Thomas Glaus

Accountable for data and AI in regulated environments

I make data management the engine of transformation — from strategy to execution.

For institutions that want change they can measure.

Explore career View governance

20+
Years of data & transformation leadership: CHF 200bn+
Balance sheet, largest institutions led: 4
Industries: banking, insurance, lending, retail

Executive Profile

Responsibility that extends beyond the roadmap.

To me, data management is a transformation discipline, not an IT project.

I build data strategies and stay accountable for them well past the roadmap. That experience spans several heavily regulated industries: banking, insurance, lending and retail.

Focus Areas

What I work on so data performs.

The six fields build on each other — from why data gets used at all, to what it delivers for the business. Skip one, and it shows.

Data Strategy

A data strategy follows business strategy and takes shape across the business domains. Otherwise data work stays an IT project.

Data Culture

Data culture isn't built by tools, but by role models. When leadership shows new behaviour, data becomes a shared language.

Data Governance

Governance makes decisions accountable and ownership clear. Clear roles and rights create the confidence to act responsibly.

Data Architecture

An architecture only holds up if it's built for iterative change. The right platforms grow with the business instead of holding it back.

Data Management

Without solid foundations, every ambition stays theoretical. Quality, standards and clear ownership make data something you can trust.

Data as an Asset

Data only creates value once it's managed like an asset. That changes investment decisions, not just how reports look.

Building trust. Creating value.

The six themes show what I work on — this is about what it's for. I take business use cases into production, from reporting through machine learning to generative AI and agentic AI.

Defense — Building trust

Data & AI governance, ownership model (data owner, data steward, data custodian)
Established and chaired the AI board, risk classification, release logic
Data quality, controls, internal control system
Regulatory: FINMA, Swiss DPA, GDPR, audit resilience
Reporting to executive management, the Audit & Risk Committee, the board of directors

Offense — Creating value

Business use cases from idea through to production
Reporting & BI for executive management and business units
Classical ML with a focus on predictive analytics
Generative AI and agentic AI for operational and strategic processes
Operationalisation: from development to stable production

Career Timeline

Two decades of leadership across data, analytics and AI.

from 08.2026

Head of Data Management & AIUpcoming

Thurgauer Kantonalbank

Mandate: Responsible for building data management and AI at a Swiss cantonal bank.

09.2024 – 07.2026

Chief Data Officer

Schaffhauser Kantonalbank

CHF 10bn balance sheet total

Data strategy approved by executive management and the board.
Defined and executed the enterprise-wide data strategy, target architecture and cloud roadmap.
Led the migration architecture from on-prem data warehouse environments to Microsoft Fabric and Azure.
Designed a US Cloud Act mitigation framework together with an external law firm.
Established and chaired the bank-wide AI board — convening and leading it, inventorying AI use, risk classification, release logic.
Reported to executive management, the Audit & Risk Committee and the board on data, cloud and AI risk.
Defined AI and cloud risk appetite together with the CRO and the Audit & Risk Committee.
Defined the IKS controls for data, cloud and AI, backed by several audits with consistently strong outcomes.

Impact: Institutionalised enterprise-wide AI governance, strengthened regulatory resilience and established the foundation for a scalable, cloud-native data architecture.

09.2023 – 08.2024

Head of Data Management & Data Platforms

Cembra Money Bank AG

CHF 8bn balance sheet total

Led an international data value stream across Switzerland, India and Latvia.
Steered data-platform modernisation and key AI-enabler initiatives.
Owned international recruitment, restructuring and performance management decisions.
Led a Microsoft Fabric proof of concept within a FINMA-compliant regulatory framework.

Impact: Harmonised cross-border governance structures and stabilised offshore delivery structures following restructuring.

09.2022 – 08.2023

Head of Data Management

Denner AG

CHF 4bn revenue

Re-engineered the data operating model toward a Data-as-a-Product architecture.
Consolidated BI silos and established scalable governance and analytics standards.
Introduced real-time KPI reporting for CFO, supply-chain and sales steering.

Impact: Increased transparency, strengthened financial steering capability and embedded scalable data governance sustainably.

