Brad Scarff - CTO, Yellowfin
Yellowfin has appointed Brad Scarff as its new chief technology officer (CTO), as the business intelligence (BI) vendor rides the crest of a global growth wave.
Scarff joins the Melbourne-based business from National Australia Bank (NAB), where he held the role of head of procurement operations.
As CTO, Scarff will take charge of shaping product strategies across the world, with founder and CEO Glen Rabie now focusing on international expansion plans.
In addition, Scarff will oversee the improvement of development and release management methodologies across the entire Yellowfin Business Intelligence platform.
“Brad is no stranger to Yellowfin having done strategy work with us in the past,” Rabie said. “As a company, we have a 14-year history of growth and innovation and today find ourselves transforming rapidly into a true, large multinational.
“The timing is perfect for me to hand over Yellowfin’s product innovation leadership to someone as accomplished and capable as Brad.”
Prior to joining the BI specialists, Scarff spent 20 years at NAB, in a number of software-focused roles, including leading the BI Competency Centre in the Wholesale Bank division.
Going forward, Scarff’s brief is based on building a leading BI platform for Yellowfin, one capable of competing on the global stage.
“To achieve this, we will put our customers at the centre of everything we do,” Scarff said.
“As both a developer of BI capability, and an end-user, I have built a strong understanding of how BI can drive the success of an organisation, but also the challenges associated with implementing solutions and driving user adoption.
“Yellowfin will continue to bring exciting and innovative solutions to the platform that create a more intuitive and enjoyable experience in consuming BI, whilst bringing greater analytical fire-power to the end-user.”
The appointment follows a strong start to 2017 for the Australian-born software vendor, which has reported its highest revenues to date, built off a series of new customer wins across the world.
“It’s a great outcome that has been driven by exciting new customer wins such as Kodak, and large enterprise deals in all our key regions including the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, Rabie added.
“Our open and flexible architecture continues to contribute to our success in winning business with ISV customers who are looking for a great embeddable BI solution.”
Looking ahead, Rabie said the company is looking to leverage its “very strong pipeline” across banking and finance.
“Brad’s knowledge and expertise in the banking industry will contribute significantly to how we develop and position Yellowfin in addressing the needs of the finance sector,” Rabie added.
