About

I ran technology. Now I build it.

I spent a decade inside large financial institutions, accountable for global technology organizations, payment platforms, and the audits that come with them. Prior I was Tech lead for 5 start-ups in different industries, including one of the first and largest internet properties. I left because the interesting problems had moved to smaller companies with real operations and no one to build for them.

Now I do the whole job: the architecture, the data model, the integration, and the interface. The work ships, gets used because you helped design it, is secure & auditable and handed over to your teams.

I have been innovating my whole career, now instead of power pointing my ideas for internal committee approval, I build it in days/weeks for your approval.

Brian Farrey

What I bring that a builder doesn't

I translate the business into the metrics and dashboards that run it. Internal tool needs, that SAAS doesn't meet, I have that.

Business fluency

I learn your operation, your customers, and your economics before writing a line of code. The result is software that tracks what actually drives the business.

Metrics that matter

I work backward from the decisions you need to make, then define the KPIs, data sources, and tracking that make them visible.

Dashboards you act on

From real-time business views, finance, operations, customer support, network and production equipment, I build the detailed views AND the executive summaries.  AI enhanced insights into recurring problems and reocmmednations included.  AI chat access to your largest datasets, mobile alerts, email reports, you choose how you want to consume the data. I build the interface that turns data into a decision.

Stanford + twenty years

Stanford Executive Program and more 25+ years running technology for global institutions. A builder brings code; I bring judgment from having shipped at scale.

Track record

Twenty years of doing this where the stakes were highest.

Innovator

Delivered the industry's first commercially live Real-Time Payments system and moved US wire payments to the cloud. The pattern repeats: take the thing everyone says can't change, and change it in production.

Team builder

Led organizations of 150, 1,200, and 1,600 engineers, and grew one technical operation from 20 people to over 1,000 across multiple regions. Cut contractor reliance from 80% to 30% by building the in-house bench instead of renting it.

Internet pioneer

First CTO of Monster Worldwide during the web's commercial build-out, scaling the platform from $70M to $1.2B in revenue. Named a Computerworld Top 100 CIO and one of InfoWorld's 25 Most Influential CTOs.

Operator

A $7B business unit, a $150M budget, 500 applications, 50% fewer outages, $150M in annual savings from a single cost-optimization framework. Strategy that never reaches a run book is just a deck.

Career

Where the experience comes from

  1. 2022 – present

    Fintech & Automation Consultant

    Farrey Technology Partners, NJ

    • Built a cost-optimization framework for a large fintech that delivered $150M in annual savings through process reengineering, vendor renegotiation, and realignment of the technology portfolio.
    • Now building production web and mobile applications on Lovable — dashboards, analytics, time-series data platforms, and field-operations tools.
  2. 2020 – 2022

    Managing Director, Technology — Automation, SRE & Cloud Provisioning

    Barclays, Whippany NJ

    • Led enterprise-wide automation as Head of Automation, achieving 3–5x annual ROI across technology and service operations.
    • Cut technology provisioning time by 50% and lifted developer productivity by 20% with a strategic automation framework.
    • Led a global team of 150 engineers.
  3. 2017 – 2020

    EVP, CIO — Treasury, Merchant Services, Payments & Digital

    Wells Fargo, San Francisco & Charlotte

    • Ran end-to-end technology for a $7B business unit: 1,600 people, 500 applications.
    • Delivered the industry's first commercially live Real-Time Payments (RTP) system.
    • Architected the migration of US wire payments to the cloud and reduced outages by 50%.
    • Rolled out Agile practices that cut hiring needs by 30% while increasing output.
  4. 2012 – 2017

    Managing Director, Technology — Corporate & Investment Bank

    JPMorgan Chase, Jersey City

    • Owned a $150M budget and 1,200 engineers serving 50,000 corporate clients.
    • Raised client satisfaction 35% and cut project run rates 25%.
    • Modernized digital platforms, moving an independent product ranking from #4 to #1 globally.
    • Reduced contractor reliance from 80% to 30% by building a durable in-house team.
  5. Earlier

    Head of Product & Technology — Application & Digital Store

    Nokia

    • Transformed the global mobile commerce platform, achieving 1,000% growth in key engagement metrics.
  6. 1999 – 2006

    Global CIO & CTO

    Monster Worldwide

    • As first CTO, scaled revenue from $70M to $1.2B.
    • Grew global technical operations from 20 to more than 1,000 staff across multiple regions.

Expertise

What's in the toolbox

Leadership & Strategy

Digital transformationGlobal IT operationsStrategic roadmappingM&A technology integrationTeam building

Financial Services

Payment technologiesP2P paymentsReal-time payments (RTP)SWIFTISO 20022SEPADigital bankingTreasury managementCommercial & retail bankingFraud preventionSOXPCI DSSGDPR

Technology

AWSEnterprise architectureMicroservicesAPI developmentBig data analyticsMachine learningDevOps & AgileCI/CDRPASystem resilience & security

Operations

Operational efficiencyProcess automationWorkflow optimizationKPI developmentSREVendor managementCost optimizationScalability & performance

Education

Where it started

  • Stanford Executive Program (SEP)

    Stanford University

  • MS, Applied Mathematics & Computer Science

    Worcester State University

  • BA, International Relations

    Rochester Institute of Technology

Recognition

From the early web years

  • InfoWorld “Top 25 Most Influential CTO”2001
  • Computerworld Top 100 CIO2000

Need this on your side of the table?

Tell me the outcome you need. I'll tell you what it takes, what it costs, and whether I'm the right person for it.