Memo: Goldman names new CTO as top tech exec exits for Citadel

The crowd at Goldman’s headquarters 200 West Street.

Goldman Sachs has named tech veteran John Madsen as its chief technology officer, B-17 has learned.

Madsen’s appointment comes after Goldman lost its current CTO, Atte Lahtiranta, to Ken Griffin’s hedge fund, Citadel, Bloomberg first reported. Madsen, currently head of core engineering, will transition to CTO as Lahtiranta departs the firm. Madsen will continue to report to Chief Information Officer Marco Argenti.

“John will work with our engineers globally to ensure we continue to create and enhance unified platforms, develop shared services, and further develop a high performance, collaborative engineering culture across the firm,” Argenti wrote to staff last week in a memo viewed by B-17.

Madsen will continue to oversee core engineering teams and help Argenti set the strategic technology direction for Goldman. Part of his remit will likely be focused on generative AI, which has become a focal point for Goldman’s technology ambitions, much like the rest of Wall Street.

Madsen, who has a 20-year history with Goldman Sachs, will be familiar with the role of CTO. He held the title from 2017 to 2020, according to his LinkedIn. He has served in several tech leadership positions, such as co-head of the technology division and chief architect of engineering.

Joining the firm as an associate in 2003, he became a partner in 2014, according to the memo.

In March, Madsen became the head of the bank’s core engineering unit after Ilya Gaysynskiy left. The team is responsible for developing and maintaining the bank’s centralized technologies.

As ChatGPT-like technology makes its way through the bank, from the engineering division to front-office workers, Goldman’s tech leaders will be responsible for ushering in a cultural and technological transformation. With its ability to automate grunt work, generative AI is shaking up how Wall Streeters can stand out.

These days, software engineers need to think creatively and ask “why” something needs to be developed before figuring out “how” to develop it. Top Wall Street firms, including Goldman, now want their coders to have studied liberal-arts courses like philosophy and English. According to his LinkedIn, Madsen studied philosophy himself at the University of California, Berkeley, and Rutgers University.

Lahtiranta leaves Goldman after five years as its CTO. At Citadel, he will run the hedge fund’s core engineering group.

“Citadel’s success has always been underpinned by both our engineering expertise and ability to attract and develop exceptional talent,” Umesh Subramanian, Citadel’s CTO and a fellow Goldman alum, said in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming Atte as we continue to strengthen our industry-leading engineering team.”