Benard Wiese

Seasoned technology executive with 20+ years of technology leadership and 18+ years specifically focused on scaling Fintech startups. Recognized for driving enterprise digital transformation in financial services and successfully deploying AI solutions to optimize e-commerce operations. A strategic leader with a proven track record of building high-performing teams, translating complex business objectives into technical roadmaps, and delivering projects within budget.

Chief Information Officer - Tasheel Finance (UCFS) & Procco Financial Services - Saudi/Bahrain

(2021-09)

• Drove operational efficiency by keeping the combined Tasheel Finance and Procco IT budgets to a highly optimized 4.46% operating expense ratio for the 2026 fiscal year.
• Transitioned Tasheel's legacy architecture into a scalable Python-based micro-services environment using Docker, Kubernetes, Postgres, Redis, and Kafka.
• Created a DevOps team and shifted the software delivery model from iterative waterfall and manual deployment to Agile and CI/CD (using Gitea, Jenkins, and ArgoCD).
• Initiated and enhanced micro-service runtime observability using Prometheus, Telegraf and Grafana.

Engineering Manager – Discovery Machine Learning - Takealot.com - South Africa

(2019-12 - 2021-09)

• Directed the development and deployment of the first deep learning models, specifically for query intent modelling to resolve the "wall of books" product catalogue problem. Further improved the search and discovery stack by improving on existing YMAL and CAB recommender models.

Head of IT - Procco Financial Services - Bahrain

(2017-02 - 2019-11)

• Spearheaded the technical launch of Tasheel Finance in Saudi Arabia, building a platform to deliver Shariah-compliant Murabaha and Tawarruq loans, resulting in SAR 8.2 billion in total loan bookings over the past 6 years.
• Hands-on development of credit bureau integration and risk decision engine in C++ and SQL.

Head of IT – Applications - Procco Financial Services - Bahrain

(2012-10 - 2017-01)

• Based on the success of the Al Baraka Taqseet, we were approached by United Electronics Company to develop a Murabaha instant finance product for Extra electronics in Saudi, which launched in October 2014 as Extra Finance. POS software for this project was solely on PAX POS and used to load Extra gift cards with the finance principal amount. We also developed a web-based online application process so that customers can get pre-approval before visiting the store. Credit risk decisioning for Extra
• Redeveloped the Movenpick Booker Loyalty program using Way4 as the core loyalty system, in-house magstripe card production and a closed-loop NewPOS POS network for acquiring burn transactions.
• Partnered with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank to develop and launch a Murabaha based instant finance product in the UAE. Way4 was again used as the loan management system, and the product was issued to customers on dual-applet Visa cards. The card's instant finance capability was accessed via a closed-loop POS (PAX) network.

Manager – Development (acting Head of Ops) - Procco Financial Services - Bahrain

(2009-06 - 2012-10)

• Developed and launched a Shariah compliant Murabaha instant finance product for Al Baraka Bank Bahrain, called Taqseet, based on a white labelled version of Flair Kuwait. Replaced Mchip/4 applet-enabled cards with CPA cards, and bespoke POS software was redeveloped for Verifone and PAX. Launched in June 2010 with partners like SharafDG, Extra Electronics, Home Electronics, Emax and others. Card production was migrated away from Gemalto and managed ion-house.

Manager – Applications & Development - Procco Financial Services - Bahrain

(2006-09 - 2009-05)

• Developed and implemented enterprise-wide architecture for a Shariah compliant Murabaha instant financing product called Flair. This included customization of the core system (Way4), bespoke POS software development (Axalto), EMV perso setup (Mchip/4) with Gemalto, application processing (Altitude uCI) and middleware (BEA Weblogic). The product launched in Kuwait in December 2007.

Team Lead – Solution Delivery - American Express (MENA) - Bahrain

(2004-01 - 2006-09)

M.Sc. - Computer Science: Machine Learning - University of the Western Cape

B.Sc. Honours - Computer Science: Machine Learning - University of Stellenbosch

B.Sc. - Engineering subjects (Physics, Computer Science) - University of Stellenbosch