Truist has named Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase veteran Steve Hagerman as its next chief information officer, effective Oct. 28.
Hagerman, currently CIO of consumer technology at Wells, will report to CEO Bill Rogers and replace Brad Bender.
Bender became interim CIO in April after Scott Case, who had been CIO of Truist and its predecessor SunTrust since 2015 – save a half-year stint at a healthcare company between 2017 and 2018 – until leaving to pursue new opportunities.
“Steve has deep experience serving clients, inspiring teams, and driving business results through technology innovation and modernization,” Rogers said in a prepared statement on the new hire. “He is the ideal leader to enhance and leverage our technology capabilities to drive growth and performance.”
Hagerman’s career spans more than 25 years, including other positions at Wells – chief technology officer, and head of consumer lending technology; head of home lending technology and head of customer service operations technology at JPMorgan; and intelligence systems chief with the U.S. Marine Corps, according to his LinkedIn.
At Truist, Hagerman will lead the team shaping and executing the bank’s technology operations in areas such as data and analytics, artificial intelligence, information security, technology transformation, and more.
Truist has been in the midst of a reorganization since last fall in the hopes of realizing $750 million in cost savings. About a quarter of that – $200 million – will come from technology expense cuts. A remaining $250 million and $300 million will come from restructuring and workforce cuts, respectively. Some tech employees found themselves on the chopping block in July.
But the cost cuts were meant to be a “shock to the system,” not a retreat from tech investment.
“We continue to see improvements in productivity due to teammate execution and investments in technology,” Rogers said during the bank’s first-quarter earnings call in April. Among its 2024 strategic priorities is “[e]nhancing the client experience through T3 (touch + technology = trust).”
During the Q2 earnings call last month, Rogers said Truist was making investments “while also adhering to our expense discipline, which is helping fund investments in technology to improve the client experience and also to improve risk management.”
Of his new position, Hagerman said in a prepared statement that he is “thrilled to join a company that is built on purpose-driven performance.”
“Truist’s commitment to caring for clients and inspiring communities is a differentiator in the industry,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with the enterprise technology team to deliver capabilities that empower the business and deliver premiere service to clients.”
