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JC Lionti

JC Lionti, Managing Director and Chief Data Officer, Mizuho Americas

Describe your career to date

I am a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in financial services, specializing in strategy, risk management, corporate finance, and data management. I currently serve as the Managing Director and Chief Data Officer at Mizuho Americas where I am responsible for shaping the data management strategy and architecture to drive value realization and innovation within the organization.  

Prior to my current role, I held prominent positions at BNP Paribas Americas, where I led transformative initiatives as Chief Data Officer and as Chief Financial Officer. I developed and carried out multiple large scale transformational initiatives, which improved performance and reduced costs, and made operations more efficient. I am proud that my leadership helped change the culture, promote data governance across the enterprise, and meet regulatory requirements. 

I am a leader in the financial industry and a board member and advisor to various organizations, such as Make-A-Wish Foundation and Bridgewater Partners. I earned recognition for my ability to think strategically and solve problems creatively. I am also a popular presenter at industry events and have certifications in data management and business analytics.  

With an MBA in Finance and Accounting and an extensive executive education from renowned institutions, I aim to remain a key influence in advancing the financial services sector through data-based strategies and leadership. 

How are you developing the data literacy of your organization, including the skills of your data teams and of your business stakeholders? 

My organization’s data literacy is improving through three different ways: developing talent, hiring talent, and changing culture. I am creating a data and analytics academy to provide data skills that match different needs. Training programs will be customized for each person and include a mix of classroom/online learning and practical work to maintain impact.  

We are strengthening specific functions and teams to better achieve our strategic goals. Areas of investment include leadership and skills within the CDO office, data analytics, and data stewardship.  

Changing culture is a necessary addition to hiring and developing talent for reaching and keeping our vision and goals. We are developing our communication campaigns and targeted events, forming job family communities, and setting clear performance objectives. 

What role do you play in building and delivering conventional artificial intelligence solutions, including machine learning models? Are you also involved in your organization’s adoption of generative AI? 

My team and I are working to develop and use artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI solutions. We are adapting our data management framework to support those solutions, including the governance and risk management aspects. 

Have you set out a vision for data? If so, what is it aiming for and does it embrace the whole organization or just the data function? 

We base our data strategy on our business strategic plan, covering the entire organization. We execute it according to use-cases and levers that the different business units determine. 

JC Lionti
JC Lionti
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