Swapping a banking technology job in New York for one in London is nothing new, but Barclays' newest hire, formerly of JPMorgan, took a far less common detour before making the move. 

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Victor Daniel Casas Hernandez joined Barclays last week as its head of data and generative AI platforms. He spent the last 16 months in Medellín, Colombia, as head of the engineering, AI and data practices for Florida-based consultancy MAS Global. Before that, he was an executive director at JPMorgan and the global head of data science, machine learning and AI for its global technology infrastructure (GTI) team. He joined JPMorgan in its Buenos Aries tech hub initially, before transitioning to New York as a VP.

MAS Global prides itself on boosting the presence of Latin Americans in technology, which is likely the reason Hernandez joined the firm. In a blog post for the firm, he said he has "experienced first-hand how Latino people are treated differently in the workplace and in society," and said it brings him "great joy to contribute to levelling the playing field."

At Barclays in London, Hernandez said he will "empower research and investment banking with an AI and Data centric view." The bank's decision to hire from abroad is interesting, though. The bank's head of AI/ML engineering for its markets division was also relocated; Gaurav Mittal was previously a Goldman Sachs executive director in Bengaluru, then moved to Dublin with Facebook before joining Barclays. Perhaps AI talent in the UK is hard to find.

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