Banks are wildly hiring investment bankers specialising in technology deals: "The landscape is huge"

There was a time when if you were a technology investment banker, you specialised in technology, broadly defined. That time has long passed. As technology has taken over everything, technology bankers have fragmented. They are now specialised in all manner of niches.

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As we reported yesterday, Goldman Sachs just hired Barclays managing director (MD) Ben Froehlich as an MD for its 'financial technology' investment banking business. Also yesterday, Deutsche Bank hired Ed Liu, a 'software banker' at BofA as global head of TMT. Earlier in the week, Citi hired Rohan Sen from Bank of America for 'technology services' banking. 

This is just a few days' hiring in the technology banking market. Search firm Sheffield Haworth says that in the US alone 62 managing directors (MDs) in software banking have changed jobs so far this year. They work across niches that include those above, plus categories like 'enterprise software', 'payments and digital assets,' 'supply chain technology,' 'internet,' 'digital media,' 'semi-conductors,' and 'AI.' 

Speaking off the record, one senior technology banker said this year's explosion of technology banking recruitment reflects the sheer size of the market for technology deals. "The landscape is huge and has fragmented," he says. "A number of smaller boutiques have also begun to compete more meaningfully on the bigger deals where the bulge brackets care, so the big banks are adding coverage."

Dealogic says technology was the biggest sector for global M&A in the first half of 2025, and that it remained the biggest sector for global M&A in the first half of 2026, generating around $4.5bn in revenues for banks. The second largest sector, healthcare, generated just under $4bn. The third largest, financial institutions, generated just over $2bn. Technology is huge. 

This might be why M&A recruitment firm Prospect Rock Partners suggested in March that pay for technology and TMT bankers is often more generous than in other groups, particularly in the junior and mid-vice president (VP) levels, where it can be up to 10% higher. 

In the US, Sheffield Haworth says this year's biggest hirers of technology bankers have been Citi, which has recruited eight other bankers in addition to Sen (Alex Berkett, Gaddy Cohen, Anand Govind, Chris Grosse, Anand Agarwal, Dhruv Fotadar, Florian M Plath, and Josh Sheets) and Wells Fargo, which has recruited six (Badhri Varanasi, Matthew Lacy, Jesse Chasse, Derrick Chao, Jusung Juice Kwok, and Mark Gracia). BofA also recruited four bankers, including Gary Kirkham from Centerview and Richard Hardegree from UBS. 

Many of this year's senior US technology banker hires haven't been in their new seats long. Sheffield Haworth says nearly 30% of them only arrived in their jobs from July onwards. Some, like Jason Rowe, whom bank of America hired from Goldman Sachs as global co-head of technology banking (possibly prompting Liu's departure for a similar role at Deutsche Bank) in March, are only due to arrive in September 2026 after a pleasant summer off.

Hiring a lot of senior bankers is often followed by hiring a lot of junior and mid-ranking bankers. One MD in the technology space says he's been receiving two to three headhunter calls a week. This may soon apply to everyone in the market. 

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