Former CIO
KeyBank
As chief information officer at KeyBank, Amy Brady guided the bank to high talent retention rates within the company's technology, operations and services (KTOS) organization. In a highly competitive market for technical talent, this stability is a significant strategic advantage.
The division, which includes 4,524 employees, had a voluntary annualized attrition rate of 6.8% in 2024. Technology employees had attrition as low as 3.78%. These figures, which are below industry averages according to the bank, reflect a culture that minimizes disruption, preserves institutional knowledge and reduces the high costs associated with recruitment.
This success in workforce stability is a direct reflection of Brady's focus on employee engagement and professional growth. She advocates for empowering her employees to be the "CEOs of their careers," a philosophy supported by internal development programs that she said goes beyond typical training, fostering critical skills like adaptability, digital fluency and complex decision-making.
Women have made meaningful gains in banking leadership, but the path to the CEO office remains remarkably narrow. Despite years of progress, just two of the top 50 U.S. banks are led by female CEOs, exposing a persistent gap between executive representation and ultimate leadership. Why does advancement stall at the final stretch? This candid discussion examines the structural barriers that continue to shape succession—from unequal access to P&L roles and executive sponsorship to enterprise visibility and outdated expectations of leadership. C-suite executives will share practical strategies for building cross-functional influence, positioning for CEO succession, and shifting from functional operator to enterprise leader in an industry where the pipeline remains fragile and the stakes have never been higher.
The panel will discuss why the focus should move beyond leadership development programs to redesigning the executive pipeline itself, including: