CAREERS AT AXE FINANCE

Get to know Utchen (Joe) Udomdejwatana, our new Business Development Director at Axe Finance. Joe brings over 15 years of expertise in Sales, Marketing, and Account Management to his role. Previously living in Australia and currently based in Bangkok, he is dedicated to reinforcing Axe Finance's positioning in the APAC region and enhancing it through new strategic partnership developments. With a proven track record at Coherent, Element Inc., and Experian Asia Pacific, Joe has consistently driven market growth and customer success, helping companies innovate and thrive in competitive landscapes. He holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney, along with a Diploma in Engineering Practice and Business Management. Known for his strategic vision and collaborative approach, Joe is passionate about leveraging technology to transform financial services and enhance customer experiences. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with family and going to the snow.

Get to know Chris Kneen, our Chief Commercial Officer at Axe Finance, a global leader in loan origination systems and credit risk management software. Chris has deep knowledge of the credit lifecycle within the world of Banking and Fintech, gained by more than 25 years of experience helping financial services organisations transform operations through the use of automation and technology. Prior to joining Axe Finance, Chris served as the Managing Director for Provenir. He previously held numerous leadership positions at Experian and Dun & Bradstreet. Chris studied business and finance at The University of Liverpool and is a rugby fanatic, following his passion all over the world.

Amal is currently a Project Manager at Axe Finance, where she has been working for over 6 years. She has held positions as a Client Success Manager and IT Business Analyst. Amal holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Finance with minors in Accounting and Information Technology from Tunis Business School, University of Tunis.

Get to know Prashanth, Country Manager and Global Presales

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Mumbai University and an MBA (Finance) from the School of Business Management, NMIMS, Mumbai. I have previously worked in MNCs like Tata Consultancy Services where I learned software development lifecycle management and project management by working with global clients and NatWest Bank, where I gleaned how large global banks operate, particularly in the lending domain wherein, as a Credit Manager, I led several automation initiatives in the Bank.

I joined Axe Finance in early 2019, here I continue to leverage my past & present experiences and learnings in the IT & lending domain to help banks solve their digital lending challenges. I manage presales activities like structuring high-level solutions using ACP and managing bids & proposals, whilst also feeding the voice of customers from market demands to our product development cycle. I also set up and expanded our office in Mumbai, which continues to grow and serve our customers in the ME and APAC regions.

Axe Finance is a leading innovator in the LendTech space, which presents new challenges and exciting opportunities at the same time. I am very proud and excited to be part of such a dynamic, fast-growing, and international company.

Get to know John, Marketing Specialist at axefinance

Growing up in a family of businessmen and accountants, I have always been fascinated by business and finance. I pursued this interest by obtaining a bachelor’s degree in BS Entrepreneurship from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, followed by a master’s degree in international business from Hult International Business School in Dubai. I decided to focus on the field of Marketing, and it has been honed through more than three years of experience in the MENA region. I can honestly say that joining axefinance is one of the best decisions I’ve made thus far. Being part of a global company with rapidly expanding offices across the world, my international studies and experience have never been more relevant, not only in marketing strategies but also in working collaboratively with cross-cultural colleagues. As a marketing specialist at axefinance, I create compelling content and develop effective campaign strategies to promote them. I also work on product launches, customer case studies, expert content, and more. Our main objective is strengthening axefinance’s positioning as a leader in the global market and providing high quality leads to the business development teams across our offices. With the company’s fast-tracked growth and with our pipeline full of exciting product innovations and new releases, axefinance Marketing team is busier than ever. I am grateful to have such supportive team members that encourage me to grow and make me feel the impact of my contributions to the company. Not to mention our team dynamic is through the roof, which makes everything easier to work on. In a company full of individuals embodying the axefinance core values, every day is a learning opportunity for me.

Get to know May, new CHRO at axefinance

Having spent her youth in the United States, Tunisia, and Egypt, studied in the United Kingdom, launched her professional career in Libya and held several regional positions, May has had the chance to build an international experience and has consequently developed and instinctively cultivated a cross-cultural background. She obtained several degrees from various institutions, including a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the American University in Cairo, a master’s degree in HR Management and Organizational Analysis from King’s College in London, and an Executive MBA from the Mediterranean School of Business, an AMBA London accredited business school in Tunis. Passionate about human resources, her career track encompasses over 18 years of experience covering several countries across the MENA region in various HR functions, change management, strategy, as well as organizational design and analysis. She led many projects and initiatives including launching HR departments and functions, designing and implementing people strategies, promoting employee engagement and developing corporate culture, in addition to building diverse and dynamic teams to drive organizational change and growth. “My career has thus far involved building knowledge and expertise in many sectors, including oil & gas, investment banking, and private equity. Now, I tackle a new and exciting journey with axefinance, one of the global leading firms in the LendTech industry. Joining axefinance’s diverse team with its global mindset in 2022 certainly felt like the natural choice. I look forward to contributing to axefinance’s growth and prosperity supporting its vision and strategic direction. At axefinance, just as we strive to create an excellent customer experience for our clients, we are also committed to ensure a great employee experience and journey for our employees. Our HR mission is to create a positive work environment, a strong corporate culture, and ensuring our employees are engaged, happy and constantly developing. We achieve this by developing and implementing various HR processes and programs that add value to both axefinance and our people.”

