Dive Brief:
- USAA appointed Santander executive Dan Griffiths as its CIO, effective Wednesday, the company said Tuesday.
- Griffiths brings to the role more than 20 years of financial-sector tech experience, including as CIO of Santander, a position in which he served since August 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile. He joined Santander in 2016 as head of technology for the U.S., then added Mexico to his purview in 2020. Earlier in his career, he served as CTO at TD and as a managing director at Barclays and JPMorgan Chase, according to LinkedIn.
- At USAA, Griffiths replaces Amala Duggirala, who is now chief digital and technology officer at Delta Air Lines. Griffiths will report to USAA CEO Juan Andrade, according to a company spokesperson.
Dive Insight:
In a LinkedIn post Thursday, Griffiths said he is “honored and excited to join such a respected organization dedicated to serving the military community and their families.”
“I look forward to collaborating with the talented teams at USAA to contribute to its Mission through innovative technology and strategic digital transformation,” Griffiths wrote.
USAA has touted itself as a tech leader. The San Antonio-based San Antonio-based insurance and financial services provider forged new ground in mobile deposit capture technology in the 2000s. The innovations were meant to benefit service members deployed overseas, but a falling-out with a collaborative partner led USAA into a string legal battles. Over the past decade, USAA has sued several banks over patent infringement for use of the mobile deposit tech.
USAA appears to have maintained its reputation for sporting cutting-edge tech. In its inaugural benchmark of 30 of the largest non-health insurers across North America and Europe, Evident Insights ranked USAA as the third-most provider of artificial intelligence. In a couple of categories, most notably AI talent density, USAA outpaced its rivals.
Griffiths will be responsible for modernizing USAA’s platform, bolstering its cybersecurity efforts and scaling its digital services.
“We will prioritize secure platforms, intuitive digital journeys and the engineering rigor that keeps USAA always-on,” he said in Tuesday’s release. “My goal is to translate reliability and simplicity into member value, so every interaction feels effortless, protected and personal.”
Griffiths’ former employer, Santander, made its own pivot this week — doubling down on its U.S. banking presence by agreeing to acquire Stamford, Connecticut-based Webster Financial Corp. in a $12.3 billion deal, the largest in the sector since 2024.
