JPMorgan has some new answers to the multibillion-dollar question of who’s in charge of AI at the bank.
The firm’s AI chief, Teresa Heitsenrether, announced her retirement earlier this month after four decades at the bank, reshuffling the technology leadership. It’s more than just job titles shifting around — JPMorgan said it’s restructuring its firm-wide chief data and analytics office as it transitions from focusing on AI infrastructure to business initiatives.
“With the foundations now in place, and AI delivery shifting more to business and functions, we believe that aligning CDAO with Global Technology will best position us to continue our momentum to deliver for our clients and colleagues,” according to a memo seen by Business Insider.
JPMorgan also announced in the memo that Gerard Francis, formerly the chief product officer of data and AI, is leaving the firm. In February, the bank’s head of AI research, Manuela Veloso, left after eight years.
The bank, with its nearly $20 billion technology budget, has been especially bullish on AI. CEO Jamie Dimon said on a recent earnings call that there are already more than 1,000 use cases for AI, and Business Insider previously reported that JPMorgan can track individual engineers’ token usage.
With Heitsenrether leaving, here’s who is directing the bank’s AI strategy and rollout as it aims to remain a tech leader on Wall Street.
Lori Beer
As the global chief information officer, Lori Beer sits at the top of the firm’s technology leadership, overseeing all the systems and infrastructure. She’s a member of the operating committee and manages the bank’s sprawling tech budget and nearly 65,000 technologists. Beer joined JPMorgan in 2014.
Scot Baldry
Scot Baldry already had a big job as JPMorgan’s Chief Technology Officer, and is taking on even more responsibility as the Chief Data and Analytics Officer now that Heitsenrether has announced her retirement. In that role, Baldry will helm the bank’s overall AI program and strategy.
Baldry joined JPMorgan in London in 2022, after stints at Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and T. Rowe Price, and reports to Beer. According to an internal memo announcing his expanded remit, Baldry will continue working with technology leaders across business lines to make sure the firm’s AI strategy remains consistent.
The memo said his team will “focus on AI & data strategy and governance, commercialization and value delivery, and external engagement with policymakers, regulators and the broader ecosystem.”
Manoj Sindhwani
As part of the recent shakeup, Manoj Sindhwani, who was already the chief information officer for AI/ML and data platforms, is also taking responsibility for the bank’s data and AI product team. He now oversees the employees who design and build firmwide data platforms and execute the broad strategy. Sindhwani has been at JPMorgan since 2024, after nearly a decade at Amazon, and reports to Beer.
William Patrick Opet
William Patrick Opet oversees all of JPMorgan’s information security, technology controls, and risk management, which have become increasingly pressing issues in the age of AI. As part of his job, Opet ensures that the bank’s AI systems are secure and appropriately controlled, and that the firm is protected against cyber threats, including those enabled by AI.
Opet joined JPMorgan in 2014 after working at Lockheed Martin and has been in his current role since 2021. He reports to Beer.
Mark Birkhead
As the firmwide chief data officer, Mark Birkhead’s role has only become more crucial as AI has gotten more advanced. JPMorgan has more than an exabyte, or one billion gigabytes, of data across the firm, and Birkhead is the man who ensures it’s AI-ready for both LLMs and generative AI.
Birkhead, who joined JPMorgan in 2020 and now reports to Baldry, said in a recent post on LinkedIn that “data strategy is the competitive differentiator in banking.”
Arvind Joshi
Arvind Joshi manages JPMorgan’s almost $20 billion annual technology budget, including its investments in AI. He oversees resource allocation and has recently commented on the importance of managing the ballooning price of AI tokens on LinkedIn. Joshi has been at JPMorgan for more than two decades and reports to Beer.
Sumitra Ganesh
Sumitra Ganesh took over as the head of AI research at JPMorgan in February, the latest position in her decade-long run at the bank. Veloso, who left in February, started the research team in 2018, and told Business Insider in 2021 that it focuses on big, “what-if” questions. As of April, JPMorgan had the largest AI research team among the 50 banks that the intelligence platform Evident AI tracks. Ganesh’s research has primarily focused on multi-agent systems in finance, according to her LinkedIn.
Read the full article here
