Harvey Koeppel is the executive director of the Center for CIO Leadership, based in New York City. In this capacity, he sets the Center’s strategy and directs internal and external operations. He also serves as chairman of the center’s Advisory Committee.
From May 2004 through June 2007, Koeppel served as the Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Citigroup’s Global Consumer Group (GCG). In that role, he set the strategic direction for the GCG’s operations and technology and actively supported the development and growth of the operations and technology community across all GCG lines of business globally. Koeppel served as the chairperson of the Offshore Program Office Steering Committee and provided strategic input to GCG’s offshore and outsourcing practices. He additionally provided executive oversight to the Information Security and Data Protection programs for the group.
Prior to taking on the CIO role, Koeppel provided consulting services to CitiFinancial, Citibank, and other Citi affiliates from 1986 to 2004. He was heavily involved in supporting the planning and integration of many of Citi’s major acquisitions, including Travelers Insurance, Associates First Capital, European American Bank, and Golden State Bank.
Koeppel has a distinguished record of IT innovation in the financial services industry. He designed the first graphical user interface for the NASDAQ trader workstation. He was the architect and designer of FxNet, a software program that revolutionized the way large financial institutions manage settlement risk within FX portfolios. He was also a primary contributor to the development of the Maestro platform at CitiFinancial, the online interface between customers, the sales force, and the back office, which fundamentally changed the loan sales and approval process and significantly streamlined branch workflow. Koeppel is the named inventor on the Citibank patent of the “Recommendation Engine,” a software component that advises sales and service staff about products and services to discuss with clients based upon their financial goals and objectives.
In this video interview, Koeppel talks with Charla Griffy-Brown, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence and associate professor of information systems and technology management at the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. They discuss the following questions:
- What are some of the new leadership and management requirements for Chief Information Officers that have been triggered by the current economic challenges?
- Have you seen a change in the evolution for this role in your capacity as the executive director of the Center for CIO Leadership, and your role as the CIO of CitiGroup?
- What is the most surprising change you’ve seen in the evolution of the private sector CIO in the last decade?
- Why do you think the trend is moving more toward a tactical role for CIO and less toward the strategic?
- What are the competencies that are absolutely critical in distinguishing a manager from a leader in terms of the role of Chief Information Officer?
- From your vantage point, do you see differences in CIOs globally?
- What have you observed in the leap to mobile communications globally?
- How do you see real-time systems, which allow for instantaneous interaction between customer and the organization, affecting the public sector and governmental services? What are some examples from New York City?
- What technology opportunities or challenges do you see CIOs in business and the public sector facing over the next few years?
