THE Grıll
Catherine p.
Bessant
This CIO’s mandate is to
streamline and modernize
back-office operations.
preferred social media:
I follow both of my children,
ages 11 and 15, on Twitter.
technology du jour: Siri is becoming
my new best friend.
personal productivity tool: Tablets.
They make it comfortable for me to be
efficient in the use of my time.
off-hours pastimes: Fitness,
and transporting, cheering on and
being with my children.
Vice: Salt is my last remaining vice.
I’ve become sadly vice-reduced.
most people don’t know. . .
I’ve been a NaSCar fan since I was
11 years old. I used to make money
cleaning up the Michigan International
Speedway after the races.
two years ago, Catherine P. Bessant was tapped to lead Bank of America’s Global Technology and Operations
(GT&O) group, which has more than
100,000 staffers and contractors in 40
countries. Here Bessant talks about
leading a tech group that includes five
CIOs as direct reports, the importance
of employee diversity, and how relying
too much on third parties for IT
services can backfire.
you came into an It leadership position from the business side. was it
a hard transition? I was helped by
the fact that I’ve been a part of most
of the businesses we serve. I came to
the field having had a fair amount of
experience using the technology.
what has been one of your most
effective projects? After a lot of
planning over many years, we’re
