifecycle, data residency, cybersecurity, third-party risk and readiness for the EU AI Act and DORA.
Finance, Capital & Commercial Performance
Direct P&L and balance-sheet ownership in entrepreneurial ventures, alongside corporate accountability for operating costs, capital expenditure, change portfolios and investment decisions. Supplier strategy, partner economics, competitive tendering, commercial renegotiation and structural cost reduction.
Board Governance & Global Leadership
Statutory director, Non-Executive Director and joint-venture shareholder governance across strategy, performance, risk, capital allocation and succession, exercising independent judgement on accounts, related-party arrangements and regulatory filings. Cross-border and matrix leadership, functions established and scaled from inception, senior-team development, talent depth, culture, conduct and accountability through change.
Forecasting & Applied AI
Proprietary foreign-exchange trading with full portfolio, risk and balance-sheet ownership, alongside credit and portfolio risk oversight in wholesale banking and front-to-back responsibility for trading and wholesale platforms. Through Currency Times, an independent research programme applying artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistical physics, probability theory, information geometry and game theory to forecasting, with every method scored against a published benchmark.