At JPMorganChase, AI Innovation Is An Operating Committee Mandate

Forbes

20 hours ago

JPMorganChase
What distinguishes artificial intelligence (AI) leaders from AI followers? A recent survey reported that 89% of Fortune 1000 companies recognize that artificial intelligence (AI) will be the most transformational technology in a generation. Love it or hate it, AI is inevitable. Organizations will need to adapt or risk falling behind.
JPMorganChase (JPMorgan), the largest U.S. bank with origins tracing back over 225 years to 1799, is seizing upon the moment with a forward-looking long-term vision for AI, which is articulated in the company's mission for the future and embodied at all levels of the organization. This commitment to embracing AI is evident in the composition of the firm's 14-member Operating Committee, where Teresa Heitsenrether occupies a prominent position as chief data and analytics officer (CDAO) for the firm. JPMorgan is at the forefront--very few Fortune 1000 organizations have elevated the CDAO to an operating committee role.
I recently hosted Heitsenrether on an industry panel of data and AI leaders, and follow up conversation. We discussed her leadership role at JPMorgan, and how the company is planning for and executing on its long-term vision for AI as a tool for innovation and industry transformation. A career JPMorgan veteran, Heitsenrether is responsible for establishing the data and analytics strategy as well as driving firmwide adoption of AI across lines of business.
Having served as a line-of-business leader, most recently as the Global Head of Securities Services, Heitsenrether understands that AI leadership begins with a business strategy that recognizes, first and foremost, that AI is a technology tool which must deliver business benefits and business value to the company and to its customers. She explains, 'Coming from the business gives you a different lens. Having been at the firm for my whole career, I have a good perspective on the businesses and what's most important to them.'
While some organizations think of AI as a technology issue—47% of CDAOs report into technology functions—a growing percentage of companies—36%--see AI as a business function that should report to the seniormost business leadership of the firm. JPMorgan exemplifies this shift to a business focus and mandate.
Heitsenrether explains, 'AI is 100% a business issue. We have to begin with an understanding of our business objectives; where we want to grow, where we want to be more efficient, what markets we want to enter, what products we want to create; and then how, where, or if AI can be an enabler for this.' She continues, 'We always think about our AI and data agenda in the context of the business's broader strategic objectives.' Heitsenrether adds, 'AI in search of a problem is a bad strategy.'
Establishing an AI and Data organizational culture remains an obstacle for most leading organizations--just 32% of organizations say that they had achieved this outcome and only 37% report having created an AI and Data driven organization–people and cultural issues being identified as the greatest impediments to successful business adoption.
Leadership begins from the top of the organization at JPMorgan. Heitsenrether explains, 'We have a leadership team that has long recognized the importance of AI. The tone from the top really does matter in setting the expectations for the organization. When you do that, and you're clear, it permeates the organization.'
Heitsenrether continues, 'I firmly believe that the advances we are seeing through AI are going to fundamentally change the way that we do business, and the scale and the scope at which we can do things. The fact that we created this corporate function for data and AI reflects how transformative we think this will be.'
Business transformation requires cultural adaptation and changes to behavior and processes within any large and complex organization. Heitsenrether explains, 'You really need to think about how transformation it going to be introduced; what else changes in the organization; how do you roll out new capabilities to our customers.' She adds, 'I think there is a very deep culture within JPMorgan of continuous improvement. We're always looking at who the disruptors are and how we can do things better. Technology is a great enabler.'
Adoption of new technology and new business processes represents a challenge for any organization. Heitsenrether explains, 'We've been very intentional about putting GenAI into the hands of all our employees. We are doing this through an internal platform we developed called LLM Suite. I think this has been a great cultural shift for the organization.'
Heitsenrether continues, 'We didn't set a mandate that our people have to use the new AI platform, but they quickly discovered the benefits. Now, over half of our employees use the platform in their daily work.' She continues, 'We're still in the early stages. It has been both bottom-up ideas combined with a top-down perspective focused on the biggest areas of opportunity for our business and for our customers.'
AI is on a path toward long-term adoption across JPMorgan. Heitsenrether comments, 'We are now understanding what's possible with AI technology.' She adds, 'As is often the case with new technologies, there's the 20% that are the early adopters, who become your ambassadors. They start learning how to use the new technology–in this case AI--and encourage and show others how to use it as well.'
'There's a natural curiosity', explains Heitsenrether. 'Everyone will try the new AI technology, but the challenge is making it applicable to what our employees do in their daily jobs.' She continues, 'Having AI ambassadors within the business help colleagues understand how to use AI to be more effective creates a next wave of adoption.'
Delivering business value from data and AI investments remains a challenge for most organizations. Just 24% of companies surveyed reported having implemented AI in production at scale, and only 18% claimed to be delivering a high degree of measurable business value from their data and AI investments.
Heitsenrether comments, 'We've already seen business value in a number of domains, including fraud management, pricing and risk management.' She continues, 'Generative AI opens new domains that weren't available before. An example is in our software engineering life cycle. We're also looking at using AI in customer coverage in our call centers.' Heitsenrether adds, 'We are using AI to help our agents better understand the customers intent, to provide customer answers quickly, and deliver a great service outcome.' She concludes, 'The best way to retain customers is to keep them happy' says Heitsenrether.
Great data is the foundation for great AI. Heitsenrether explains, 'What's really shifting is the lens with which business leaders look at data. They recognize that data is a strategic asset for their business.' She elaborates, 'One of my biggest learnings in the last two years has been the importance of data. You have to have a good data foundation. Having access to clean, understandable data is critical to our success.'
Heitsenrether notes, 'We run a very large financial services firm that's highly governed, so the fact that the business runs smoothly each and every day speaks to the quality of our data.' She concludes, 'The next wave in having good data will be making sure that our data is well understood and connected across the organization.'
AI technology represents the culmination of seventy years of development, dating back to the origins of the term artificial intelligence–45% of companies have been employing forms of AI technology for at least a half decade, and in some cases for over a quarter century.
Looking toward an AI future, Heitsenrether comments, 'I don't think that the expectations of AI are unfounded or overestimated. If anything, we may be underestimating what's going to be possible.' She continues, 'What we are realizing is that it's not just about the technology. It's about the enterprise's ability to adapt the technology, not just within financial services, but even more broadly across industries.'
Heitsenrether continues, 'You have to know where you're heading. Our most senior leaders will be able to start thinking about remapping their businesses. That's just getting underway in earnest at this point. This will require a lot of thought and is an iterative process that starts with thinking about what's possible.'
Reflecting on her tenure with the firm and her present mission, Heitsenrether notes, 'I've run a lot of big businesses at JPMorgan, with significant technology and operations components, so I understand how to execute through complexity. I also think having been responsible for running businesses helps me be a better partner to our business leaders who have many demands on their time.'
She continues, 'At JPM, we're committed to being a leader in AI technology and that means we need everyone across the firm thinking about how they can maximize the use and value of AI. You need to be constantly learning. That message reaches people at all levels of the organization and becomes understood in the overall success of the firm and of your business.'
In summation, Heitsenrether comments, 'It's been an honor to be in the CDAO seat at JPMorgan. The role is so strategically important to the future of the firm. It's an exciting moment, at a pivotal time. We are creating the culture, creating the guardrails, creating the policies, and creating the enablers.'
'AI will be transformational in ways that we haven't even thought of. It's not just about JPMorgan. We are doing something that is beneficial for our clients and our community, and we are doing it in the right way' continues Heitsenrether. She concludes, 'Our ethos is to Make Dreams Possible for everyone, everywhere, every day–AI technology can help with this by driving better outcomes for our customers. It's enormously exciting and beneficial.'