DeepSeek is sweeping the financial circle, and brokerage CIOs welcome the “trend of coaching changes”: Understanding IT and business is standard, and AI experience is more popular

Photo source: Visual China

Blue Whale News, February 26 (Reporter Hu Jie) Since the beginning of this year, chief information officers (CIOs) of many securities firms have changed frequently. CITIC Securities, Guoyuan Securities, and Huaxi Securities have adjusted CIOs through internal promotions or external recruitment, actively responding to the development trend of digital transformation and accelerated deployment of AI models.

A comparison between Blue Whale News reporters found that judging from the new CIOs and recruitment requirements of the above-mentioned securities firms, talents with mixed backgrounds are increasingly favored by institutions. During exchanges with many headhunters, the reporter learned that compared with traditional functional requirements, the securities industry’s hiring of CIOs also emphasizes financial business knowledge reserves, industry data security and compliance management, and the ability to respond to rapid technological changes in the business.

The financial sector has diversified business scenarios and extensive digital transformation and upgrading needs, and is an excellent vertical implementation scenario for large models. Industry insiders also have a consensus that the big model will become a key driving point for the digital transformation of the securities industry.

A senior algorithm engineer at a leading brokerage firm said in an interview with reporters that today, with the increasing application of large models such as DeepSeek, relevant positions will focus more on the appointment of technical talents with rich experience in large models. rdquo; For example, it has the ability to deploy AI models and apply scenarios, intelligent mid-stage innovation, etc.; it has the ability to establish a risk monitoring system for new technologies to ensure risk control and respond to changes in regulatory requirements.

Industry analysts pointed out that in the future, brokerage CIOs will no longer be just simply information technology managers, but will become strategic partners of the business. They need to deeply participate in the company’s business decisions, use AI and other technologies to mine data value, optimize business processes, and enhance customer experience. and create new profit models. rdquo; Future CIOs should have the speed and flexibility required by transformative strategic digital leaders to drive business breakthroughs and performance growth through technical support.

Broker CIOs rejuvenate and speed up, mostly with a compound background

Since the beginning of the New Year, CIOs of many securities firms have been renewed, either promoted internally or searched for more suitable candidates through market-based recruitment.

On February 19, CITIC Securities announced the appointment of Yu Xinli as chief information officer, replacing Fang Xing, the former CIO. Yu Xinli joined CITIC Securities in 1999 and has served as the system development project manager of the financial product development team, the system development post of the research department, the B corner of the research department, and the head of the Operation Management Department of the Brokerage Business Development and Management Committee (later renamed the Wealth Management Committee, hereinafter referred to as the Economic Development and Development Management Committee), the head of the Market Research Department of the Economic Development and Management Committee, and the administrative head of the Research Department. Judging from his resume, Yu Xinli is not only a technical school, but also extensively involved in the comprehensive management of business departments. Since its establishment in 2017, the CIO position of CITIC Securities has gone through two leaders, Song Qunli and Fang Xing. This time, the CIO candidate has been adjusted again, which also reflects the company’s continued importance to the financial technology strategy.

On January 27, Guoyuan Securities announced that it had appointed Zhang Guowei as a member of the executive committee and chief information officer, and former CIO Zhou Lijun had retired due to age. The announcement’s resume shows that Zhang Guowei was born in 1971 and served as the manager of the computer department of Anhui SDIC Shanghai Securities Business Department, the deputy director of the trading department of Anhui SDIC Hefei Shouchun Road Securities Business Department, and the deputy general manager and general manager of the company’s Hefei Lujiang Road Securities Business Department., general manager of the company’s Internet Finance Department. He is currently the general manager of the company’s Financial Technology Department and the director of the Financial Technology Innovation Laboratory of the Ministry of Financial Technology. He is also a compound CIO with both information technology management and securities business management capabilities.

The reporter learned from the industry that recently, Chu Weizhong, former chief information officer of Shanghai Securities, joined Orient Securities as the position of chief information officer. According to public information, Chu Weizhong has successively served as manager of Shanghai Securities Information Division, assistant to the general manager and deputy general manager of the Information Technology Headquarters, and has presided over the work of deputy general manager and was later promoted to general manager. Since October 2019, Chu Weizhong has served as chief information officer of Shanghai Securities.

In addition, in January this year, Huaxi Securities publicly recruited a chief information officer from the public. The recruitment requirements mentioned that they must have experience as a first-level department of a securities fund operating institution or a head of a financial institution department; they must have been engaged in information technology-related work for more than 10 years., those with strong sensitivity to industry technological change, independent system research and development capabilities and team organization and management capabilities are preferred. It is reported that in June last year, Zu Qiang, former chief information officer of Huaxi Securities, retired, and the position of chief information officer was temporarily replaced by Xing Huaizhu, director of compliance.

Judging from the new CIOs and recruitment requirements of the above-mentioned securities firms, talents with mixed backgrounds are increasingly favored by institutions. This may be because the composite background of information technology + financial industry management is more conducive to breaking down barriers between technology and business, accelerating AI application and digital management under the demand for accelerated application of large models such as DeepSeek. It also shows that to integrate technology more deeply into the business, CIOs with cross-domain capabilities are needed to adjust strategies and drive change.

