Daria
Vlasenko
Founder and managing partner, Vlasenko & Partners
I help financial institutions modernize the systems they run on, without risking the trust they run on.
Accepting two new advisory engagements for the first half of 2027
- 18 yearsleading technology change inside and alongside financial institutions.
- 120+ engagementsacross banking, payments, insurance and capital markets.
- 11 countriesfrom regional lenders to global market infrastructure.
Finance runs on trust. Technology runs on change. The institutions that thrive manage both at once.
I’ve spent my career on the projects financial institutions are most nervous about: replacing the systems that hold the ledger, moving money in real time, and putting models in front of regulators.
I founded Vlasenko & Partners to do that work differently, with senior people who stay through delivery and tell boards the truth about risk while there is still time to act on it.
Read my storyWhen clients call me
Most engagements begin at one of these moments. If one sounds familiar, it’s worth a conversation.
A modernization program has stalled
The budget is spent, the date has moved twice, and nobody can say with confidence when it will land.
The board must approve what it can’t fully assess
A core replacement, a payments platform or an AI rollout needs a decision, and directors want an independent view first.
A supervisor has raised concerns
Findings on technology risk, resilience or model governance need a credible response and a plan that holds.
A deal depends on technology nobody has checked
An acquisition or investment rests on a platform whose real condition, and real cost, is unknown.
Real-time money is arriving
Instant payments and new standards change operations, fraud and liquidity faster than most teams expect.
A new leader inherits a legacy
A new chief executive, technology or operating officer needs a clear view of what they’ve inherited, and what to do first.
Where I help
Six areas where finance and technology decisions are hardest to separate, and most expensive to get wrong.
How engagements workReplacing or re-architecting the systems that hold the ledger, in stages that keep customers, staff and regulators on side throughout.
Questions I’m asked
- Should we replace, wrap or rebuild?
- How do we migrate without a cutover weekend?
- What does an honest business case look like?
Real-time rails, ISO 20022 and cross-border flows, and the operating changes they force on fraud, liquidity and customer support.
Questions I’m asked
- Are we ready for instant payments at scale?
- What does ISO 20022 change beyond messaging?
- Should we build, partner or buy?
Building controls into systems rather than bolting reviews on afterwards, so compliance gets cheaper as you grow rather than more expensive.
Questions I’m asked
- Which manual controls can we safely automate?
- How do we evidence control to a supervisor?
- Where is our regulatory reporting fragile?
Getting models into production with governance a board can stand behind and a supervisor can follow, without slowing the teams who build them.
Questions I’m asked
- Which models are we actually running?
- Who is accountable when a model is wrong?
- How should the board oversee AI risk?
Interim and advisory leadership for programs that have stalled, or are about to start and can’t afford to.
Questions I’m asked
- Is this program recoverable?
- Do we have the right leadership in place?
- What should we stop doing?
Independent assessment of technology, data and delivery risk for acquirers and investors in financial services, priced so it can shape the deal.
Questions I’m asked
- What will this platform cost to keep running?
- Where is the hidden remediation spend?
- What should the first 100 days look like?
Selected work
Recent engagements across banking, payments, insurance and investment. Client names are kept confidential.
See all case studiesReplacing a 30-year-old core banking system without a cutover weekend
Outcome2.1 million accounts migrated in four waves, with no unplanned outage
Real-time payments readiness in fourteen months
OutcomeInstant payments live for 300 institutions, fraud losses per transaction down 31%
An AI governance framework a board could actually use
Outcome47 models inventoried and risk-tiered; supervisory review closed with no findings
Independent by design
Three commitments that shape every engagement, and the reason clients trust the advice.
No vendor commissions
I don’t take referral fees, reseller margins or partnership payments from technology vendors. The only party paying for my advice is you.
Senior-led, start to finish
I lead every engagement personally. The people who win the work are the people who do it, from the first interview to the handover.
Accountable for outcomes
Every engagement has measures agreed at the start. If we miss them, we say so first, and we fix it.
Speaking
Keynotes, panels and private board briefings on modernization, payments and responsible AI in finance, told from inside the programs.
Topics and bookingModernizing without breaking trust
Why core and platform programs fail, and the staged approach that keeps customers, regulators and staff on side.
The real cost of real-time money
What instant payments and ISO 20022 change for operations, fraud and liquidity, well beyond the messaging standard.
AI a board can stand behind
A practical governance model for AI in regulated institutions, from model inventory to board reporting.
Technical debt is a leadership problem
How to make legacy technology visible, priced and owned at the top of the organization.
Boards and roles
- Non-executive director, digital challenger bank2023 to now
- Advisory board, university fintech research centre2022 to now
- Technology committee, national payments association2021 to now
- Mentor, women in finance leadership program2019 to now
Start a conversation
A program that has stalled, a board decision ahead, or an event you’re planning. The first call is a conversation, not a pitch.