Sirine Jelassi, Business Development Consultant-North America

From Tunis to the United States to Canada, following my American High School journey in Washington DC, I joined the University of Ottawa in Ontario from which I graduated in Commerce and Finance. The idea of joining axefinance family was mainly driven by my passion for the business world specifically the banking industry, along with the emerging and innovative FinTech industry. This combination happens to be at the heart of axefinance’s core business. Joining such a global company involves dealing with colleagues & clients from across the globe and requires a certain level of flexibility, cultural awareness & openness which are skills that I acquired thanks to my personal journey across multiple geographies & cultures. I first landed as part of the business development team in Amsterdam. My day-to-day responsibilities include but are not limited to identifying territories/leads in order to develop axefinance’s footprint and supporting clients & partners on a regular basis. As part of axefinance strategic expansion plan along with my intention to relocate back to my second home Canada, we mutually agreed to bring to life the idea of exploring the North American market and we took on the challenge. Thanks to axefinance extensive expertise in lending digitalization along with its state-of-the-art solution, I strongly believe that we are well-positioned to succeed in this market that has shown to be quite responsive to our solicitations. The flexibility of our modular service offering is deemed to be well appreciated and highly needed. Unsurprisingly, axefinance has proven to be successful in penetrating new markets by partnering with the most reputable financial institutions such as International Development Desjardins (North America), Société Générale (Europe), FAB, ADCB & Al-Rajhi Bank (Middle East), Vietcombank (Asia) and many others: We look forward to exciting new opportunities. Stay tuned!

Ngoc Truong (Ruby), Business Development Manager

I graduated from the University of Paris Pantheon – Assas – with a Master of Projects Management. Since the time I came back to Vietnam in 2015, my cumulative years of experience have allowed me to work through multiple positions in the financial and banking industry, from an RM for a Korean bank to a project leader of a leading bank in Vietnam and now a Business Development Manager for the Fintech market. Before joining axefinance family, I’ve had a chance to experience the French culture and to work with partners from various countries in the world, which makes me comfortable and familiar with axefinance global culture since day one. On a typical day at axe, my team and I concentrate our efforts on expanding our business in different regions in the world and typically, myself, in Vietnam and in the Asia Pacific. In the same spirit of axe customer centralization, I’m happy to give advice, share our best practices, and help our clients to make better decisions on how to address their credit automation needs through our solutions/services and to grow with them day by day. My favorite quote is: “ Xoi loi troi cho, so do troi lay “, this applies to all situations in your life, from relationships with family members to relationships with colleagues, bosses, and business partners. Things in life often don’t go your way, luck will find people who are generous. This is also one of the ways to keep a long and lasting relationship with any people in your life, including your family, friends, clients, etc.

Fares, Pre-Sales Business Solution Manager

I graduated from HEC Montréal – Canada with a Master of Science in Financial Engineering after a Telecommunication Engineering Diploma from Sup’Com. I’m also a certified as an International Professional Risk Manager. My cumulative years of experience have allowed me to work in various environments but always within the financial industry, namely, asset management, software development, consulting and banking. Furthermore, I’ve been lucky to have the chance to work within different cultures and collaborate with people from all over the world during my time in Canada & Qatar before joining the axefinance family in 2018. In a typical day at axe, my team and I oversee the pre-sales activity. Our major concern is to understand a customer’s needs both technically and functionally and then work with them to confirm that ACP is the solution that addresses these needs. To successfully achieve this, our main responsibilities are to answer to RFI/RFQ/RFP, conduct onsite and remote Demos, Prepare and present POCs. We also actively provide feedback for the ACP Enhancement Roadmap, keeping our colleagues in the loop about the needs of our market. axefinance is full of highly skilled and open-minded individuals from who I’m continually learning. I’m very satisfied with my work, and look forward to continuing an international minded and challenging experience in fintech while working in an expanding company focused on delivering quality and client satisfaction.

Jihed, Amsterdam Office Manager

Formerly a Manager at EY, I’m specialized in digital transformation initiatives within financial services. After an experience in EY’s audit business, I moved to their fast-growing Advisory practice where I led various transformation programmes ranging from banking solution implementation to digital strategy execution for leading banks in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Tunisia. I joined axefinance in September 2017 to drive its European growth from the Netherlands. By starting this thrilling new journey, I look forward to supporting axefinance’s European growth strategy, building on my advisory experience, I will strive to go the extra mile in helping my clients achieve their digitalisation agenda by offering a cutting edge solutions that lay the groundwork for a data driven lending business model!

Sami, Team Leader in the PS Department,

With a master’s degree from SKEMA Business School (IS & Business Consulting), I worked at SAP LAB and IDEE before joining the axefinance family in 2012. In a typical day at axe, I contribute with my team to deliver world-class Loan Origination solutions, find sustainable answers for our customers and enhance PS’s delivery process and best practices. I joined axe to work in an international environment and embrace challenges like cross-cultural awareness, and mastering international lending and risk policies. What I appreciate most at axe is learning from highly skilled and open-minded managers in credit and risk management. The atmosphere has always been friendly; I remember last year after a Go Live in Luxembourg, we were invited by one of the bank employees to eat couscous prepared by coworkers. It was delicious!

Latifa, Ph.D., Integration Engineering

I joined axefinance early 2018, when I performed my joint Ph.D. research (The Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal & ISITCom Tunisia) I have several international contributions related to the BPM, Software Engineering and Health Informatics research areas. I’m attracted by both technical and business sides of my role at axefinance, since banking has always been a challenging industry for me. In a typical day at axefinance, I’m supporting the implementation, improvement & optimization of ACP solution and its integration with third-parties systems. I also, deal with consolidating and deploying the implemented solution in our local environment in order to meet the banks’ expectations. I am proud of myself as I got my first appreciation certificate from the bank during my first onsite mission at FAB. What I appreciate the most at axefinance is working in an international environment, learning from highly skilled and open-minded managers focusing on client satisfaction. At axefinance, our leitmotiv is “work hard, play hard”: during company meetings and team buildings we share friendly moments and it makes me feel like we are really a family. So proud to grow up within the axefinance family.