5 questions with … U.S. Bank CISO Ann Barron-DiCamillo

AI capabilities are growing exponentially and FIs need to rely on fundamental security principles and collaboration to stay ahead of evolving cyberthreats. "AI is accelerating [on] both the offense and the defense side and the challenge is just making sure that the defense accelerates faster to stay ahead of the threat actors," Ann Barron-DiCamillo , chief information security officer at U.S. Bank , told FinAi News . [caption id="attachment_57388742" align="alignright" width="300"] Ann Barron-DiCamillo[/caption] Barron-DiCamillo joined U.S. Bank as CISO in June, leaving her role as Citi 's first managing director and global head of tech optimization. She oversees U.S. Bank's global information security strategy and cyber resilience capabilities to protect critical systems, customer data and digital assets. Barron-DiCamillo has been in the cybersecurity industry for more than 25 years. Before Citi, she was vice president of cyber threat intelligence and incident response at American Express . She previously served for three years as director of the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team within the Department of Homeland Security . Additionally, she became chair in August of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC). This week, Barron-DiCamillo sat down with FinAi News to discuss her new job at U.S. Bank , how AI is changing threat and defense in the financial industry and the role of collaboration to combat emerging risks. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. FinAi News : What are your short-term goals for information security at U.S. Bank? Ann Barron-DiCamillo: My first few weeks have really been about learning and listening. We have a very robust program, but there's always opportunity to continue to evolve the security program, continue to enable the bank's digital and AI transformation. I think security is a team sport and I want to make sure the leaders that I'm working with are deeply engaged in technology risk resiliency, innovation and [creating] that environment where security is really enabling the business. With all the things shifting in the AI world, it's an exciting time to be in cybersecurity. FinAi News : How is AI changing the threat landscape in the financial industry? ABD: AI is definitely one of the most important technology shifts that we've seen in decades. It's a paradigm-shifting moment. It creates both opportunities and risks. On the opportunity side, AI can really help with organizations that are leveraging it to help detect threats faster, automate repetitive security tasks. It can be extremely beneficial in identity [verification] or identifying vulnerabilities more efficiently. It allows our analysts to focus on higher-value problems. On the risk side, AI is lowering barriers for adversaries. The benefits that we have as legitimate users are also being leveraged by adversaries. Threat actors can now create more convincing phishing schemes, develop malware more efficiently and it's at scale [because of] commoditization. AI doesn't change the fundamental mission of cybersecurity. It's accelerating both offense and defense. Organizations that succeed will be those that apply AI responsibly while maintaining strong governance, risk management and security fundamentals. FinAi News : What challenges does the boom in agentic AI bring to the financial industry? ABD: Agentic AI introduces new dimensions because these systems can take action; it's not simply generating content. It's creating tremendous opportunities for productivity and automation but it also changes the security equation. Oversight is going to be extremely important, making sure you have guardrails and you know you're not granting autonomous systems the ability to act in and of themselves. Ensuring that we have clear accountability and robust governance is now going to become even more important in ensuring that you're positioned to realize the benefits [of implementing agentic AI] safely and earlier. FinAi News : What role does collaboration play in defending banks from cyberthreats? ABD: One of the benefits of the cybersecurity community, specifically in financials, is the fact that we are really aligned with our competitors. We'll continue to leverage that collective engagement model through things like FSSCC and FS-ISAC [the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center ] or other industry groups to help one person's detection become another's prevention. We benefit as an organization when we're not operating in isolation. Working through collaboration and partnerships is that critical part of cybersecurity. FinAi News : How can the financial industry prepare for the AI future and the threats that may come with it? ABD: If you'd asked me this question a year ago, it would have been a different answer. I was in some panel recently and they were talking about [thinking ahead] six to 12 months and the Anthropic researcher was saying, "We operate in one- to three-month cycles." Just the cycle associated with how we're thinking about plans and what's next is shrinking. The acceleration [of technology, specifically AI] is going to be the No. 1 factor [looking ahead] and then our ability to pivot associated with that acceleration. The strongest security programs start with fundamentals and then use AI to amplify human experience. It's about getting back to those basics. Good governance doesn't slow innovation; it really helps organizations have the confidence to move faster and ensure that they're keeping pace with what we're seeing in the threat landscape. FinAi Lending Summit, set for Oct. 7-8 in Las Vegas, will include speakers from Fifth Third and Capital One as well as a fireside chat with U.S. Bank Senior Vice President – Lending Operations Group Manager Suzanne Rathbun . To learn more about the 2026 event and register, visit here .

5 questions with … U.S. Bank CISO Ann Barron-DiCamillo

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5 questions with … U.S. Bank CISO Ann Barron-DiCamillo

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