Last updated: 2026 May 22

I'm Johnny Kao.

A lot of my professional work lives on johnnykao.com.
This GitHub is a bit different. It is the more experimental, more personal side of me, with selected code, passing curiosities, and ideas I feel like keeping around.

I spend most of my time around finance, strategy, cross-border questions, and digital systems, but I have never liked staying in just one lane.

I tend to live in two worlds at once.

One is the professional world: cross-border finance, strategic work, trust-sensitive environments, and decisions that carry real weight.

The other is more personal and open-ended: strange internet rabbit holes, small experiments, tools I build for myself, and ideas that start as a passing thought and refuse to leave.

This GitHub sits somewhere in between.

• 2026 – ✨ To Be Continued: ...
• 2025 – 🚀 Big Leap into Startup Finance: Moved from consulting into a startup CFO Office role, supporting a multi-billion JPY fundraising extension and board-level decisions
• 2024 – 🧭 Consulting at the Strategic Level: Led projects spanning digital transformation, AI adoption, future banking strategy, and RWA tokenization
• 2023 – 🌐 Bringing Web3 to Institutions: Guided traditional financial institutions through metaverse, virtual payments, and cross-chain initiatives
• 2022 – 🧠 Thought Leadership in Digital Assets: Authored the digital assets chapter for a top-tier consulting firm’s annual wealth report
• 2020 – 🧊 Code to the Arctic: Contributed code preserved in GitHub’s Arctic Code Vault
• 2019 – 🏦 Virtual Banking Pioneer: Led product strategy for a branchless virtual bank ahead of licensing in Hong Kong
• 2018 – ⚙️ Platform Transformation: Helped shift a crypto trading platform from a product-focused model to a SaaS architecture
• 2017 – 🌱 ESG Meets Blockchain: Developed an ESG index and contributed to a national blockchain roadmap in Oceania
• 2016 – 🪪 Digital Citizen: Among Taiwan’s first e-Residents in Estonia’s digital society initiative
• 2015 – 💳 Blockchain Innovation: Helped launch Bitcoin debit card services, pioneering blockchain finance in Taiwan
• 2013 – 🤝 Humanitarian Roots: Volunteered in Tunisia, learning that innovation starts from human needs

At every stage, I’ve stayed one step ahead of trends—transforming tech into meaningful, human-centered impact.

VP, Strategy & Corporate Development (CFO Office) May 2025 - March 2026

Partnered closely with the CFO on a multi-billion JPY financing extension and board-level cross-border decisions, shaping capital allocation and execution priorities.

Senior Analyst, Financial Institutions (Strategy & Finance)
November 2021 - May 2025
Delivered 20+ Financial Institutions engagements across wealth management, payments, and digital finance, shaping investment, market-entry, and operating model decisions for major financial institutions.

Associate, Global Business Planning & Coordination Department
September 2019 - November 2021
Served as a coordination hub for cross-border governance across UK, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, and China entities, strengthening risk visibility and executive decision-making during COVID-19.

Head of Product & Delivery (Online Banking & Crypto Exchange SaaS)
September 2017 - November 2019
Led regulated digital banking and crypto-exchange SaaS platform build-out, connecting product, compliance, payments, and cross-border rollout priorities.

Product Manager | Digital Asset-Based Prepaid Card
July 2015 - July 2017

Drove product and cross-border rollout for a digital-asset-linked prepaid card platform, supporting payment-network integration and EU/US market expansion.

• 🌍 johnnykao.com
• 💼 LinkedIn