W.L. Mellon Speaker: William Demchak
William "Bill" Demchak is in his element in rapidly-changing environments punctuated by periods of crisis. As chairman, President and CEO of The PNC Financial Services Group, one of the largest diversified financial services companies in the U.S, he has seen his share.
As part of the W.L. Mellon Speaker Series at the Tepper School of Business, Demchak recently imparted wisdom and candid insight gained through his career.
The event - which kicked off the 2023-24 season - was opened by Dean Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou and Param Vir Singh, Carnegie Bosch Professor of Technologies and Marketing, Director of the PNC Center for Financial Services Innovation. Anita Williams Woolley, Associate Dean, Research and Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory, served as moderator.
“If you don’t want crisis, don’t go into banking,” Demchak quipped with a laugh as the discussion began. “Maybe it’s a bit of my personality, but there’s nothing like a good crisis to wake you up and get you focused on opportunities.”
In that vein, Demchak sees the financial services industry undergoing further consolidation, favoring the largest, strongest institutions. “There are big, big benefits to scale,” he observed. “I think there will be eight-to-10 large, coast-to-coast, multifaceted institutions and a lot of small community banks.”
He described how changes in technology have impacted both retail and corporate clients’ interaction with an organization. Digital products, for example, now enable greater self-service for retail customers.
He additionally noted that maintaining both sides of the institution is crucial. “Corporate and retail banking are symbiotic,” he said. “The corporate business is more relational but as table stakes you need the retail business to fund it and effectively allow us to fund the economy.”
Not surprisingly, the theme of change turned to the potentially disruptive effects of Articifial Intelligence (AI). Demchak sees things differently. “It’s a lot more buzz than it is real in my view,” he remarked. “Maybe AI will be that ‘thing,’ but it doesn’t feel structural to me. It feels like a next step in the evolution of the way we’re going to use technology.”
Demchak commented on his own career path within the ever-changing finance industry, particularly highlighting the importance of being open to varied experiences. “I’d recommend it over and over and over again,” he said. “I think it’s exceptionally rare that you land in the right spot. Jump around and you’ll run into paths in your career you didn’t even know were there, learn something different, meet new people.”
And true to form he added, “Particularly in times of crisis, when something’s busted, dive at it. Stability isn’t your friend in your career, craziness is. I honestly believe that.”
It's a philosophy that he not only holds today, but has always lived. He arrived on Wall Street just as quantitative finance was taking hold. “There was a never-ending stream of new things to figure out and I would chase those, and just keep trading sideways,” he recalled. “People thought I was absolutely nuts.”
He likened his current role at the helm of PNC to that of an orchestra conductor, describing his 24/7 responsibilities. “It’s kind of hard to execute but very simple to describe – I need to pick people and choose strategy. It’s all I have to do. I have very good leaders who run our businesses.”
Demchak stressed the importance of choosing his team from a diverse pool, “Not just in ethnicity and gender and nationality, but the way they think.” He’s proud of his ability to find and appreciate individuals’ unique talents and employ those skills most productively. “It makes life interesting to find different types of people who, together, can do great things.”
Beginning in 2006, the W.L. Mellon Speaker Series has provided an opportunity for students to interact with global leaders, CEOs, and management experts.