We are delighted to announce that Chris Dutta has joined NextWave as our newest Partner, where he will lead our brand-new Quality Engineering and Testing Practice. With over 20 years of experience spanning Financial Services, Insurance, and the Public Sector, Chris brings a wealth of expertise and an unparalleled track record in software testing, enterprise delivery, and transformation initiatives.
A leader in Quality Engineering and Testing
Chris is a trusted advisor and senior practitioner in full-lifecycle software testing solutions. Over the course of his career, he has delivered on some of the most complex transformation initiatives within Financial Services, defining test strategies, designing test operating models, and providing hands-on leadership at all levels.
In his new role at NextWave, Chris will focus on building and scaling our Quality Engineering and Testing Practice to help clients address the ever-growing need for robust, efficient, and value-driven testing solutions. His leadership will ensure we continue to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients while further solidifying NextWave’s reputation as a trusted partner for transformation and innovation.
Chris’s journey is marked by remarkable achievements. He previously founded and scaled Dragonfly, a specialist FS testing consultancy that grew to over 70 engineers and became a tier-one partner for Big 4 consulting firms, global systems integrators, and blue-chip companies. At Dragonfly, Chris built a reputation for delivering pragmatic, tailored testing solutions for both global enterprises and niche fintechs.
Beyond his entrepreneurial achievements, Chris has held senior delivery roles such as Test Advisory, Test Director, and Programme Test Manager for complex UK and global banking programmes. His ability to bridge strategic insights with hands-on delivery has been instrumental in successfully mobilising and recovering programmes, leading multi-vendor teams, and ensuring seamless delivery for his clients.
Chris’s expertise includes:
- Strategic reviews, digital transformation, and process improvement
- TestOps, including agile analytics and value-stream management
- Programme mobilisation, troubleshooting, and acceleration
- Test strategy and operational model design
- Leadership with a business-focused mindset, managing stakeholders from team leads to the C-suite
At NextWave, Chris will oversee our quality-focused consulting practice, ensuring our testing services remain cutting-edge and aligned with client needs. His expertise and leadership will undoubtedly help us continue driving innovation and excellence for our clients.
Chris Dutta, Partner at NextWave, commented:
"I am excited to join NextWave for lots of reasons. The company has ambitious growth goals and importantly all of the right components to achieve these. It has a track record of great delivery, deep domain expertise and a genuinely nice team who I look forward to working closely with. As a firm that greatly values its people, I am looking forward to furthering the careers of our consultants. The challenges mentioned earlier often lead to difficult conversations around testing, but it is and always has been an exciting area to work in – even more so with the tooling advances being made in today’s landscape. I look forward to helping our clients overcome these challenges and having fun along the way."
Tony Clark, CEO of NextWave, stated:
“We are delighted to welcome Chris Dutta to the team. His depth of experience, entrepreneurial spirit, and commitment to quality align perfectly with NextWave’s mission to deliver impactful solutions for our clients. Chris’s leadership in testing and quality engineering will play a pivotal role as we expand our capabilities and continue to deliver great business outcomes. We are excited for the opportunities ahead with Chris at the helm of this new practice."
Meet Chris:
Why did you choose to join NextWave?
I have been following the NextWave growth story since its inception. It’s a company that punches above its weight in terms of market presence and impact within financial services. Its proposition is forward-thinking and leverages longstanding technology partnerships to offer innovative tech-enabled and business-focused services – an opportunity to layer testing into this was too good to miss! I have also known and worked with a number of the NextWave team for many years, which made the transition a no-brainer.
What has been a career highlight for you?
My career highlight has to be building and scaling Dragonfly, my previous firm, where like NextWave we achieved so much. This included successfully delivering 100+ projects for a fantastic client portfolio, establishing deep multi-year partnerships with big-4 consulting and bootstrapping our own enterprise analytics platform. Most notably I am proud of the careers that we launched for our consultants - many were with us for 10 years or more - and the creation of relationships that persist across the industry to this day.
How will you contribute to NextWave Americas?
I am responsible for bringing a stand-alone software testing offering to market. All too often, testing continues to be something that is done poorly – taking too long, costing too much or simply not delivering - NextWave has a great foundation to help its clients address these challenges. We will cut through the hype and leverage our core pillars of data, automation and AI to offer highly effective and business-focused testing solutions. We aim to become the company that people associate with excellence in testing for financial services.
Where can we find you when you’re not in the office?
If I’m not working, you’ll find me on dad-duty with my 3 young children and their packed schedules. In between, I manage to make it to the gym (not as often as I’d like!) and enjoy catching up with friends over a pint or two.
If you are a client who is interested in connecting with Chris, or would like to learn more about working with NextWave, please feel free to reach out at chris.dutta@nextwave.co.uk and connect with him on LinkedIn.
Moving forward...
The biggest challenge for FS firms is knowing how to effectively leverage technology and data at pace to stay relevant and to get ahead.
We would love to hear from you for an informal chat about your goals and to share some approaches to delivering enterprise business solutions and transformation faster, cheaper and more effectively.
