Finastra appoints Executives to accelerate growth and customer success

By Vriti Gothi

Finastra, a financial services software company, has announced new leadership hires to drive its growth plans and improve the customer experience.

These key leadership additions sharpen its focus on innovation, operational agility, and long-term value creation. With new leaders bringing deep expertise in technology, communications, and business operations, the company delivers next-generation, secure, and customer-centric financial solutions across markets.

Chris Walters, CEO at Finastra, said, “As Finastra is entering a transformative phase, grounded in our core values of customer-first thinking, cultural excellence, and accelerated innovation. We continue to evolve alongside the financial services ecosystem. These new leaders bring the capabilities and vision to help us execute with greater speed, intelligence, and strategic clarity.”

New Executive Appointments: Driving Finastra’s Growth and Innovation

• Don Baptiste – Chief Operating Officer
  Don brings extensive global experience in operational transformation and enterprise performance. As COO, he will oversee key growth levers, including advanced analytics, customer insights, cross-sell strategies, global partnerships, sales operations, and strategic program delivery. His leadership will be instrumental in scaling Finastra’s operating model for efficiency and excellence.
• Shirley Powell – Head of Strategic Communications
  A seasoned strategist in corporate and executive communications, Shirley will lead Finastra’s global narrative and stakeholder engagement. Reporting directly to the CEO, she will ensure alignment, transparency, and impact across internal and external communications as the company deepens its relationships across the industry.
• Mike Stawchansky – Chief Technology Officer 
  In a broadened mandate, Mike will spearhead the development of a unified technology hub, fostering collaboration across product teams to deliver agile, secure, and future-ready platforms. His vision will guide Finastra’s continued investment in open banking, embedded finance, and the transformative potential of Generative AI.

The appointments underscore Finastra’s commitment to building a leadership bench capable of delivering at scale while staying laser-focused on the evolving needs of its customers. From streamlining operational workflows to accelerating cloud-native deployments and AI-driven solutions, the leadership team will champion innovation that is intuitive, scalable, and aligned with the industry’s regulatory and digital demands.

As a continued investment in talent and technology, the company is positioning as the trusted digital core for financial institutions worldwide.