Career

Simon Davies is a senior technology executive with more than two decades of experience across core banking, enterprise technology transformation, cloud engineering and platform reliability. As General Manager of Retail Platforms & Engineering at Commonwealth Bank, he leads technology teams responsible for some of Australia's most critical financial infrastructure, with a focus on evolving mission-critical platforms without compromising resilience, availability or customer trust.

Simon has led the transformation of CBA's core banking environment through one of the most complex technology modernisation programs in Australian financial services, moving the bank's core banking platform to public cloud while continuing to operate at national scale. His experience spans cloud migration, core platform re-architecture, enterprise integration, engineering transformation and large-scale technology operations in highly regulated environments.

More recently, Simon's focus has expanded to the engineering foundations required for AI-enabled technology organisations. He is exploring how organisations can apply established disciplines around reliability, security, deterministic engineering and operational excellence to AI, while determining where AI is appropriate and where critical systems still require conventional engineering approaches.

Role at Factor

At Factor, Simon brings a practitioner perspective on transforming technology environments where failure is not an acceptable outcome. His experience is particularly relevant to executives balancing the need to modernise legacy platforms with the fundamental requirements of resilience, security, availability and customer trust.

Simon can contribute to executive discussions around the practical realities of cloud and core modernisation, engineering discipline, technology operating models and the organisational conditions required to turn strategy into shipped outcomes. His experience demonstrates how architecture and engineering decisions need to be supported by the right culture, accountability and operating model rather than treated as purely technical problems.

He also brings a valuable perspective on the emerging intersection of AI and engineering. His current areas of interest include AI ROI and value measurement, selecting the right model and technology for the job, enabling engineers without creating uncontrolled technology sprawl, and using AI agents to transform technology operations and first-line incident triage.

Key roles Simon works with include: CIOs, CTOs, Chief Technology & Engineering Officers, Chief Architects, Chief Digital & AI Officers, Chief Transformation Officers, Engineering & Platform Leaders, and Board & Executive Leaders.

Previous Roles

Simon currently serves as General Manager of Retail Platforms & Engineering at Commonwealth Bank, where he is responsible for technology across critical retail banking platforms. His remit includes engineering leadership, platform modernisation, resilience and the ongoing evolution of systems operating at significant national scale.

Previously at CBA, Simon was Chief Engineer, Core Banking, where he developed the technology roadmap for the core banking estate and led engineering efforts focused on simplification and modernisation. This work ultimately formed part of the broader transformation of CBA's core banking platform to public cloud.

Before joining CBA, Simon was a Cloud Architect at Macquarie Group, where he worked as an architect and engineering manager on an AWS-based Temenos Wealthsuite implementation. He also spent more than a decade with Accenture as a Senior Manager, advising clients across industries on technology architecture and strategy, DevOps transformations, infrastructure and cloud architecture, outsourcing and delivery across large multi-vendor and geographically distributed teams.

Simon began his technology career in engineering and enterprise data environments, including a role at Westpac focused on the migration of risk analytics datasets from SAS to an Oracle data warehouse. His early engineering experience also included developing computer-driven measurement and instrumentation systems in electronics manufacturing.

Media Presence and Industry Contributions

Simon has become a prominent practitioner voice on large-scale technology modernisation through his work sharing the lessons from CBA's core banking transformation. He has presented the transformation journey at major technology industry events, including AWS Summit Sydney, and has contributed to industry discussions around cloud migration, core banking, engineering and AI-enabled modernisation.

His perspective is grounded in the realities of operating critical technology at scale. He brings practical insight into the organisational clarity, decision velocity, risk appetite and engineering discipline required to modernise systems while maintaining continuity for millions of customers.

Simon is also increasingly focused on the implications of AI for engineering organisations and technology operations. His areas of interest include how organisations measure the value of AI investment, determine appropriate use cases, maintain customer trust as systems become less deterministic, and use AI to augment rather than undermine established engineering disciplines.

Leadership Philosophy

Simon believes there is no silver bullet for transforming complex technology environments. Successful modernisation comes from aligning architecture, engineering discipline, governance and organisational culture so that progress becomes repeatable rather than dependent on individual heroics.

He advocates for using the right technology for the right job. In highly critical environments, AI should not automatically replace deterministic systems or established engineering practices. Instead, organisations need to understand where AI creates genuine advantage while preserving the resilience, security, availability and precision that critical platforms demand.

Simon also believes that momentum matters. Large organisations can become paralysed by the perceived complexity of transformation, but disciplined execution, clear priorities and a willingness to challenge assumptions can make even seemingly untouchable systems changeable. His focus is on creating the technical and cultural foundations that allow organisations to move faster without sacrificing trust.