Meet Our 2023 FICO Decisions Awards Judges

FICO has announced its panel of independent judges for the 2023 FICO® Decisions Awards, which honor businesses achieving outstanding results using analytics and decision management technology to grow their business, manage risk and reduce costs.

The jury for this year's awards is once again filled with talent and diversity. Our eight judges are business leaders, analysts, media and innovators in their own right, drawn from nearly every continent. They have been chosen because of their unique knowledge and extensive expertise across financial services, technology, business, engineering and science. Our thanks go out to the judges for their time and attention as well as their independence and objectivity in selecting the most impressive projects for 2023.

For more information and to enter a nomination, visit www.fico.com/decisionsawards

Nominations are due October 28, 2022, and winners will be announced January 26, 2023.

This year our judges, in alphabetical order, are:

Cortnie Abercrombie, CEO/Founder AI Truth
Cortnie Abercrombie is a world recognized expert in AI and data analytics and has been named in media articles as one of “12 Brilliant Women in Artificial Intelligence & Ethics to Watch,” one of the “Top 100 Innovators in Data and Analytics,” and one of “10 Big Data Experts to Know.” She is a top advisor to Fortune 500 companies on responsible artificial intelligence strategy and data innovation practices and serves on several boards advising startups, universities, and other non-profits. Cortnie is also the CEO and founder of AI Truth, a non-profit organization dedicated to responsible creation and use of AI.

Neeti Aggarwal, CFA senior research manager, The Asian Banker
Neeti Aggarwal manages the financial technology and innovation research at The Asian Banker. With over 19 years’ experience, she specializes in banking, technology and fintech developments across Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. She earlier worked for five years at The Economic Times, India's largest selling financial daily.

Douglas Blakey, editor, Retail Banker International
Douglas Blakey is group editor banking and payments at GlobalData and has edited Retail Banker International and Electronic Payments International since 2010.  He is chief of judges for the annual Retail Banker International Awards and lead market advisor for GlobalData's retail banking research division. He maintains an editorial advisory board of leading bank executives and is a regular guest banking analyst with BBC, NBC and other leading media.

Burcu Çalıcıoğlu, Akbank (previous winner)
Burcu Çalıcıoğlu has more than 18 years of risk management experience in banking and financial services and held various roles in managing retail credit portfolios, leading risk technology projects, using decision analytics and automated decision systems to solve complex business problems across the credit life cycle. Burcu currently leads credit analytics and retail credits at Akbank, one of the largest retail banks in Turkey. She is responsible for ensuring the organization’s consumer loan, credit card and retail SME portfolios are performing in line with targets and KPIs, leading the digital transformation in retail credit systems and leveraging the advanced analytics and decision analytic capabilities in retail credit decisions and processes.

Martin Elliott, BNZ (previous winner)
Martin Elliott has more than 18 years of lending strategy and product management experience in banking and financial services. He has held various roles, leading risk technology projects to transform the customer and banker experience using advanced analytics, machine learning and optimization. Martin currently leads consumer lending and insurance products at BNZ, one of New Zealand's oldest, largest and most innovative banks.

Mark Feeley, Research and Brand Director at Chartis 
Mark Feeley has over 30 years’ experience in global capital markets, consulting and associated technologies, focusing on risk management, front- and middle-office platforms and data management. Before Chartis he held executive positions in large global financial institutions, consultancies and FinTechs, including RBS Capital Markets, AIG, Barclays, EY, Deloitte, Algorithmics and Finastra. He has held various roles including platform and software development, solution architecture, large-scale program management, vendor selection and implementation, and strategy development and execution.

Michal Lodej, group editor, Shard Financial Media
Michal Lodej is an experienced B2B editor with over 10 years of experiencing in editing magazines. Michal’s previous roles have been pushing progressive editorial practices at magazines with a global reach. He now leads the editorial team at UK-based Shard Financial Media, furthering the progression of the agendas at all Shard’s brands including Credit Strategy, Reward Strategy, TRI Strategy and FSE.

Andre Miceli, chief editor of MIT Technology Review Brazil
Andre Miceli is CEO and editor-in-chief of MIT Technology Review in Brazil. He is also the founder and chairman of the board of Infobase, one of the fifty largest IT integrators in Brazil. In addition to this Andre is the academic coordinator of Fundação Getulio Vargas and a commentator on technology, business and society for Jovem Pan, one of the largest media groups in Brazil.

Awards will be presented in ten categories: AI, Machine Learning and Optimization, Cloud Deployment, Customer Onboarding and Management, Debt Management, Decision Management Innovation, ESG Champion, Financial Inclusion, Fraud Management, FICO Industry Vanguard and Pioneer Award. Nominations are due October 28, 2022, and winners will be announced January 26, 2023.

Winners will receive recognition at FICO® World, which will be held in May 16-19, 2023, in Hollywood Florida. Winning implementations will be featured in conference activities, and two representatives of each winning company will receive complimentary conference passes.

Last year’s winning firms represented multiple industries and countries worldwide, all with outstanding results: Fiserv and Akbank (AI, Machine Learning and Optimization);  Itaú and BNZ (Cloud Deployment); Bradesco (Customer Onboarding & Management); Česká spořitelna (Debt Management); Círculo de Crédito (Decision Management Innovation);  Traxión (ESG Champion); Mibanco and SIMAH (Financial Inclusion); ELO (Fraud & Security); and Wells Fargo (FICO Industry Vanguard Award).