Wells Fargo has announced two new leadership appointments amid a strategic push to accelerate its adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).
To help towards this goal, the company has appointed Bridget Engle as Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) and Head of Technology, and Tracy Kerrins as the Head of Consumer Technology.
Engle will oversee all technology operations across the company and will report directly to Wells Fargo CEO, Charlie Scharf. Additionally, she will become a member of the company’s Operating Committee starting 12 August.
Before joining the company, Engle was the SEVP and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at BNY from 2017 until earlier this year. Her experience also includes several key positions at Bank of America, such as CIO of Consumer Banking and CIO of Global Banking and Markets. Overall, she brings 30 years of experience from various roles in the financial sector.
Commenting on her new role, Engle said: “I am excited to be joining Wells Fargo at this important time in the Company’s transformation. I look forward to working with the team to continue to deliver modernised platforms and drive innovation across the company for our customers and employees.”
As noted, Engle is one of two new appointees. Kerrins, who is coming on board as the Head of Consumer Technology, will lead a new Gen AI team focused on advancing the use of the technology throughout Wells Fargo. In this role, Kerrins will report to Engle.
Scharf commented: “Bridget is a proven technology leader with deep experience leading large-scale technology transformations across multiple global financial institutions. We have made great progress under Tracy’s leadership and Bridget’s experience will be invaluable as we continue to modernise our platforms and invest in, scale, and increase innovation across the company.
“Generative AI can help us transform our businesses, improve our customer and client experiences, and enhance the way we work. Our new Generative AI team will work closely with our data and technology platform management teams, as well as each business, on identifying and delivering on the potential of Generative AI responsibly.
“We are fortunate to have someone with Tracy’s background in our company who is ready to take on this new role and lead our Consumer Technology team.”
AI is fast becoming a key foundation in the daily lives of financial companies and institutions. Earlier this week, JP Morgan Chase launched a new “LLM Suite” Gen AI tool to help its employees with daily tasks.