Beyond Borders, Beyond Banking: How Sehmbi Led Global Change at Scale

Over the past three decades, Sehmbi has built a career that spans more than 60 countries and industries ranging from investment banking, energy, telecoms, consulting and insurance. Known for leading high-impact transformation programs for Fortune 500 companies, he brings a mix of strategic insight and people-first leadership to some of the world's most complex business challenges. 'Transformation isn't just about changing systems, technology or processes,' Sehmbi says. 'It's about aligning those changes with people's motivations and values. That's what drives lasting impact.'

Crossing Borders, Bridging Cultures

Sehmbi has built and led global operations for some of the world's most recognised institutions, including HSBC, Deloitte, Cigna, and Verizon. Whether developing risk and technology frameworks at HSBC or reimagining operational landscapes at Verizon, he's strived to find the right balance between a unified vision with on-the-ground realities. 'Every region has its own pulse,' he says. 'If you ignore that, even the best strategies will falter. My job is to bridge global ambition with local relevance.'

At HSBC, he was instrumental in establishing multiple global organisations from the ground up, overseeing teams across capital markets, securities transaction services, asset management and trade finance. At Deloitte, Sehmbi built the UK and Swiss technology, operations and risk functions from inception.

Sehmbi's ability to navigate regulation and complexity has made him a trusted partner globally, as he has worked across a wide network of financial regulators from all global regions, including the National Futures Association, in the United States, The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in Luxembourg, all the way to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in Hong Kong (to name a few). His work has spanned North America, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the African continent, driving digital transformation, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience at scale in some of the world's most demanding financial jurisdictions. At Deloitte, he was instrumental in a sweeping data protection campaign across major investment banks to change shifts across competitors to take a single and unified stance on data management.

From Early Hustle to Executive Vision

Long before his corporate career, Sehmbi was already experimenting with scale and strategy. By his twenties, he had turned his family's small retail outlet into a wholesale and distribution business, importing goods from Asia for distribution across Europe and North America. Later, he co-founded a currency trading venture focused on fixed-income securities, an experience that launched him into financial markets and eventually technology.

"My upbringing taught me that every challenge carries an opportunity, even if it doesn't look like it at first," Sehmbi says. By the time he entered financial services, he had already built the foundation for a global mindset. When he co-founded Currency Times LLP, a family-run venture focused on currency and fixed-income securities, he was navigating real-time markets and geopolitical shifts long before such skills became standard in executive roles. The firm managed trades across multiple jurisdictions, requiring a sharp understanding of both market volatility and economic sentiment. "It taught me how to respond in moments of high pressure and to always keep an eye on the big picture," Sehmbi recalls. "You needed to read not just the numbers but the sentiment behind them. That instinct became crucial in my later work with large-scale global transformations.'

Putting People Before Process

At the core of Sehmbi's leadership approach is a belief that meaningful transformation begins with people. 'Technology should serve people. Sustainable change happens when you build trust and show people how transformation benefits them,' he says. Regardless of the industry or scale, Sehmbi's work reflects a consistent conviction that empathy and execution go hand in hand. This extends to his work with Save The Children, the global humanitarian organization focused on improving the lives of children, where he helped develop secure infrastructure to deliver emergency grants to families in need.

A Conductor of Complex Change

Sehmbi's strength lies in orchestrating cross-functional efforts across enormous, often dispersed organizations. In his role as a Board Director for Cigna's Asia innovation hub, he integrated his deep technical and financial experience as Non-Exec Director, steering the build-out of an AI and data analytics hub that supported global technology across International Markets. At HSBC, he built technology, risk, and operations functions and infrastructure across more than 60 countries worldwide. And at Verizon, he developed forensic and cybersecurity capabilities that supported national regulatory frameworks and worked hand in hand with the National Critical Infrastructure government agencies.

"Leaders need to be bilingual in strategy and empathy," Sehmbi says. 'Whether you're in banking or consulting, it always comes down to people, process, and purpose.' As industries continue to reckon with technological change, economic uncertainty, and shifting societal expectations, Sehmbi's career is a reminder that lasting transformation depends not just on strategy but on understanding the context, communicating with clarity, and acting with care.

Follow Avtar Sehmbi on LinkedIn to explore more of his work and insights on driving strategic change in global business.