“Some securities firms may think that CIOs in the new stage need to have more advanced concepts and practical experience in digitalization. rdquo; Yu Fenghui, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank, said in an interview with reporters that there are many reasons for the recent accelerated changes in CIOs of securities firms. First, the pace of digital transformation is accelerating, and securities firms need leaders who better understand technology and business integration to promote it; Second, industry competition is intensifying. Under the wave of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, securities firms hope to gain more innovative strategic vision by replacing CIOs to seize market opportunities; Third, regulatory requirements for localized data storage and anti-money laundering monitoring are becoming stricter. CIOs need to ensure that the company complies with relevant regulations in information technology applications and lead the construction of technical compliance systems, which poses new challenges to CIOs ‘comprehensive capabilities.

CIO functions have evolved to deeply empower the company’s business decisions

Due to the need to meet high professional requirements, CIOs in the securities industry generally belong to the group with senior technical personnel, highly educated, and an average annual salary of one million.

During exchanges with multiple headhunters, the reporter learned that in the traditional functional positioning, the CIO plays the role of technical decision-maker and leader, mainly responsible for formulating and implementing technical strategies to ensure the effective operation of the technical team; at the same time, the CIO also needs to work with the business department Maintain close collaboration and provide corresponding technical support based on understanding business needs to help the business department improve operational efficiency. In terms of job requirements, general-purpose CIOs need to have a deep understanding of the IT industry, be familiar with emerging technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, have rich programming language, data, and system management experience, and have good project management capabilities.

However, on this basis, the securities industry’s recruitment requirements for CIOs also emphasize financial business knowledge reserves, industry data security and compliance management, and the ability to respond to rapid technological changes in the business.

According to the “Measures for the Management of Information Technology of Securities Fund Operating Institutions”, a securities fund operating institution shall designate a senior manager who is familiar with securities and fund business and has a professional background, experience, and ability to perform duties related to information technology as the chief information officer, who shall be responsible for information technology management. The management measures also clarify that the qualifications for chief information officers include: engaging in information technology-related work for more than 10 years, including information technology-related work in the securities and fund industries for no less than 3 years; or serving in securities regulatory agencies and securities fund industry self-regulatory organizations. For more than 8 years; no administrative penalties or major administrative supervision measures have been imposed by financial regulatory agencies in the past three years.

Supervision has always attached great importance to the stable allocation of CIO functions in securities firms. At the end of last year, Changcheng Guorui Securities was rarely punished by the Xiamen Securities Regulatory Bureau for a long-term vacancy of its chief information officer. As the core figure of the company’s information security and technology management, the long-term vacancy of the chief information officer may lead to inadequate information technology management, which in turn affects the security and stability of the information system.

With the gradual deepening of digital transformation of securities firms and the large-scale application of AI models, institutions ‘functional requirements for CIOs are also iterative. A more direct example is that different large models have their own technical characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. How to match the existing technical capabilities and business needs of the CIO’s organization, and how to select and iteratively generate the most suitable AI technology solution are all important to the CIO’s comprehensive ability and judgment and decision-making ability put forward requirements.

According to a previous compilation by Blue Whale News, more than 20 securities firms in the industry have completed the localized deployment of DeepSeek, covering multiple scenarios such as compliance questions and answers, business processing guidelines, knowledge inquiries, and investment research analysis, improving information processing efficiency and decision-making accuracy., the AI-driven intelligent transformation of the securities industry is accelerating.

In terms of the empowerment of AI and large models to securities business, Zhao Ran, chief analyst of non-bank finance and financial technology at CITIC Construction Investment Securities, said that in the short term, AI will focus on empowering normative business links based on individuals and optimizing business processes., significantly improving business efficiency and customer experience; from a medium-term perspective, AI plays a key enabling role in the collaboration of front, center and back office businesses, fully releasing the productivity of front, center and back office personnel; With long-term accumulation, AI has promoted securities institutions to achieve agile transformation, form differentiated competitiveness that is different from their peers, and occupy a dominant position in the changing market environment.

A senior algorithm engineer at a leading brokerage firm said in an interview with reporters that today, with the increasing application of large models such as DeepSeek, relevant positions will focus more on the appointment of technical talents with rich experience in large models. rdquo; For example, it has the ability to deploy AI models and apply scenarios, intelligent mid-stage innovation, etc.; it has the ability to establish a risk monitoring system for new technologies to ensure risk control and respond to changes in regulatory requirements.

“Different from information officers previously positioned in service positions, CIOs in the new era not only need to adapt to new functions under current new technologies and new businesses, but also need to implement plans for the company’s development strategy and regard technology finance as the vanguard of brokerage business breakthroughs and performance growth. rdquo; Qu Fang, investment consultant of Wanlian Securities, told reporters that competition in the traditional business of securities firms is already very fierce, and non-homogeneous competition with technology and finance as the core will unfold. As AI is gradually integrated into the brokerage business, securities firms have an even more urgent need for financial technology talents.

Yu Fenghui pointed out that in the future, brokerage CIOs will no longer be just simply information technology managers, but will become strategic partners of the business. They need to deeply participate in the company’s business decisions, use AI and other technologies to mine data value, optimize business processes, enhance customer experience and create new profit models. He believes that CIOs must also shoulder the responsibility of building and improving the AI ethical framework, ensure the fairness, transparency and security of AI applications, and have stronger data governance capabilities, because the subsequent effective operation of AI models will depend on high-quality data management.& rdquo;(Blue Whale News Hu Jiehujie@lanjinger.com)