Business Talk – Monocle Head of Tech Mark Beringer on spreadsheets and modernisation in banking

 ·20 Feb 2026

In this Business Talk with Michael Avery interview, Monocle’s Head of Tech, Mark Beringer, unpacks digital transformation, spreadsheet management, and modernisation in banking.

Beringer has over 20 years of hands-on expertise in accelerating technology adoption and delivering exceptional outcomes, especially in the financial sector.

He is a specialist in Big Data and Machine Learning, and has worked with many of South Africa’s largest banks to help them accelerate their adoption of cutting-edge technologies.

Beringer previously worked at Standard Bank Group for over 15 years, starting out as a Data Engineer in 2009 and later becoming the Big Data Platform Owner in 2019.

He also worked as a Data Engineer at several companies, including the Royal Bank of Scotland in London, 3fifteen, and Scriptpharm.

Beringer holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Informatics from the University of South Africa.

In his current position at Monocle, Beringer pushes the boundaries of what is possible, ensuring the delivery of robust, future-focused solutions that meet the evolving needs of the industry.

The interview

In this interview, Beringer begins by explaining why spreadsheets are still everywhere in business and banking.

He then suggests whether the cloud is the ‘silver bullet’ solution, and discusses what companies get wrong when modernising their systems and platforms.

Beringer also explains how businesses and banks can modernise their systems without incurring exorbitant costs, and highlights the real risk of not modernising.

Finally, Beringer unpacks the key factors that distinguish successful institutions from those that fail.

Watch the full interview with Monocle’s Head of Tech, Mark Beringer, below.

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