In an era where technology reshapes entire industries, I’ve had the privilege of leading Mastercard on an extraordinary journey. Once synonymous with a simple plastic credit card to a company at the forefront of digital payments, we’ve consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation while respecting tradition and our relationships with our merchants, banks, and customers. Our commitment to customer excellence has been instrumental to Mastercard’s success, culminating in a CIO 100 award this year for our project connecting technology to customer excellence utilizing artificial intelligence.
We live in an age of miracles. When I think about the technology we started working with early in my career and look at what we’ve been able to do since, it truly is amazing, a global transformation led by and driven through technology. When I first started at Mastercard, we were known for being the plastic cards that helped people live their everyday lives. But as the world changed, we’ve had the privilege to help shape the future. Based on our services, e-commerce has flourished from providing payment guarantees, zero liability to consumers, APIs and services, and global acceptance to online commerce stores, ride-sharing apps, and streaming networks worldwide.
Back then, Mastercard had around 3,500 employees and a $4 billion market cap. Today, we’re a $450 billion company with more than 35,000 employees globally. But it wasn’t the tech that made Mastercard what it is today. It was the people that did it. It’s humbling to receive the CIO 100 award and know that it represents the transformative work done by all the amazing people who work at Mastercard.