07.2020 – 08.2022

Head of BI & Data Analytics

Swiss Life AG

CHF 216bn balance sheet total

Provided technical leadership for the OneTrust implementation covering enterprise-wide consent and preference management.
Led an advanced customer analytics platform including an R/Python-based modelling environment.
Strengthened GDPR and revised Swiss data-protection structures in an enterprise setting.

Impact: Modernised the data-protection governance infrastructure and strengthened advanced risk-analytics capabilities.

07.2010 – 06.2020

Head of Client Analytics

Zürcher Kantonalbank

CHF 206bn balance sheet total

Scaled numerous ML and deep-learning use cases across mortgages, advisory and investment banking, and built an advisor frontend.
Operationalised data-driven models with measurable contribution to revenue, efficiency and steering capability.
Designed and calculated simulation and pricing models for the shift to advisory-led models, in close coordination with product and asset management.

Impact: Measurable revenue growth and cost efficiency through industrialised machine-learning applications in advisory and mortgage domains, while strengthening regulatory resilience.

07.2003 – 06.2010

Senior Data Scientist

UBS AG

Tier-1 investment bank

Developed advanced ML analytics models for investment risk management and portfolio decisions.
Contributed to building scalable enterprise data platforms in a tier-one investment-banking environment.
Deputy Team Lead in the Business & Client Analytics department.
Identified as an “AD Talent” within Global Products & Marketing (2008).

Governance & Board Exposure

Governance as the foundation of responsible transformation.

The career timeline shows the stations — this section shows the altitude I worked at within them. Responsible use of data, AI and cloud is not created by technology alone, but through robust governance structures, clear decision rights and regular accountability to executive management, the audit committee and the board.

Board & Committee Reporting

Regular reporting to executive management, the Audit & Risk Committee and board-level stakeholders on data, cloud and AI risk topics.

AI Board & Risk Governance

Established and chaired a bank-wide AI board with inventorying, release logic and risk classification; defined AI and cloud risk appetite together with the CRO and the Audit & Risk Committee.

Regulatory Depth

Combining innovation with regulatory depth across FINMA, DSG and GDPR expectations, including internal controls and audit readiness.

Strategic Partnerships

Collaboration with KPMG, EY, Zühlke, D-ONE, PwC, VISCHER, Microsoft and SoftwareOne, plus regular exchange with other cantonal banks on cloud, data and AI governance.

Education & Credentials

Academic depth, leadership education and continuous development.

Executive MBA in Business EngineeringIn progress

University of St.Gallen (HSG)

04.2026 – 06.2027

Master of Advanced Studies in Data Science

ZHAW School of Engineering

12.2014 – 03.2018

Master of Advanced Studies in Business Administration

ZHAW School of Management and Law

01.2006 – 01.2008

Dipl.-Ing. FH in Data Analysis and Process Design

ZHAW School of Engineering

09.1999 – 12.2002

Federal VET Diploma, Electronics Technician with Vocational Baccalaureate

Kistler Instrumente AG, Winterthur

09.1995 – 07.1999

Executive Education

The Silicon Valley Experience — Innovation & Tech Trends: Lessons from Silicon Valley

University of St.Gallen (Executive MBA HSG), hosted by Prof. Dr. Stuart Evans (Carnegie Mellon University) and Prof. Dr. Homa Bahrami (UC Berkeley)

06–10.07.2026

Selected certifications

Data, Analytics & Cloud

2022 · Azure Data Scientist Associate (DP-100)
2021 · Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900)
2020 · Power BI Data Analyst Associate (DA-100)
2019 · Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)
2016 · SAS Certified Data Scientist, SAS Institute (Wallisellen)

Agile Delivery & Framework

2023 · SAFe® 6.0 Release Train Engineer (RTE)
2023 · SAFe® 6.0 Product Owner / Product Manager (POPM)
2021 · Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II), Scrum.org

IT Service Management

2020 · ITIL® 4 Foundation

Languages

German: Native
English: Fluent (C1)
French: Conversational

Convictions

Three convictions that shape how I work.

Data is a leadership responsibility, not an IT project.

Governance without use cases is just paperwork.

A data strategy without top-level backing never leaves the slide deck.

Contact

Let's talk about data-driven transformation.

Open to confidential conversations about executive roles, transformation mandates and strategic advisory work.

Mobile: +41 78 788 68 47
Email: contact@thomasglaus.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thomasglaus

Full CV available on request.