Neil Budd

Chief Executive Officer Finshape

Last Reviewed: September 26, 2026

Executive Summary

Neil Budd is Chief Executive Officer of Finshape, a Prague-based provider of digital banking software to more than 100 financial institutions in 25 countries. He was appointed in January 2026, taking over from Petr Koutný, who moved to Chairman of the Board, with a stated remit of international growth across Western Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. He came to the role from the vendor and advisory side of banking technology rather than from inside the company: he had been a managing director for financial services at Accenture, a global partnerships and managed-services leader at Finastra, and chief revenue officer at the consultancy Phi Partners, with more than 25 years in banking, technology and consulting.

Career Highlights

• Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Finshape in January 2026, succeeding Petr Koutný, who became Chairman of the Board.
• Leads a company that reported EUR 55 million in 2025 revenue, up 30% year on year, with more than 600 specialists and clients including Erste Group, Raiffeisen Bank International, OTP Bank Group, Banca Transilvania and Dubai Islamic Bank.
• Previously Senior Partner and Chief Revenue Officer at Phi Partners, a capital markets consulting firm specialising in quantitative and technology services.
• At Finastra, for more than three years, Vice President and Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, Ecosystems and Alliances, and Global Head of Managed Services.
• Earlier, Managing Director responsible for financial services at Accenture.

Professional Journey

Budd’s career has run through the firms that sit between banks and their technology: consulting, core banking software and specialist advisory. At Accenture he was a managing director responsible for financial services. He then spent more than three years at Finastra, one of the largest banking software vendors, where he was Vice President and Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, Ecosystems and Alliances, and also Global Head of Managed Services. Before Finshape he was Senior Partner and Chief Revenue Officer at Phi Partners, a capital markets consultancy focused on quantitative and technology services.

Finshape was formed in 2021 by the merger of two Central European banking software companies, W.UP and BSC (Banking Software Company). It builds digital banking platforms and, more recently, loyalty and personalisation technology; in the period before his appointment it acquired the Realtime-XLS loyalty platform from Collinson Group and announced a strategic partnership with Dubai Islamic Bank. It won Best of Show at its FinovateEurope debut in 2022.

The company announced Budd’s appointment on 7 January 2026. Petr Koutný, who had led the business since 2013, became Chairman of the Board. The announcement framed the change around expansion beyond Finshape’s Central and Eastern European base, naming Western Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific as target regions. Budd’s own statement at the time was that “banks are looking for technology partners they can trust for the long term” and that Finshape had “a strong, relevant product portfolio, experienced teams, and stable, trusted relationships with banks.”

Education

No education record was found in the company’s materials or the press coverage of his appointment.