Major Australian Bank Enterprise Transformation

Bank

The Challenge

A major Australian bank had embarked on a $1.5 billion enterprise transformation spanning 90+ active programs. Despite the scale of investment, the bank was under intense internal and external pressure.

Preparing for a new CEO: A leadership transition demanded clear strategic direction and delivery narrative, and confidence that the transformation portfolio was under control
Regulatory confidence had plummeted, culminating in a $1 billion APRA-imposed capital overlay until the bank could demonstrate clear, systemic change
Shareholder pressure on growth and costs, with soaring operational costs making it the highest cost-to-serve bank among its peers, attracting market and stakeholder scrutiny

The bank faced a series of escalating challenges:

Rising Data and AI investments were dispersed across disconnected initiatives, while external platforms and partnerships remained underutilized
Siloed OKRs with no line of sight to Group outcomes. While many teams had adopted OKRs, there was no consistent linkage from Division to Group. Teams lacked clarity on what was being delivered, why it mattered, and who was accountable
Fragmented delivery model, with each division pursuing its own processes, making it difficult to align strategy with delivery, monitor progress, or make informed trade-offs

Without alignment, strategic initiatives risked stalling.

Our Approach

The bank needed a new approach that balanced strategic intent with deliverability by creating a unified narrative and delivery rhythm that connected strategy to execution.

We partnered with the Transformation Office to design and embed a new delivery model, consolidating 90+ programs into six enterprise programs, creating a single view of the $1.5 b portfolio for the first time.

Results & Impact

90+ to 6

Programs consolidation

$1.5 b

Combined Portfolio

Outcomes

Our focus was on enabling:

Enterprise-aligned OKRs: Established OKR memos at the enterprise level to ensure all programs contributed to shared outcomes for a combined ~$1.5 b portfolio
Governance for deliverability: Reimagined funding and governance processes to connect investment decisions directly to strategic outcomes
Quarterly Delivery Cadence (QDC): Designed a cadence to plan, govern, and assess delivery, enabling real-time trade-off discussions and visibility across portfolios
Strategy-delivery calibration: Facilitated ongoing conversations to align ambition with execution capability, helping teams be both bold and realistic