In the debut episode of “Digital Leaders Dialogue” by XPON, host Tim Lillyman sits down with Shadrack Haehae, Global Head of Digital Acquisition and Marketing Analytics at OFX.
This insightful conversation explores how OFX transformed from a traditional FX business to a data-driven organisation, navigating challenges around privacy, AI integration, and digital marketing excellence.
Want to hear the full conversation? Listen to the complete episode:
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on Apple Podcasts
From Performance Marketing to Data Leadership
Shadrack (Shad) Haehae’s journey into data-driven marketing leadership didn’t happen overnight. With nearly 20 years of experience in digital marketing, Shad began his career in search marketing at agencies before transitioning to client-side roles where he could develop a broader marketing perspective.
The pivotal moment in his career came about eight or nine years ago when he started working with Google Cloud. This experience opened his eyes to the powerful connection between cloud technology and marketing effectiveness.
“I could start to see the synergies between the two and I just felt that was a bit of a niche at the time,” Shad explains. “I spent a lot of time on the cloud side of things, went and did studying around data science in particular and learn more about the engineering side.”
What struck him was the vast amount of information marketers weren’t accessing. This realisation drove him to make it his mission to bring data insights to CMOs and other senior leaders, eventually leading to his current role at OFX.
Cloud Transformation: Building the Data Foundation
When Shad joined OFX, the company was running everything on internal databases with no cloud infrastructure—a setup he found surprising given his previous experience. The journey to cloud adoption wasn’t instantaneous but required strategic positioning to gain organisational buy-in.
“The journey to get the business to buy into cloud was really an interesting one,” Shad recalls. “We took a few angles of how we could implement the cloud into the business. One of it was like what are the benefits from a finance perspective… versus how they could run it moving forward in storing data.”
Initially, the team focused on cost efficiencies, but the perspective quickly shifted to something more compelling:
“Imagine the cost of not having that. What do you lose? What can’t you gain in revenue if you didn’t have this information?”
This dual approach—highlighting both cost savings and potential revenue losses from not adopting cloud technology—helped secure organisational commitment. The transformation began small, with just a handful of employees having Google Cloud accounts, and gradually expanded until the entire company migrated to cloud-based operations.
This shift required significant change management:
“The data science insights team had to take the whole company on a journey on how to access the data, how to make use of the data… that took like a year to two years. It was a very big transition to kind of get into that new operating rhythm and these new tools that we’ve never had before.”
The value of this transformation became evident in marketing activations. With a Customer Data Platform (CDP) in place, the team could activate insights through various channels—both for acquisition and engagement—while tracking customer lifetime value through vintage analysis.
“That just validates and solidifies, you know, if the strategy is working or not,” Shad explains. “We couldn’t have done it by ourselves, we had our partners to help us do that.”
Privacy-First Marketing in Financial Services
Operating in the highly regulated financial services industry means privacy considerations are paramount at OFX. Shad’s approach to privacy isn’t just about compliance but forms a cornerstone of their marketing philosophy.
“We’re very passionate about being privacy first,” Shad emphasises. “I personally don’t want to touch a single customer if I know that with no piece of consent from them to do so, and it’s a culture that you have to drive within the organization.”
This privacy-first approach includes:
- Establishing clear policies with legal teams, privacy officers, and security officers
- Pursuing formal certifications like ISO 27001
- Setting rules for data retention and deletion
- Implementing consent mechanisms for cookies and communications
- Creating a culture of transparency about how customer data will be used
While privacy regulations have made marketing execution more challenging, Shad believes in focusing on quality over quantity:
“Got to remember the days when we say big data, big data, and it’s like for me, it’s never been about big data. It’s about quality data and just being very, very transparent with like if you give me this information this is how we want to use it.”
This foundation of trust and transparency has actually strengthened OFX’s customer relationships while ensuring compliance with increasingly stringent privacy regulations.
Leveraging AI with Strong Data Foundations
The data governance infrastructure OFX built over the years has positioned them well for AI adoption. As Shad puts it:
“Your AI is only as good as your data… If you don’t have great governance around how the data is in, you’re always going to get horrible outputs.”
Rather than viewing AI as a job replacement technology, OFX sees it as a productivity enhancer. Their current AI initiatives focus primarily on two areas:
- Enhancing reporting capabilities to move beyond simple dashboard observations to genuine insights
- Enabling natural language queries of data to democratize access to insights across the organisation
“We’re pretty excited about the opportunity that it’s going to help with the decision making, make it faster and a little bit more accurate,” Shad explains.
A key factor in their AI success is maintaining consistent data definitions and governance through their enterprise tools. This ensures everyone uses the same definitions and is “on the same page,” making AI-driven insights reliable and actionable.
While still in the early phases of AI implementation, OFX is exploring additional use cases, including content creation and marketing activation, though these remain in the planning stages.
Embracing Future Challenges as Opportunities
When asked about what excites him about the future of marketing and data, Shad’s answer reveals his problem-solving mindset:
“I think with all the privacy changes and the AI changes that are coming through, it’s making it incredibly challenging, but I’m excited because… how do you navigate that? How do you really kind of lead the way for an organisation to be able to overcome those challenges?”
Rather than viewing privacy restrictions and AI disruption as threats, Shad sees them as the next in a long line of challenges that marketers have always had to overcome. He frames these challenges as opportunities to improve:
“It’s easy to freak out and go, ‘Oh my God, it’s the end of digital, the end of marketing and whatever.’ But like for me, I don’t think that’s true at all. That’s probably the thing that excites me is how can we be better and even morally right?”
This perspective—viewing constraints as catalysts for innovation—has helped OFX navigate its digital transformation journey and positions them well for whatever comes next in the rapidly evolving marketing landscape.
Key Takeaways
OFX’s journey from traditional financial services provider to data-driven marketing organisation offers valuable lessons for any business undertaking digital transformation:
- Build strong data foundations through governance, definitions, and quality control
- Take a privacy-first approach that builds trust while ensuring compliance
- Focus on quality data over quantity to drive actionable insights
- Leverage AI as an enhancer of human capabilities, not a replacement
- View challenges as opportunities to improve and differentiate
As privacy regulations tighten and AI capabilities expand, companies that establish strong data foundations and ethical frameworks will be best positioned to thrive in this new environment.
Listen Now
Want to hear the full conversation? Listen to the complete episode:
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on Apple Podcasts
This episode is just the beginning of XPON’s Digital Leaders Dialogue series, which aims to share insights directly from brands and leaders tackling today’s most pressing data, technology, and marketing challenges.