JPMorgan Chase's Gill Haus Discusses 'Best Of Both Worlds' Strategy, Future Of Banking

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM is adopting a product-operating model to compete with smaller, more agile financial services providers.

Gill Haus, Chase's Chief Information Officer of Consumer and Community Banking (CCB), discussed this transition and post-pandemic trends with Benzinga. Here’s an edited version of the conversation that transpired.

BZ: What motivates you?

Haus: We impact the lives of millions of Americans who may own a home, are buying their first car, using a credit card, depositing money, and traveling the world. It's rewarding to bring solutions to the market that our customers use. Using those exact solutions my team is building is even more rewarding. That joy and energy led me to pursue technology in the first place.

Being passionate about technology, to me, is cool.

I chuckle when people say, "You do all these cool things like wearing jeans and Chuck Taylor, playing video games, and coding. How did you get so cool?" I have to remind them that this wasn't the definition of cool — at least when I was in high school. Bringing together disparate ideas and creating technological solutions to complex problems is truly exciting.

How has working in a large financial services firm, as well as startups, shaped your approach?

In larger companies, you gain a deep understanding of the industry and why aligning with business goals and outcomes is essential. It's not solely about the technology; it's about integrating complex systems that may be beyond the reach of smaller organizations due to their scale and history. In contrast, you learn to be resourceful and budget-conscious at startups. At JPMorgan Chase, I believe you can have the best of both worlds — being a large organization while seamlessly integrating modern technologies, from leveraging the public cloud to harnessing the potential of AI, all while being mindful of budget constraints.

What changes were made in the organization, and how do these changes contribute to innovation?

We've undergone a significant transformation, reshaping our organizational structure around products. We often refer to this as our "product architecture," which may also be known as our "product operating model." In this model, each of our products takes center stage, with dedicated ownership from a product leader, a design leader, a tech leader, and a data leader. Each product has a unique roadmap. Our leaders enjoy autonomy over their budgets, fostering swift decision-making and efficient cross-team communication.

How do you better align messaging within the organization?

Whenever possible, we aim to co-locate our teams. This leads to better alignment in messaging, a deeper understanding of the customer's environment, and a heightened awareness of trends.

Does your operational model mirror a startup?

Yes. Additionally, we'll work with or acquire startups to stay at the forefront of our industry.

What is a key strategy your team employs to ensure high-quality software development?

To overcome common challenges, we must rethink applications and "shift left" in our development. This approach enables faster and higher-quality software delivery and encourages experimentation.

What are some key focus areas in your strategy?

We're implementing automation testing to empower our teams to quicken deliveries, experimentation, and rollback.Having real-time, high-quality data allows us to craft highly personalized customer experiences. We possess valuable insights about our customers due to their various interactions with us, including home loans, auto loans, credit cards, and direct deposits. We are also a significant player in the travel industry here in the U.S. By leveraging this data, we can offer tailored experiences. Whether a customer visits a branch, calls us, or uses our mobile app or web application, they should encounter the same level of service. Achieving this consistency hinges on having unified omnichannel data.

What does "quad" mean?

Ensuring customer retention is paramount, and this is where our product architecture, or what we refer to as the "quad" (representing product, design, data, and tech), comes into play. Consider our account opening product. We have a single team dedicated to delivering a seamless account opening experience. They continually focus on metrics, customer needs, security, and reducing friction so customers can sign up for an account within minutes.

How does your organization approach adaptability in the face of evolving customer needs?

Scaling for myself and my colleagues would be impossible if we had to make every decision as things came our way. This is one of the reasons we operate in an agile, product-centric fashion. Depending on the size and scale, decisions will always need to be elevated. In many cases, our experts and professionals who lead the individual products are empowered to make decisions because they remain closely connected to the market and can better observe ongoing changes. We are more agile because our leaders can adjust their roadmaps and strategies every few weeks, ensuring they stay up-to-date and ahead of evolving needs. Another challenge we face, which is why I mentioned data and our efforts to automate and improve our testing processes, is the need to experiment and move swiftly to determine what works. Experimentation is a key focus, and we aim to increase it, helping us gain insights into what is and isn't working quickly.

What excites you about 2024?

What truly excites me is witnessing the tangible benefits of our product-driven approach. We see our teams functioning with a product-centric mindset, and it's invigorating to observe the talent we're bringing in operating autonomously without us imposing strict directives. You can sense the momentum building as we launch new products. For instance, we recently introduced "Pay In 4.” This feature lets you purchase using your debit card and later pay in installments. This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding what we can rapidly roll out due to our operational model. What gets me enthusiastic is the anticipation of a wealth of personalized new features. Our application continues to modernize, maintaining its position as one of the fastest apps on the market. In my opinion, it’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing. We operate in a way that assures me we'll deliver incredible innovations in 2024.

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