Mark Gay leaves BetEasy, joins QBE as new CIO

Mark Gay has left his job as chief digital officer at BetEasy (formerly CrownBet) and will join QBE Insurance on November 19 as its new CIO.

QBE has been without a CIO since ANZ CIO Tony Forward accepted a redundancy in March following an executive restructure. Gay joined BetEasy in April this year, just one month after the online betting site paid $300 million for the Australian arm of wagering giant, William Hill.

He is reporting to QBE’s global CIO Matt Mansour and chief operating officer Renee Roberts.

When asked why he left BetEasy after such a short period of time, Gay told CIO Australia: “Being offered your dream job while you are already in it, turned out to be one of the toughest decisions of my career. But ultimately I was looking to apply the skills I’d recently learned in smaller digital businesses to a business with scale, and QBE offers me that opportunity.”

“This is an exciting time for QBE. The company really understands the potential for technology and innovation to reshape how the business engages with its customers and the transformative opportunities it presents. This focus on the customer really resonates with me and it’s what made the role so attractive.”

QBE’s group chief information officer, Matt Mansour, said in a statement: “Mark brings extensive IT and digital experience to QBE, together with a strong track record of delivering strategic business programs and digital innovations and driving transformational change. Mark’s appointment is an important step in our efforts to build our internal capability and attract top talent in our key markets around the world.”

Gay ranked number one in the inaugural CIO50 list in 2016 when he was chief information officer at ME Bank. While at ME, he steered the online bank through a $90 million technology infrastructure overhaul.

Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebookhellip;Twitter: @CIO_Australia,Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation onLinkedIn: CIO Australia

Follow Byron Connolly on Twitter:@ByronConnolly