Benjamin Bloch, M.A.

AI Strategy and Transformation Leader at USAA

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

About

๐Ÿ”น AI Strategy Leader | Transformation | Risk Management | Strategic Programs | Operational Leadership Champion I am a results-driven and forward-thinking Tranformation Leader with over 15+ years of experience leading enterprise risk, regulatory compliance, and strategic programs across global financial institutions and military operations. Iโ€™ve built my career on a foundation of disciplined leadership, data-driven strategy, and a relentless commitment to mitigating risk and protecting organizational integrity. Iโ€™ve designed and implemented scalable risk frameworks, integrated emerging technologies for enhanced detection, and built programs that align regulatory demands with operational goals. โœ”๏ธ At USAA, I've created risk management programs and embedded compliance into the organizational culture through targeted risk mitigation strategies and stakeholder engagement. โœ”๏ธ At Citi, I executed against a comprehensive risk governance framework across global consumer banking. โœ”๏ธ At Wells Fargo, I executed the development and implementation of risk programs to identify risks across seven lines of business โœ”๏ธ As a former U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer, I managed operations and risk in high-stakes environments. My leadership philosophy is rooted in ethics, integrity, innovation, and partnership. I thrive at the intersection of people, process, and purposeโ€”building resilient teams, driving enterprise transformation, and protecting brand reputation in todayโ€™s complex regulatory landscape.

Experience

  • USAA (4 yrs)
    • Bank Business Process Consultant Lead - AI Strategy & Transformation Design
      Jul 2025 - Present ยท 1 yr 1 mo

    • Director, Bank Business Process Consultant
      Aug 2022 - Jul 2025 ยท 3 yrs

      In this role I led the Bank Sales & Service Governance and Oversight Team to ensure the compliant execution of business operations across multiple lines of business. I also oversaw Sales Practices, Non Deposit Insurance, and Investment Product referrals, and Affiliate Management (including contract oversight) to ensure all activities align with applicable regulatory, compliance, and operational standards. โ–บ ๐™ˆ๐™ฎ ๐™Ž๐™ž๐™œ๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™—๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ก๐™ช๐™™๐™š: โ€ข Provided strategic leadership to a team of up to nine direct reports, setting clear expectations, fostering collaboration, and driving high performance. โ€ข Initiated and led the development of the Breach Action & Mitigation Program, leveraging collaborative root cause analysis to identify and remediate quality-related issuesโ€”resulting in a measurable reduction in organizational risk. โ€ข Enhanced regulatory and operational risk compliance by systematically identifying, analyzing, and resolving errors and defects through employee engagement and process transparency. โ€ข Strengthened the organizationโ€™s risk posture by designing and implementing robust control mechanisms/monitoring routines and partnering with internal business control and compliance teams (first and second lines of defense) to align risk mitigation efforts. โ€ข Regularly engaged with executive leadership through presentations, risk escalations, and strategic discussions to ensure alignment on emerging risks and mitigation efforts. โ€ข Directed risk assessments and performance monitoring, ensuring business activities are tracked and evaluated through a risk-based lens. โ€ข Improve trend analysis and early risk detection by developing and managing key performance and risk indicators (KPIs/KRIs).

  • Senior Vice President, Global Business Risk Governance & Controls at Citi
    Aug 2021 - Aug 2022 ยท 1 yr 1 mo

    In this role I provided strategic leadership to manage reputation risks across the global consumer bank (retail banking and wealth businesses). I also developed and oversaw enterprise-wide governance frameworks, including qualitative/quantitative assessments, committee management, and executive-level reporting. I successfully assessed and monitored risk exposure through comprehensive data collection and reporting. ๐™ˆ๐™ฎ ๐™Ž๐™ž๐™œ๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™—๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ก๐™ช๐™™๐™š: โ€ข Directed the implementation of key control enhancements and mitigation strategies across global regions and lines of business. โ€ข Collaborated with first- and second-line functions to improve risk posture and control effectiveness. โ€ข Delivered presentations to senior leadership and governance committees on risk trends and outcomes.

  • Compliance Risk Manager Lead at USAA
    Sep 2020 - Aug 2021 ยท 1 yr

    As a Compliance Risk Manager Lead I oversaw the execution of the Sales Practice/ compliance risk management program on the Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP) Compliance team. I also provided compliance oversight across consumer banking products, including deposits, credit cards, loans, and mortgage services. Acted as lead SME for bank-wide risk governance practices. ๐™ˆ๐™ฎ ๐™Ž๐™ž๐™œ๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™—๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ก๐™ช๐™™๐™š: โ€ข Authored policy documentation that served as the basis for the Bankโ€™s requirements to adhere to Sales Practice standards โ€ข Developed risk mitigation routines and sales practices compliance strategies. โ€ข Created formal training t content to reinforce compliance culture and regulatory requirements. โ€ข Analyzed risk data to detect trends, escalate issues, and inform leadership decisions. โ€ข Facilitated the implementation of regulatory expectations and best practices.

  • Business Risk & Control Senior Associate at Wells Fargo
    Jul 2019 - Sep 2020 ยท 1 yr 3 mos

    I successfully managed the execution of Sales Practices and Conduct Risk programs. I also championed advanced analytics initiatives to improve risk detection. ๐™ˆ๐™ฎ ๐™Ž๐™ž๐™œ๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™—๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ก๐™ช๐™™๐™š: โ€ข Led business risk transformation efforts and policy change initiatives for ethical sales practices. โ€ข Executed the development and implementation of risk programs to identify risks across seven lines of business and ensured consistency and alignment of risk assessments across businesses โ€ข Pioneered early AI (Natural Language Processing) and advanced analytics strategy and concepts for enhanced risk identification.

  • Citi (3 yrs 1 mo)
    • Vice President, Operational Risk Senior Manager
      Feb 2018 - Jul 2019 ยท 1 yr 6 mos

      Provided recommendations to the senior leadership of North America (NA) Credit Cards regarding the most critical operational risks while managing the Key Operational Risk (KOR) process by compiling critical data elements and conducting in-depth analysis. ๐™ˆ๐™ฎ ๐™Ž๐™ž๐™œ๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™—๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ก๐™ช๐™™๐™š: - Reviewed fraud and non-fraud losses to prevent future events from occurring again while conducting and managing root cause analysis. - Drove standardization and simplification with the Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) process, including analyzing and aligning new risk taxonomy to current risk categorizations to ensure risk alignment and identification across the global consumer bank with zero gaps in risk assessment during the transition.

    • Vice President, Operations Support Senior Manager, Military Officer Leadership Program (MOLP)
      Jul 2016 - Feb 2018 ยท 1 yr 8 mos

      Citi's Military Officer Leadership Program (MOLP) is a transitional leadership development program supporting military veterans as they exit military service. The MOLP (Ops Senior Manager Program) utilizes customized development paths to help each participant successfully gain the knowledge and develop the skills necessary to build a dynamic career in financial services management. Associates in the Military Officer Leadership Program participate in three targeted experiential learning opportunities through prescribed work assignments over a 18-month period, classroom based learning opportunities, active coaching and mentoring through interactions with assigned senior leaders and business partners, and engagement with a variety of other project and peer support initiatives. 1st Rotation: Citi Retail Services, Credit Risk Management 2nd Rotation: Citi Retail Services, Business Process Optimization (Process Re-Engineering) 3rd Rotation: Citi Ventures (Innovation/Product Development)