American Express (AXP) Names New CIO

American Express (NYSE: AXP) names Ravi Radhakrishnan new CIO, with Mark Gordon stepping down.

The following memo from Anré Williams, CEO, American Express National Bank & Group President, Enterprise Services, was sent today to all American Express colleagues:

Several months ago, Marc Gordon, our Chief Information Officer (CIO), informed me that he planned to retire from corporate life at the end of January 2022. Marc had been reflecting on his career, his time working (which began at the age of 13), his strong confidence in the Technology team and the momentum that has been built, and he felt it was a good time to pursue his next chapter.

Marc joined American Express in 2012 from Bank of America and has made many significant contributions to our company’s success throughout his time here. He led the transformation of our Technology organization into today’s world-class, innovative, and agile global team that is providing the technical foundation for powering the company’s growth.

Among his many accomplishments, Marc drove the adoption of modern technology development techniques, including the introduction of scrum teams and Agile methodology, and uplifted the technical depth and expertise of the global team with programs to attract and develop the industry’s best. He also expanded the company’s use of many advanced technologies, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and big data while advancing the strategic transformation of many of our company platforms. Additionally, Marc led the company’s technology risk and cybersecurity discipline, increasing investments in new capabilities and raising awareness across the enterprise of the role we all play in protecting the company’s brand through sound information security practices.

But, as Marc shared with me, he is most proud of the overall Technology team itself: the caliber, passion, perseverance, and performance of the team and how they innovate, partner, and collaborate across our company to bring our strategies to life and deliver for our colleagues and customers.

I want to personally thank Marc for his steadfast leadership. His deep knowledge, expertise, and experience have been invaluable to me and the entire Executive Committee, and we will miss him.

With Marc’s retirement, I am pleased to announce that Ravi Radhakrishnan, currently the CIO and Head of Technology for the Commercial Banking and Corporate & Investment Banking businesses at Wells Fargo, will become our new CIO effective January 26, 2022. Ravi will report to me and will be a member of the company’s Executive Committee.

Ravi has an extensive and distinguished background in financial services and payments, leading large-scale technology organizations for both Wells Fargo and Citigroup over his 28-year career. He is a member of Wells Fargo’s Management Committee, and in his current role, he leads the technology teams supporting the company’s capital markets, corporate and investment banking, commercial lending, middle market banking, and enterprise payments technology functions, among other key areas. He also leads Wells’ advanced technology and strategic services groups, which are responsible for the integration of leading-edge technologies including advanced artificial intelligence, distributed ledger, quantum computing, and robotics and intelligent automation, among others. For a period, he has also served as interim Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), overseeing cyber defense and monitoring, security engineering, and information security risk assessment for the company. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2012, Ravi spent 18 years at Citigroup, where he held a number of senior roles leading the technology functions supporting the company’s capital markets and investment banking businesses.

A strong believer in collaboration and partnership, Ravi is passionate about recruiting and developing high-performing, diverse technology teams that can translate vision into realistic, effective business strategies.

Ravi received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai, India, and a master’s degree in Computer Science from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Currently based in San Ramon, California, Ravi and his wife, Sushma, will be relocating to the New York area. They are both excited about being closer to their two daughters, who are at college in the Boston area.

Please join me in thanking Marc for his leadership and contributions during his tenure at American Express and wishing him the best on his retirement. I look forward to working with Ravi and the entire Technology team to continue supporting the growth of the company into the future.

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