John Pillar
Distinguished Engineer and Head of Payments Engineering & Environments
Always fascinated by technology and how computers work, John Pillar spent much of his formative years picking apart computers and working out how to put the machines back together again.
It’s this captivation that sparked, and subsequently launched, Pillar’s career in the technology space. Following his IT training at Teeside University he worked in a number of technology startups, progressing into management and leadership positions.
“For me, it's about the application of Technology, and how to enhance a human trying to do their everyday task,” he shares.
Technology powering effortless customer experience
Talking of a time where web browsers aren’t as advanced as today, one of Pillar’s early and career-defining moments came when he joined a growing but little-known fashion business called AsSeenOnScreen — now a retail giant and fashion house better known as ASOS. He was part of its original technology team, building sites so customers could browse and shop online, with their experience front of mind.
His fashion retail experience, amassed over more than a decade at the likes of ASOS, Marks & Spencer and Arcadia Group, where he helped digitally launch Beyoncé’s Ivy Park brand for Topshop, relates quite closely to his work in banking — a shift starting after he moved to NatWest in 2018.
Pillar continues: “Personalisation plays a big part, and we use technology to aid with that. When we started ASOS, people weren't really buying clothes online —we were still going into stores because we wanted to feel and see the way a garment hangs on us. But buying through the internet — e-commerce — do you really trust it?
“Financial services is in a very similar position to retail back then.”
Pillar believes that much like the evolution seen with fashion retail, there could be so much more that financial services can offer. Pillar’s role is ensuring the technology supports NatWest’s operations for the evolving needs of its customers across their lives and any and all financial needs.
But the question Pillar continues to pose is this: How do you get real personalisation in financial services without it being creepy? And most pressingly, how can customers be best protected from financial crime?
“All these things are super important,” he highlights. “There's so much opportunity as an industry that still needs to be tapped into.”
The biggest factor for Pillar is maintaining trust and ensuring NatWest’s technology remains user-friendly across all its platforms — finding the fine balance between introducing new technology and users not fighting change.
“Implementation should be as subtle and as ‘in the background’ as possible, acting as an aid rather than being obvious,” he adds, sharing how implementing effortless and simple solutions is often the most labour intensive.
Outside of his career, technology plays a big part in Pillar’s home life too, with the tech whizz taking time to build, from scratch, an app that allows him to help his young daughter manage her type 1 diabetes.
“I've always maintained a strong connection with technology and being hands-on with it,” he shares. “I have a fully automated house. I just got so frustrated with needing one app for the heating and one app for the lights that I built my own systems and taught myself more languages.”
At home, his kids can walk into a living room, say ‘turn on the TV’ and the system Pillar has built even knows who has voiced the command. But this was all sparked by something more critical — managing his daughter’s health.
“When it comes to my daughter's type 1 diabetes, the health tech ecosystem's very good if you're the person who has the smartphone, but if you're a family member or a career, it's very, very poor,” he stressed.
Frustrated with the gap in the market, Pillar took it upon himself to create a specialist diabetes app so he can monitor, in real time, his daughter's vitals — allowing him to track her glucose and see if she needs medical attention.
“As I've gone through my professional career, there’s always been a technology element, but I've always made sure that I've actually kept a hand in through practical processes as well,” he concludes, noting the importance to him of engineering technology with a purpose.
Read the full story HERE.
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