Philip Breen, PhD
Fractional CTO & AI Advisor, Sage Edge
Based in United Kingdom · 13+ years experience
Summary
I give trading and investment firms CTO-level advice and hands-on engineering, from AI strategy and governance to platform builds.
About
I work with trading and investment firms as a fractional CTO, from newly licensed start-ups to established managers. The people I work with are usually founders, COOs and heads of technology, data or risk.
The problems I'm usually brought in for:
- They're adopting AI faster than they can govern it, and the regulators have started asking questions.
- Their trading platform can't keep up with where the business is going.
- They need senior technology leadership, but not a full-time CTO.
A recent example: I was CTO of a start-up futures prop firm backed by ARB Trading Group. I inherited a prototype built by a team that nobody was really leading, and it wasn't where it needed to be. I made the call to replace it and got a team of strong-willed engineers behind a clear plan with milestones. Then I led the rebuild of the trading and analytics platform. I also owned the technology budget and the firm's cybersecurity. The firm was successfully sold.
Before that I spent nearly five years at T. Rowe Price. I led multiple teams building a front-office data platform and a cloud-native portfolio management platform on AWS. We got performance up 33% and costs down by up to 15%. I still build things myself. For a current client I designed and built a systematic crypto trading platform end to end, and two strategies trade live on it.
On AI governance, I help firms work out what MAS, the SFC, the FCA and the EU AI Act actually expect of them. It usually starts with a list of every model and AI tool in use, who owns each one and how much risk it carries.
I work through my consultancy, Sage Edge, in three ways. Some clients want a fixed-scope review of their AI, architecture, data or engineering, run over a few weeks and ending in a prioritised roadmap. Others want me to lead one piece of work, like a platform build or an AI use case, over a few months. And some want a fractional CTO or Chief AI Officer on an ongoing basis, usually two or three days a week.
I have a PhD in applied and computational mathematics from the University of Edinburgh, and the CQF. I'm based in London and work with clients in the UK, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Skills
Software Architecture, Cloud & Infrastructure, Platform Modernisation, Engineering Leadership, Vendor Management, Governance & Risk, Data & AI
Regions covered
Singapore, United Kingdom, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Ireland, Canada
Industry experience
Fintech, SaaS
At a glance
Philip brings hands-on experience across Software Architecture, Cloud & Infrastructure, Platform Modernisation, Engineering Leadership, Vendor Management, Governance & Risk and 1 other areas. Available for engagements across Singapore, United Kingdom, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Ireland, Canada. Industry experience includes Fintech, SaaS.
How fractional CTO engagements with Philip work
Philip works on a fractional basis — typically one to three days a week for an agreed engagement length — so you get senior technical leadership without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire. Engagements commonly include technical due diligence, board reporting, engineering team leadership, technology strategy, architecture reviews, hiring support, and stepping in as interim CTO during a transition.