Executives of the Year: Hari Gopalkrishnan

Bank of America chief technology and information officer Hari Gopalkrishnan said AI delivered a $100 million return in software development in 2025, with double that amount expected this year, while the bank's virtual assistant Erica has answered billions of customer questions and fraud losses are down significantly. Gopalkrishnan, who serves on the board of Girls Who Code, warned against ceding human judgment to machines, saying "Everything we do is a relationship business" and that he never takes an AI's answer at face value without checking its sourcing first.

Bank of America chief technology and information officer Hari Gopalkrishnan can easily list the benefits that the banking giant has seen from rolling out AI: its virtual assistant, Erica, has answered billions of customer questions. Fraud losses are down significantly. AI delivered a $100 million return in software development in 2025, with double that amount expected this year. Gopalkrishnan welcomes technology taking over mundane tasks, but worries about people ceding their thinking and judgment to machines. “Everything we do is a relationship business,” he says. “We don't want to lose the human touch on interactions.” For his part, he never takes an AI's answer at face value, always checking its sourcing first. Gopalkrishnan, who grew up in Mumbai, says his move to the U.S. at age 15—and the resulting exposure to a new set of cultural norms—changed his approach to building relationships in his life and career: “It really set the stage early in my life for inclusivity as being an important part of how one engages in society," he says. Gopalkrishnan’s human-focused approach to technology shows in his charitable work: He serves on the board of Girls Who Code, and he and his wife have funded scholarships for young people who came from foster care.