With a career spanning over 20 years across tier-one banking institutions, consultancy and AI regtech, Mr Mackenzie brings deep expertise in regulatory change, data and AI-driven compliance, and a proven track record of commercialising technology at scale.

Mr Mackenzie’s experience includes a decade in senior roles in prominent banking organisations, including NatWest, Morgan Stanley and Lloyds Banking Group, where he led transformation programmes exploring disruptive technology across risk, data, compliance and technology functions. A further decade at Deloitte saw him run large parts of the firm’s risk analytics practice, applying machine learning, data and AI to compliance and regulatory challenges at institutional scale.

During his time at Deloitte, Mr Mackenzie founded RegHub, an award-winning software platform leveraging data, AI and machine learning to evaluate and manage regulatory change.

He was responsible for scaling RegHub into a multi-million pound revenue-generating business before it was acquired by Corlytics, where he subsequently served as chief operating officer. Most recently, he spent time at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in the US, focusing on agentic AI and its implications for enterprise environments, before going on to establish his own advisory firm supporting clients in leveraging AI and disruptive technologies to drive change.

Mr Mackenzie said: “Aveni’s heritage and first-mover momentum in financial services AI are genuinely impressive.

“FinLLM, as the UK’s first LLM built for financial services, and the Aveni Detect capabilities are creating meaningful products on both sides of the execution boundary, and the company’s focus on assurance and compliance is squarely aligned with where the industry is heading.

“The opportunity to address the industry’s transformation into the agentic era, with Aveni at the forefront, is one I couldn’t pass up.”

As chief commercial officer, Mr Mackenzie will lead Aveni’s commercial strategy with a focus on scaling the business across the banking sector, driving product evolution towards more fully integrated assurance and compliance solutions, and exploring strategic partnerships and international expansion opportunities.

His appointment signals Aveni’s ambition to capitalise on a significant market inflection point: the transition from human-led compliance operations to agent-driven environments and the heightened need for robust risk and regulatory scrutiny as this shift develops.

“The assurance landscape in financial services is undergoing a fundamental transformation with the introduction of AI agents predicted at scale,” said Joseph Twigg, chief executive officer, Aveni.

“Kent’s combination of frontline banking experience, regulatory expertise, and a demonstrated ability to build and commercialise AI-driven platforms makes him uniquely placed to help Aveni lead that transformation. We’re delighted to welcome him to the team.”