Dive Brief:
- Truist has named Microsoft alum Pascal Belaud its chief AI and data officer, a newly created role, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said Wednesday.
- Belaud, who will start Monday at Truist, is tasked with shaping the vision and execution of the super-regional bank’s AI, data and advanced automation strategy across the company. He will report to Chief Information Officer Steve Hagerman.
- “Pascal is a visionary, as well as a charismatic leader, and will be an incredible asset to our team,” Hagerman said in the news release. “His expertise across AI and data is matched only by his passion for driving innovation at speed and scale.”
Dive Insight:
During his 27 years at Microsoft, Belaud held a number of leadership roles within the tech giant’s U.S. financial unit related to AI, data and data insights, customer success, analytics, cloud, machine learning and predictive analysis.
Seventeen of those years were spent at Microsoft France in Paris and a decade at Microsoft’s New York office, according to Belaud’s LinkedIn post this week. Most recently, he was general manager of cloud and AI platforms for Microsoft’s U.S. financial services vertical.
Top banks have been eager to embed artificial intelligence within their workflows to bolster efficiency and growth, and they’re keen to realize efficiencies as their spending to support AI efforts increases.
Truist is working to employ AI to elevate experiences for customers and employees, to generate operational efficiencies and to fuel revenue and growth, Sherry Graziano, the bank’s head of digital, client experience and marketing, told Banking Dive last month. In particular, the $544 billion-asset lender is focused on creating a more personalized experience with an assist from AI-driven analytics that deliver real-time information and marketing offers.
In his LinkedIn post, Belaud called the role “the mission of a lifetime in this AI era.”
“I believe we have tremendous opportunities to strategically and responsibly harness the full power of AI and data to transform client and teammate experiences,” Belaud said in the Truist release. “I am honored to join Truist at a moment when purpose and possibility intersect.”
