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CPD EP2 Coding the Future: Digitalisation and AI in Risk Management and Trading with Britta Achmann on RiskMasters
- Julien Haye
- Nov 7, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Discover Britta Achmann
Join us for an insightful conversation with Britta Achmann, a seasoned Chief Risk Officer and market risk leader, as she shares her expert perspectives on digitalisation, AI, and automation transforming risk management and trading. This episode explores how modern risk leadership balances strategic risk, enterprise risk frameworks, and regulatory compliance while leveraging innovative technologies for proactive risk management.
Discover Britta's unique career path spanning top-tier financial institutions, her role in shaping robust risk management frameworks, and her leadership approach in today's dynamic financial landscape. Learn about the challenges and opportunities posed by AI and machine learning in market risk and trading environments, and how risk managers can prepare for future disruptions.
Perfect for risk managers, chief risk officers, and board directors, this episode of RiskMasters highlights key elements of strategic leadership and psychological safety in risk decision-making. Tune in to understand how automation and digitalisation are redefining the role of risk leaders and enabling smarter, more resilient enterprise risk strategies.
Don't miss this deep dive into the evolving world of risk management with one of the industry's foremost risk leaders.
In this CPD episode of RiskMasters, you will discover
Britta's unconventional career path
Her insights into risk management in both big players like Bank of America and smaller institutions like FlowTraders.
The game-changing impact of market digitalisation, automation, and the rise of AI and ML.
About Britta Achmann
Britta Achmann has built a dynamic career in financial services spanning more than 20 years across Tier 1 US and UK institutions. She began in New York at JPMorgan, working in structuring and trading complex derivative products, before relocating to London where she spent a decade at RBS and Deutsche Bank, leading major regulatory and risk initiatives in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Britta later served as Chief Risk Officer at Flow Traders, with responsibility across Risk, Compliance, Operations, and Legal, before joining Bank of America as Co-Head of Market Risk in Europe and subsequently taking on the role of Chief Risk Officer at NatWest Markets. Her career reflects a rare combination of front-office trading insight, deep technical risk expertise, and senior leadership experience. Outside of work, Britta is a proud mum of twin girls and has a strong interest in personal development, leadership, and hot yoga.
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Summary of the interview with Britta Achmann on RiskMasters
In the second episode of RiskMasters, I sat down with Britta Achmann, a seasoned market risk leader whose career reflects the evolution of modern risk management strategy in global financial institutions. Her journey from actuarial consulting into investment banking, and later into senior risk leadership roles, provides a grounded perspective on how risk management has shifted from technical execution toward strategic enablement, governance, and decision support.
Britta’s early move from actuarial work into front-office trading at J.P. Morgan exposed her to the realities of risk at the point of decision. That experience shaped her understanding of products, market dynamics, and trading behaviour, forming a strong foundation for later roles in market risk and counterparty credit risk. It also highlights the value of deep business knowledge within the risk management operating model.
The 2008 financial crisis marked a defining transition. Britta moved from structured products into risk management, focusing on the assessment, governance, and control of trading book risks. This period shaped her approach to enterprise risk management, regulatory engagement, and capital oversight, reinforcing the importance of robust risk frameworks that connect regulatory expectations with how risk is actually taken and managed.
Throughout the conversation, Britta reflects on leadership, resilience, and personal discipline. Balancing senior roles with raising twin daughters, she describes how structure, prioritisation, and deliberate use of time underpin sustained performance. These themes mirror the same principles required in effective risk leadership, clarity of ownership, disciplined execution, and alignment between strategy and delivery.
Britta also discusses how her career decisions were influenced by moments of personal change, leading her to seek roles that combined intellectual challenge with long-term stability. This perspective informs her views on career sustainability in risk management and the need for organisations to design roles that develop both capability and judgement over time.
The discussion concludes with Britta’s perspective on the future of risk management. She calls for greater investment in risk research, stronger integration between risk and business strategy, and more thoughtful adoption of digitalisation and AI in risk management. For her, technology is an enabler of better insight and governance, not a substitute for accountability, leadership, and sound decision-making.
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