For Tracy Kerrins, the convergence of two enormous responsibilities at Wells Fargo is not a balancing act. It’s a single mission.

As Wells Fargo’s chief information officer for consumer technology and head of generative AI, Kerrins manages a $4 billion budget and a global team of roughly 7,000 employees. Her mandate is to modernize the bank’s core consumer platforms while embedding AI capabilities across the enterprise for 215,000 employees and nearly 70 million customers. 

“I don’t separate the roles,” Kerrins said. “Everything I do with generative AI informs what I do with consumer technology, and vice versa. It’s all about finding better, faster, and more innovative ways to serve our employees and customers.”

BMO’s Erminia “Ernie” Johannson said leadership requires courage, perseverance and resilience.

She led the successful integration of one of the largest U.S. banking acquisitions last year with the acquisition of Bank of the West. The deal catapulted the $1.3 trillion-asset BMO into the ranks of the top 10 banks in the U.S. by assets.

As the top lawyer at JPMorganChase, Stacey Friedman thinks “it’s a super interesting time to think deeply” about the rule of law in the United States. 

Friedman, the executive vice president and general counsel of the nation’s largest bank, navigates a legal and regulatory landscape on a global scale. She leads a group of more than 2,000 lawyers in multiple jurisdictions around the globe. What may be a headwind in one country could be a tailwind in another, she says.

“The front windshield is really quite big and I can watch and participate and learn,” Friedman said.  “At the end of the day, I’m super hopeful for America, for humanity, for the institution, and for the rule of law.”