Original Article by Irene Garcia
- Bhavana Bartholf joins Bank of America as the first Chief Analytics and Innovation Officer.
- Bartholf will report to David Tyrie, the bank’s Chief Digital Officer and Head of Global Marketing.
- Like other Wall Street companies, BofA faces a wealth of data as customer interactions go digital.
Bank of America just snapped a top executive from Microsoft as the country’s second-biggest bank tries to build a new data and analytics team.
Bhavana Bartholf, formerly the global head of digital and sales strategy at Microsoft Commercial Solution Areas, joined Bank of America on Wednesday as its first chief analytics and innovation officer, according to an internal memo seen by Insiders. Bartholf will lead a new, centralized group at the bank focused on data, the memo said.
She reports directly to David Tyrie, the company’s chief digital officer and head of global marketing.
“In her role, Bhavana will lead the end-to-end delivery of data, analytics, personalization capabilities and marketing efforts to accelerate transformation and innovation,” said an internal copy of the memo Tyrie sent to Bank of America employees has sent.
Bartholf joins Bank of America as the company, like many others on Wall Street, seeks to tap into the vast trove of customer and client data generated by online consumer banking, trading and wealth management firms — often with help of new hires from outside the industry.
Last year, Tyrie told Insider that Bank of America was focused on using the data at its disposal to create more “individualized” real-time customer interactions that rely on artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to create digital experiences throughout the customer journey to tailor events. Bank of America spends about $14 billion annually on technology and operations, CEO Brian Moynihan said in 2021.
Charlotte-based Bartholf joins Bank of America after spending more than two decades at Microsoft. After joining the software giant as an account manager in 2000, she managed a variety of teams, including some in Microsoft’s information technology management consulting and cloud businesses, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Bartholf will work closely with Bank of America’s chief customer experience officers, who also report to Tyrie and work across the bank’s consumer, wealth management and corporate divisions, a source familiar with the matter told Insider. In the newly created role, Bartholf will be responsible for the client and client data these executives use to create and update the bank’s digital products.
“The creation of the CAIO organization synchronizes the way we put data into action – from how we use and source it to ensuring its quality and embedding it in our strategies – which enables us to deliver next-level customer experiences and drive responsible growth,” the memo said.
Tyrie added that Bartholf is “a champion for women and racial and ethnic communities and an advocate for the creation of highly successful and diverse workplaces,” referring to a July Bartholf TED Talk in New York City in which she spoke to women called for self-representation in the workplace.