Akber Jaffer, CEO, Smartstream
Rebranding is tricky for a company as established and respected as Smartstream. But with AI broadening the customer base and transforming its relationships with existing clients, CEO Akber Jaffer has decided it’s time for change.
When Akber Jaffer took over as CEO of data solutions provider Smartstream in 2023, its reputation as a global financial technology giant among more than 2,000 clients – including the majority of Tier 1 institutions – was already firmly cemented.
Understandable, therefore, that the new boss wouldn’t rush to shake things up. Instead, he invested time listening to colleagues, clients, and the market, before starting to chart a bold new strategic course for delivering automation and operational excellence with AI at its core. And he is signalling that intent through a rebrand designed to reflect both Smartstream’s evolution into a more agile, AI-driven partner to its existing financial services clients while raising its profile in other data-driven industries and markets.
There’s a change to the Smartstream domain, refreshed messaging, a new website and a product naming strategy whereby each solution now carries the ‘Smart’ prefix.
We asked Jaffer to talk us through the rationale behind the new visual identity, with its interlocking links representing an industry shift from the transactional provision of software-as-a-service (SaaS) bolt-ons to relationship-based interconnectivity, and his broader vision for Smartstream as he takes it into a new era.
