Wells Fargo appoints new head of technology

By Nupur Anand

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Well Fargo has hired former BNY executive Bridget Engle as its new head of technology, according to a release seen by Reuters.

Engle who will also be part of the bank's operating committee, reporting to CEO Charlie Scharf, is tasked with looking at technology across the firm.

Scharf said the appointment will be important as the bank continues to modernize its platforms and invest in scale in a bid to increase innovation across the company.

The bank also announced the appointment of Tracy Kerrins to lead a new generative AI team to help drive its adoption across the bank.

"Generative AI can help us transform our businesses, improve our customer and client experiences and enhance the way we work," Scharf said.

The fourth largest U.S. bank also emphasized investing in technology in an attempt to grow its business during its second quarter earnings earlier this month.

Wells Fargo still operates under a $1.95 trillion asset cap that prevents it from growing until regulators deem it has fixed problems from a fake accounts scandal. It still has eight open consent orders.

While the bank has not revealed its technology budgets, some of its larger peers such as JPMorgan Chase have set aside a $17 billion tech budget for this year and have said that implementing AI could add about $1 billion to $1.5 billion in value for the bank.

(Reporting by Nupur Anand in New York)