IG Group Tech Chiefs Exit as Brokers Hunt for AI Talent Intesifies

IG Group has parted ways with both of its top technology executives, with group chief technology officer David Perry and UK & Ireland CTO Qaiser Mazhar leaving the FTSE 250 broker after roughly a year in their roles. The company has not publicly confirmed the departures; Perry's LinkedIn profile carries an open-to-work banner, while Mazhar posted a farewell message and signalled a move to healthcare startup Numan.

Perry joined IG in late 2025 from fintech banking startup Vemi Money, where he was group CTO, following his founding of digital currency platform Ziglu. Mazhar arrived from UK supermarket Asda, where he served as chief product and technology officer, after earlier senior technology positions at Wowcher, Marks & Spencer and Goldman Sachs.

AI-focused modernisation

During their short tenures, both executives worked on replacing IG's legacy architecture with AI-enabled infrastructure, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Mazhar described establishing an "AI native" product development life cycle intended to deliver genuine speed gains rather than adding approval layers, while Perry framed his work as moving AI from experimentation into practical engineering and delivery while keeping controls across architecture, security, compliance and quality.

Their exits come at a difficult moment. IG is working through a major reorganisation that includes large-scale headcount reductions, and its shares fell about 20% following a weak third-quarter trading update. CEO Breon Corcoran attributed lower Q3 revenue to reduced OTC revenue retention in less supportive market conditions, adding that he remained confident about meeting medium-term guidance. The company has not said whether the CTO departures are related to the restructuring.

IG has continued to push automation across its operations in 2026, partnering with compliance platform Adclear to apply AI to marketing approvals, adding a CFD Assistant to the ChatGPT App Store for Australian traders, and preparing a unified app combining trading, investing and crypto functionality.

The wider industry is competing for similar talent. Pepperstone recently named Nigel Fernandes, previously SVP of engineering at cloud accounting platform Xero, as CTO with a mandate to scale an AI-native engineering foundation, while NinjaTrader created a chief innovation and AI officer role and filled it by promoting CPO Brian Weis.