Bob Hall
Founder & Chairman
B.Sc Hons (Maths)
Bob Hall is the Chairman of market-leading fintech Sandstone Technology, that he proudly co-founded almost 25 years ago and is driven by the financial technology industry. A former employee of IBM and before “fintech” was a thing, his co-founder Violet Yu were dreaming up ways to transform banking through what was then a new channel called the internet, simplifying the customer journey and the employee experience. Working with the business units Bob is passionate about innovating and evolving as the industry evolves.
Michael Phillipou
Chief Executive Officer
MBA, B.Sc. (Maths), ADFS (Fin. Planning), Cert IV FS (Finance / Mortgage Broking)
Michael Phillipou is responsible for the performance of Sandstone Technology's Global Operations. Deeply passionate about people leadership, banking, financial services & technology, Michael has over 20 years' experience in financial services holding Executive people leadership roles in Advice, Retail & Business Banking, Digital Banking, and Enterprise Technology Sales & Transformation programs for Westpac, MLC-aligned businesses and Bendigo Bank. In addition, he co-founded a disruptive digital banking business, Lodex. Michael holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Bachelor of Science (Maths), Advanced Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning) and Certificate IV in Financial Services (Finance / Mortgage Broking).
Violet Yu
Executive GM People & Performance
BEc (Computer Science)
A passionate technologist, financial services and banking industry professional, Violet is the Director of People and Performance for Sandstone Technology, which she co-founded over 20 years ago. Having done just about every role in Sandstone Technology from its initial founding to having now built an enviable list of customers and a full suite of market-leading digital transformation products, Violet is now focused on attracting and retaining the best people and building & maintaining a high-performance culture, while continuing to maintain a heavy influence on the strategic direction of the organisation. Her vast experience in fintech, combined with her unwavering commitment of continuous self-improvement and a passion to grow Australian companies locally and globally, has seen her flourish in an industry driven by innovation.
Katherine Dziaman
Chief Financial & Operating Officer
BArchEng, BA Hons Finance, MBus(AppFin) BBus(Finance)
Katherine Dziaman is a passionate business expert with hands-on experience in finance, operations & programs delivery disciplines. Katherine has over 18 years experience in developing and implementing processes to increase the performance, driving operational effectiveness and productivity across many geographical & cultural locations. Katherine has a proven track record having delivered strategy and implemented financial protocols across many geographical and cultural locations and has held a number of executive leadership roles at Tonic Health Media, Powercom, JP Morgan Chase, JJL, Mirvac
Ross Watts
Chief Customer Officer
BA Hons
Ross Watts is Sandstone’s Chief Customer Officer and leads the global Marketing, Sales, and Partnerships across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe. Ross has over 20 years of experience in financial services holding regional and national executive, consulting, and leadership roles at not-for-profit organizations, SMEs, Barclays, Lloyds TSB in the UK, Westpac Group, and BT Financial Group, Australia. Ross is passionate about banking, financial services, technology and an active champion for mental health and education. He sits on the board as a Director at SEDA WA, an independent College, focusing on providing Year 11 and 12 students with an individual approach to learning that provides opportunities to develop real skills for a successful future.
Poli Konstantinidis
Executive GM Origination, AI & ML
BAppSc(Math)(Hons)
Poli Konstantinidis leads the Sandstone Origination, AI & ML teams and is responsible for the Lending Origination, AI & ML technology products and solutions across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe. Poli a is highly regarded Financial Services professional with over 20 years’ experience in Risk Management, Operations, Governance and General Management. Poli has a proven track record of business performance transformation, business partnering, strategy derivation & execution and business growth with leading organisations including Experian, GE Capital and Latitude Financial Services.
Chaitanya Pinnamaneni
Chief Technology Officer
B.E. Hons (Information Technology)
Chai Pinnamaneni leads the global tech strategy across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe. Chai has over 15 years of experience in software engineering with a strong focus on promoting growth aligned with innovation and efficiency. Chai has a strong technical background and hands-on experience in cloud architecture & design, building SaaS solutions, managing product development and implementing a secure cloud platform. He is passionate about cloud and champion a cloud-first approach and thrives on finding sophisticated solutions to complex problems to help Sandstone customers to determine the best solutions to support their digital transformation strategy.
Priyanka Nigam
Executive GM Innovation Hub
MBA (International Business), B.Sc. (Multimedia), B.Sc. (Chemistry) (Hons)
Priyanka is a deeply passionate people leader underpinned by her quest for delighting customers and solving problems through simplified processes & automation. An analytical, process-oriented, data-loving product professional with experience across FinTech, PropTech, eCommerce and Management Consulting sectors. Working with and mobilising her teams, Priyanka leverages her team’s strengths and entrepreneurial spirit to uncover innovative, profitable ways for solving problems and reaching business goals/objectives. An inspired student of Lean Startup Methodologies, Priyanka has been instrumental in the development of a SaaS PropTech platform right from conceptualisation through to launch phases. Additionally, she was one of the 3 finalists for the Winnovation 2018 in the Emerging Innovator category and has led teams to win awards & accolades at state, national and APAC levels (such as National - Infrastructure & Platforms of the Year, Innovation of the Year 2018; Merit Recipient - APICTA Awards, APAC level - ICT Business Services of the Year 2018).
Abhish Saha
Executive GM Digital Banking
Prior to joining Sandstone Technology, Abhish Saha has amassed over 25 years of local and global experience within technical and product functions having worked for the likes of Optus, Vodafone, Nortel and Commonwealth Bank of Australia. In his more recent role of Chief Product Officer at Linkly (pre-acquisition, General Manager at Premier Technologies), Abhish focused on delivering in-store, online and voice payment technology solutions to Banks, Governments and Businesses across Australia and overseas.
