Christopher Swanson

Background

About Christopher Swanson

I'm a Senior Vice President and Product Innovation Director with U.S. Bank’s Research and Development team. Currently, I'm responsible for the discovery, design and development of new ventures and digital transformation associated with emerging technology and business model disruption. While fluent in technology strategy, my role is business oriented; my function is to provide a context for partnership with other banks, corporate customers and service providers, as well as the startup ecosystem, in the creation of business value. I do this with a skill set of trend identification and scenario planning, stakeholder analysis, strategic/business model evaluation and internal sales.An area that I'm particularly passionate about is blockchain and cryptocurrency. I've been working in the space since 2014 and currently direct U.S. Bank’s exploration and application of the technology across the company. I've led the bank's investments in blockchain firms, engaged with dozens of banks and corporations to see whether the technology generates business value at the network level, and directed business model experimentation on the incentives and governance of blockchain platforms. I've spoken extensively on the technology and its impact in financial services and beyond at events such as South by Southwest Interactive and Consensus.It's no surprise the way we do business is changing. Software is, in fact, eating the world, as Marc Andreessen succinctly put it. I'm fortunate to be in a place in my career where I get to collaborate with smart people to try to figure out what comes next and help my internal business partners make the technology and process changes necessary to be successful.