Prophet Strengthens Financial Services Team Adding Two Senior Transformation Leaders

SAN FRANCISCO – Prophet, the global consultancy, is continuing its commitment to grow and strengthen its financial services team in order to help our clients drive uncommon transformational growth by adding two new senior hires. Gordon Smith joins the firm as senior partner and co-lead of the financial services vertical and Chris Stauch as partner. They bring expertise in transformation, innovation experience and human-centered design to the firm, helping Prophet continue to deliver exceptional consulting services to its financial services clients.

“An industry going through disruption and transformation like financial services requires a distinct approach to unlocking growth,” said Saurabh Wahi, partner and co-leader of the financial services practice at Prophet. “We are excited to welcome Gordon and Chris to our team of industry experts who bring the deep understanding required to tackle the unique issues our clients are facing.”

Both Smith and Stauch join Prophet from Deloitte Digital. Smith was a principal leading the financial services teams within Deloitte Studios. He started his career at Accenture and later was a founding team member of an investment management firm that was spun out of Morgan Stanley and later acquired by PIMCO.

Smith invokes a balance of research, provocation, empathy and capability development when helping clients bridge the chasm from imagination to transformation. Whether working with a Fortune 500 company or an emerging FinTech, he believes brands can only succeed when they are purpose-driven. He embraces human-centered design with the mission of creating value for customers, the enterprise and society.

“Over the next decade, the global financial services industry will face disruption at a pace never seen before, creating new challenges and opportunities for brands,” said Smith. “I’m excited to work with the talented team at Prophet to explore and co-create with clients to drive uncommon growth by building better connections with their customers, team members and communities.”

Stauch is a design and experience strategist with over 18 years of consulting and agency experience. He brings deep expertise in digital transformation, experience design, growth and innovation.

He led the experience design offering for financial services at Deloitte Digital where he worked with a myriad of clients including Transamerica, UBS, New York Life, Ameriprise, Thrivent, and Bank of America. He began his career at Organic, leading experience design and marketing creative.

“The world has witnessed indelible changes. As brands and businesses begin to reconcile their new normal, there is no firm better positioned with the deep experience and expertise to help our clients transition to the future,” said Stauch. “I am thrilled to join Prophet at such a pivotal moment. I’m looking forward to bringing critical design-thinking to financial services companies to help them change the relationships they have with their clients, and the relationships the clients have with them.”

Smith and Stauch will be a part of Prophet’s San Francisco office while working with teammates and clients across its global offices.

“Financial services is a key area for Prophet and the number of clients we serve in the industry continues to grow,” said Chiaki Nishino, President of Prophet. “We are committed to bringing in more leaders with unique talent and capabilities so we can effectively advance our clients’ transformation journeys.”

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