Rimes Innovation Forum London

Sam Barber is the Head of EDM Product at Rimes, overseeing enterprise data management with responsibility for product, technology, data mastering, and benchmark and related services. He brings over a decade of deep data management experience, having led the global ETF and Index business development team for S&P Global. Before this, he was with IHS Markit before its acquisition by S&P in 2022.  

Sam is very customer-focused and loves working closely with them to create the modern, next-generation, data-driven solutions they need to support changing business needs. He is highly inquisitive and constantly challenges himself and his colleagues to ensure Rimes maintains its unique position as the leading expert provider of high-quality global data management solutions and services.  

A sought-after speaker, Sam has represented Rimes at numerous events like InvestOps, ETF Exchange, TSG Performance Measurement Forum, and various client roundtables.  

Theo Bell is the Head of AI Product at Rimes, where she leads the company’s efforts to leverage AI technology in order to provide cutting-edge data management solutions to clients. Previously, Theo held key roles at Palantir Technologies and Goldman Sachs, where she enabled various industries to leverage data through AI/ML-driven software, notably Airbus’ Skywise platform, the NHS, and the UK Ministry of Defence.  

 Theo is dedicated to using AI and technology for global challenges, particularly in improving health, enhancing society, and fostering sustainable businesses. She is also an experienced speaker, having presented at major industry events such as the AI in Capital Markets Summit, Institutional Investor Automating Alpha, FISD World Financial Information Conference, and the A-Team Data Management Summit. Theo holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge. 

Justin joined Rimes in November 2021 as Chief Product Officer, leading the Product and Technology organizations at Rimes, responsible for product vision, strategy, development and commercialization. 

Previously, Justin was the Head of Corporate and Investment Bank Innovation at Barclays, responsible for strategy and execution to bring external FinTech innovations into the bank.  Prior to Barclays, Justin spent 23 years at Goldman Sachs working in Global Markets, most recently as Head of EMEA Equities Electronic Trading Engineering where he worked with clients and sales to deliver new products and improve execution quality for clients. 

Justin has been a prominent speaker at industry events, representing Rimes at FIMA US, the Pensions & Investments UK Pension Fund Tour, and numerous client roundtable discussions. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and Electronics from the University of Edinburgh.  

Stephane has 25 years of experience in steering both regional and global teams in financial services. He is renowned for driving substantial AUM growth and revenue across a spectrum of investable solutions, ETFs, index funds, and mandates. Previously Global Head of Investable Products at STOXX Indices and EMEA Head of Index Investments Group at FTSE Russell.

Leon Lummis is a Director at Alpha FMC within the Technology Consulting practice, supporting clients across data and technology strategy, architecture, and implementation engagements for Asset and Wealth Managers.

He leads the firm’s Operations Technology propositions, specialising in end-to-end transformation across Middle Office, Back Office, Data, and Reporting functions. Leon works closely with clients to design and implement scalable, future-ready operating models that enhance efficiency, enable data-driven decision-making, and embed AI-enabled capabilities into core operational processes.

Vijay is a proven Fintech leader with a track record of transforming and scaling global Fintech businesses. He is a recognized leader in harnessing next-generation technologies to solve complex data and workflow challenges for the world’s leading financial institutions.

Prior to Rimes, Vijay spent 12 years at Broadridge Financial Solutions, a period during which the company’s market capitalization grew from under $3 billion to over $30 billion. As a key member of the Executive Team and most recently as President of Capital Markets, he transformed a foundational post-trade solutions business into a $1.1 billion global leader in trading, data, and analytics. A passionate product innovator, Vijay has consistently pushed the boundaries of financial technology, creating market-leading platforms leveraging AI, smart contracts, tokenization, and other next-generation technologies.

Vijay’s broad experience includes private equity investing, hands-on technology roles building fixed income trading systems, strategic consulting for financial institutions at BCG and co-founding a venture-backed data company, leading it through a full lifecycle from inception to a strategic acquisition. He is also a named inventor on a number of patents in financial technology and market structure.

He holds an MSc in Machine Learning & Data Science from Imperial College, London, an MBA from The Wharton School, and a BA/MA in Physics from the University of Oxford.

Chris leads business development efforts for Citisoft’ EMEA. He has decades of experience serving financial services firms in a variety of business development and leadership roles. Chris has deep expertise in data infrastructure, fintech integration, alternatives, and digital assets. Before joining Citisoft, he successfully led business development for Finastra’s global managed services business and KPMG’s UK investment management practice. He has also driven the global growth for leading system vendors including BlackRock Solutions and Charles River Development.

Neal is the Head of IMP Product, with a strategic focus on the North American and EMEA regions. In this role, Neal is responsible for delivering the next generation of Investment Management Platform solutions at scale. He collaborates closely with our AI and EDM teams to ensure holistic value delivery to our clients. 

Neal brings 20 years of extensive experience in the finance industry. Before his current role, Neal led the IBD Analytics group within Barclays Investment Banking Division. There, he was instrumental in delivering financial engineering and quantitative advisory products across various asset classes. Neal also played a key role in the Barclays Group Innovation Office, where he worked on developing capital markets innovations. His work involved close collaboration with fintech start-ups specializing in capital markets, analytics, and financial engineering. At Deutsche Bank, he held leadership positions, including running the EMEA Electronic Execution and Analytics division and co-leading the European Central Risk Team. Additionally, Neal has experience trading delta one products during his tenure at Goldman Sachs. 

Neal is deeply committed to leveraging a broad spectrum of technological capabilities, including AI, Data Science, Financial Engineering, and Machine Learning, to create significant value for clients. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science, with specializations in Security and Artificial Intelligence from the University of Cape Town and Rand Academic University. 

Nicholas (Nick) Wood joined Rimes in 2025 as an Enterprise Data Management Product Manager, bringing extensive experience in data management, virtualization, and AI-driven platforms. He is responsible for shaping and delivering product strategy across Rimes’ Enterprise Data Management offering. Nicholas is very customer-focused and enjoys working closely with users to develop the products. 

Prior to joining Rimes, Nicholas was a Product Manager at FINBOURNE Technology, where he led the development and commercialization of a data virtualization product and AI platforms, scaling them from internal tools to widely adopted solutions across the buy and sell side. He has also worked across core data infrastructure, reconciliations, analytics, and front-end user experience. 

Nicholas holds a Master of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering from University College London.