The SILC Group
Head of Technology
Sept 2023 - Sept 2024
Head of Technology at The SILC Group - Deeper Role Notes
This page provides expanded insights into my role at SILC, beyond what’s covered in the main CV.
Stage, Team & Stack
Stage: Mid-size trustee and funds administration firm with legacy systems and a small internal technology group.
Team: ~6 internal staff plus multiple external vendors across infrastructure, applications, and compliance.
Stack: The blockchain pilot was built with Tokeny on the Polygon network.
Culture
- As an organically grown trustee and fund administrator, SILC had accumulated disparate, disconnected systems and processes.
- Heavy reliance on vendor platforms and a small internal team made ownership blurry.
- Appetite for innovation was signalled but not real — executives talked about innovation but consistently resisted execution.
- Overall, an authoritarian, top-down culture shaped decision-making and slowed organisational change.
Key Challenges & Approaches
Challenge 1: Disconnected Systems & Lack of Ownership
Core processes spanned multiple vendor systems, with unclear ownership between SILC staff and external providers.
Approach: Clarified accountability across staff and vendors, introduced a visible backlog, and implemented a lightweight planning rhythm with regular reporting to executives.
Outcome: Improved transparency, reduced friction, and ensured critical BAU functions had clear ownership.
Challenge 2: Blockchain Pilot for Fund Administration
The board wanted to explore blockchain-enabled fund administration as part of the real-world asset tokenisation wave.
Approach: Scoped and delivered a pilot platform using Tokeny on Polygon, integrating regulatory and operational constraints into design.
Outcome: Successfully demonstrated the feasibility of tokenising illiquid fund assets within SILC’s environment, including creation of a bank-backed stablecoin for seamless on- and off-ramping of fiat currency. A detailed research paper was presented to the board following the pilot.
Challenge 3: Operational Resilience
Legacy systems lacked consistent processes for incident handling and change management.
Approach: Brought in a managed services provider to take over day-to-day IT operations and improve resilience.
Outcome: Successfully onboarded the MSP, reduced operational friction by cutting IT incidents, and improved reliability of critical services.
Notable Achievements
- Delivered a working blockchain pilot, positioning SILC at the forefront of trustee innovation (at least technically).
- Introduced backlog visibility and planning rhythms that gave executives clear oversight without slowing delivery.
- Clarified staff vs vendor accountabilities across infrastructure and application management.
- Successfully onboarded a Managed Services Provider to strengthen operational resilience and reduce incidents.
Reflections & Key Takeaways
- What worked well: Balancing innovation (blockchain pilot) with operational resilience improvements kept stakeholders confident while exploring new territory.
- What I’d do differently: Looking back, I could have done more structured due diligence on the organisation’s true capacity for innovation. While there was enthusiasm in the narrative, the underlying appetite for execution proved far more limited. A sharper assessment earlier may have helped set clearer expectations, for both myself and the board.
- Hard reality: The board ultimately proved unwilling to commit capital, either external or internal, despite feasibility being demonstrated.
- Skills developed: Bridging traditional trustee operations with emerging Web3 solutions, introducing governance processes in legacy environments, and aligning innovation with regulatory frameworks.
Transition
After the blockchain pilot, a board decision concluded that while real-world asset tokenisation was technically feasible, it was not viable within SILC’s construct: they had no appetite to take on external capital, and insufficient internal capital to fund the project. As a result, the initiative was shut down and I exited following the pilot delivery.