The Core Team

The people building graph‑native finance automation.

  • Founder / CEO

    Imperial College MBA (Distinction, Finance Prize winner) and CIMA member. Former CFO and COO across retail, FMCG, publishing and hedge funds, including Cygnus Asset Management, Argus Media and a Unilever operating company.

    Peter holds an MBA from Imperial College (London), awarded with Distinction and the Finance Prize, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Peter has served as chief financial officer and chief operating officer across a variety of industries, including retail, fast-moving consumer goods, publishing and hedge funds. His deep experience providing financial insight to fellow senior managers, and in corporate governance and compliance, is at the core of delivering on Pillar's promise of a technical solution tailored to the needs of financial professionals. Peter has worked internationally for, among others, Cygnus Asset Management, Argus Media and a Unilever operating company.

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  • Chief AI Scientist

    PhD in Artificial Intelligence, University of Southampton. Bridges financial and IT engineering, with international AI leadership at Nomura Securities and LCH.

    Richard has a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Southampton, and has straddled the worlds of financial and information technology engineering. His experience implementing performant artificial intelligence solutions in a financial-market context is foundational to Pillar's work adapting leading-edge technology to specific corporate functions. Richard has international management experience at leading financial institutions including Nomura Securities and LCH.

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  • COO

    Waseda graduate with an Executive MBA from Imperial College. Over 20 years at Deutsche Bank in Japan and the UK, including as COO, now advising Pillar on governance.

    Yoko is a graduate of Waseda University (Tokyo) and holds an Executive MBA from Imperial College Business School (London). Over more than 20 years with Deutsche Bank, in both Japan and the UK, Yoko held a number of positions including Business Manager, COO and Governance Manager. She has since been an independent consultant specialising in process streamlining and corporate governance — experience that feeds directly into Pillar's vision of integrating finance insight into real-time decision-making.

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  • Head of Software Development

    Rensselaer Polytechnic graduate. Builds and optimises cloud-computing applications across established businesses and startups, driving speed and cost efficiency.

    Frantz is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has worked on software projects at several established businesses and at startups, specialising in optimising cloud-computing applications — experience that helps Pillar achieve higher speeds and lower costs in text and data processing.

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  • Board Advisor

    Graduate of Hannover and Missouri universities. Built his career on product innovation at S&P Global and Argus Media, then founded and sold ClipperData.

    Abudi is a graduate of the University of Hannover, Germany, and the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has focused on product innovation and launching new business lines throughout his career. His experience designing and promoting original solutions in nascent markets helps guide Pillar's efforts as it enters the fast-changing market of business-process automation. Abudi worked at S&P Global and Argus Media before launching, and then selling, his start-up, ClipperData.

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