FFC NL 2025 TALKS
FFC UK 2026
Guardrails, not Gatekeepers: Atom Bank’s Journey to Conversational Governance
In a rapidly evolving digital banking landscape, traditional architecture governance often becomes a bottleneck—a "gatekeeper" that sacrifices flow for the sake of rigid control. At Atom Bank, we recognised that to achieve a high-performing culture, we needed to move toward a model that supports autonomy without losing strategic alignment.
This session tells the story of our journey toward Conversational Governance. We will explore how we redefined the role of the architecture, building the guardrails that allow teams to "build the right thing, build it fast, and enjoy doing it"
MEET THE SPEAKERS
Chris Atkinson
Delivery Coach at Atom bank
I have over 15 years experience in helping teams to get better at getting better. As a Delivery Coach at Atom bank, I help the organisation continually improve our ways of working.
My toolbox is made up of agile, lean, devops and systems thinking models, a degree in animation and design, and a strong desire to help others.
I became one of the first cohort of Sooner Safer Happier Advocates in 2024.
Rob Butcher
Chief Architect
Rob Butcher is the Head of Architecture at Atom bank, where he’s on a mission to make architecture an accelertor of flow. With over 20 years of Architecture experience, he is a big believer that the best architectural decisions come from great conversations, and is driven by thinking big but starting small, and learning fast.