About - Alex Psarras

About me

I’ve spent the last 15+ years helping organisations get genuine value out of technology, starting in data analytics, growing through digital transformation and process automation, and now leading hands-on work in AI and agentic engineering. The thread connecting all of it is the same: take expert, slow, manual work and make it faster, more reliable and more defensible through smart use of technology.

→ Build. Architect and ship AI-enabled solutions in code by setting the frameworks, playbooks and tooling standards a global engineering community of developers.

→ Lead. Direct globally distributed teams through digital transformation programmes.

→ Advise. Trusted advisor to FTSE 350 and global financial institution C-suites on AI strategy, digital transformation, governance and enterprise use-case prioritisation.

My Journey So Far

Director, Internal Audit and Financial Advisory, Protiviti

Mar 2022 - Present

Lead AI productivity, agentic AI and technology enablement within Protiviti’s Internal Audit and Financial Advisory UK practice. Hands-on builder and engineering leader, not a just pure advisor.

What I do day-to-day:

Set global frameworks, engineering playbooks and tooling standards for AI and technology assisted development
Continuously evaluate emerging agentic coding and coworking platforms (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Cowork, Lovable and others) to balance velocity with engineering excellence.
Act as trusted advisor to FTSE 350 and global financial institution C-suites on AI strategy, governance, model risk and enterprise use-case prioritisation.
Facilitate executive workshops to design multi-year AI and automation roadmaps for boards and audit committees.

Senior Manager, Assurance and Finance Analytics, Deloitte

Jan 2018 - Feb 2022

Architected and scaled an audit analytics proposition, converting ad‑hoc project work into a recurring revenue stream; sold and delivered multi‑year analytics outsourcing contracts to major financial institutions.
Led business development across the audit client base, identifying “white space” to deploy analytics within traditional audit engagements and consistently exceeding sales targets.
Designed reusable analytics assets and apps for the wider audit practice, increasing margin on standard engagements.
Built and mentored a team of analytics specialists, bridging the cultural gap between data science and traditional audit methodology

Head of Professional Services, DataConsulting

Jul 2010 - Dec 2017

Strategic Alliance (Grant Thornton, 2014–2017): seconded as lead Subject Matter Expert and technical architect for the firm’s Technology Risk practice and audit analytics engagements, delivering high‑quality data assurance on its most complex clients.
Ran the Professional Services Group end-to-end – P&L oversight, resource planning, and delivery of technical training (ACL, Tableau) for internal staff and external clients.
Led end‑to‑end data analysis projects for international clients, bridging technical data extraction and executive stakeholder reporting.

Selected Projects

Internal Audit Innovation

FTSE 100 organisations: Advised Group IA leadership on AI roadmap and data strategy, including benchmarking, governance and use‑case prioritisation; delivered “AI for Internal Audit” enablement tailored to the audit lifecycle.

NextGen Internal Audit

Multinational Universal Bank: Led a team of audit analysts, process miners and digital auditors to build a suite of analytical assets that “data‑enable” the function’s methodology, planning and execution, aligning teams around the future of audit.

Copilot Audit Reporting Agent

FTSE-100 Insurance Group: Co‑design lead on a Microsoft Copilot agent that drafts audit reports directly from workpaper inputs.

Continuous Controls Monitoring

Multinational Alcoholic Beverage Group: Delivered a multi-year SAP‑wide Continuous Controls Monitoring programme across P2P, O2C and Vendor Master Data.