Profile /
More than thirty years, four Head of Data roles
Quentin Casares is a London-based data and AI leader across Tier 1 banking, insurance, public sector, and regulated enterprise environments.
- Role
- Independent board consultant for data and AI governance
- Base
- London, United Kingdom
- Terms
- Confidential by default · NDA-ready · GDPR-aligned
01 / Narrative
Data functions, platforms, data quality and governance.
His work sits where commercial performance, regulatory control, and executive decision quality meet: building data functions, modernising platforms, improving data quality, and creating governance that gives senior leaders confidence in the numbers.
He combines board-level credibility with hands-on technical fluency in Python, SQL, cloud data platforms, applied AI, RAG patterns, knowledge graphs, and agentic systems. That mix matters because the hardest executive data decisions are rarely solved by a platform selection alone.
He has held four Head of Data roles: Alpha Bank London, Volante Global, MTC UK and HSBC.
02 / Career record
Senior roles and what changed in them.
01
Independent practice
Independent board consultant
Independent board consultant on data, AI governance, and transformation, advising CEOs, CFOs, boards, and PE operating partners in regulated and commercially demanding environments.
- Confidential board advisory on data trust, reporting, and AI adoption.
- Fractional and transformation leadership for regulated and PE-backed businesses.
- Independent of vendor and platform interests: judgement, not resale.
2026 to present
02
Alpha Bank London
Head of Data
Sole senior data leader for a boutique private bank, accountable for enterprise data strategy, governance, analytics, regulatory reporting data quality, and applied AI adoption.
- Chaired the Data and AI Governance Working Group.
- Led BCBS239 remediation across finance and risk reporting data.
- Implemented complex Critical Data Element identification, capture and monitoring processes across finance and risk reporting, with Microsoft Purview deployed across the critical data estate.
- Designed Salesforce FSC integration and core banking data remediation pipelines.
2024 to 2026
03
Volante Global
Head of Data Engineering and Analytics
Built the data function for a high-growth specialty insurance technology business with full ownership of engineering, analytics, BI, governance, and commercial data products.
- Stood up the cloud data platform on Azure and Databricks.
- Created commercial analytics for underwriting, pricing, exposure, customer, and margin decisions.
- Recruited and led a multi-disciplinary data team.
2022 to 2023
04
MTC UK
Head of Data, Analytics and Insight
Led the data, analytics and insight function and its data quality programme.
2020 to 2022
05
HSBC
Head of EMEA Data, Reporting and Analytics
Accountable to the HR Executive Committee for data, reporting, analytics, vendor delivery, and governance across a 30+ country EMEA portfolio.
- Led a blended 40+ person team across employees, contractors, and offshore delivery.
- Delivered major cost efficiencies through re-engineering, automation, and operating model change.
- Directed Accenture and Deloitte partnerships and GDPR readiness work.
2013 to 2018
06
Dufrain, RBS, Barclays, Walgreens Boots Alliance
Transformation, BI, data quality, and governance roles
Delivered advisory, enterprise BI, investment banking data management, and healthcare data quality programmes.
- Built reporting estates and governance models for high-stakes decisions.
- Operated across commercial, risk, operational, workforce, and regulatory datasets.
Earlier leadership
03 / Domain fluency
- Enterprise data strategy
- AI governance
- Data governance
- BCBS239 remediation
- GDPR data controls
- FCA and PRA regulatory expectations
- Critical Data Elements
- Data lineage
- Microsoft Purview
- Databricks
- Azure data platforms
- Commercial analytics
- Board reporting
- Data quality remediation
- RAG and knowledge graphs
- Agentic systems governance
- AI consulting
- Enterprise data architecture
- AI agent development
- Digital transformation
- Prompt engineering
- Agent loop engineering
- Agentic workforce
Qualified mandate
If data has become a leadership issue, start with a conversation.
Confidential by default · NDA-ready · GDPR-aligned