Defaqto, the leading financial information and technology business announced today that its board of directors has appointed John Milliken to succeed Zahid Bilgrami as CEO. After operating as Defaqto’s CEO for the last 8 years, Bilgrami will step down at the end of March.
Neil Stevens, Joint CEO of The SimplyBiz Group said: “I am delighted to welcome John to The SimplyBiz Group. With his extensive track record, we are confident that he will make an excellent addition to our Executive Leadership team and a significant contribution towards the implementation of our digital strategy. Defaqto is a vibrant business with a very capable management team and a great roadmap of products. John’s experience and leadership will be particularly valuable as we expand market reach and extend our value proposition to new and existing customers.
“On behalf of all our teams, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Zahid for his fantastic contribution, especially during the seamless integration of Defaqto into the wider Group. I wish him every future success.”
Remko Bijtjes, Commercial Director at Defaqto, added: “John is a great addition to the team, and we will benefit from his extensive experience in leading and operating digital enterprises. It’s been a real pleasure to work with Zahid for the last 12 years and this marks an exciting time for the business and I’m looking forward to embarking on our next chapter.”
Milliken has led and scaled various fintech, SaaS, enterprise software and deep-tech businesses as both CEO and COO across several industries, including banking and payments. His practical experience of sustainably growing technology companies includes doubling ARR in his most recent role as CEO of Speechmatics, implementing large scale transformation programs and being a member of the founding team of an organisation that achieved a public market valuation of over £1.5B through pioneering the use of mobile phones as a consumer banking channel.
“I’m delighted to have been appointed as Defaqto’s CEO. Defaqto has gone from strength to strength and maintained steady and impressive growth under Zahid’s leadership” Milliken said. “I am looking forward to starting my journey with the business, where I can apply my previous experience to lead the organisation into its next phase of growth and digital transformation, further anchoring Defaqto’s stronghold as a leader in its field.”
