Bob Hedges

Bob Hedges today serves as Senior Advisor for Data & Strategy at Visa.  Starting in 2021, Bob served as Visa’s Chief Data Officer responsible for driving the company’s value creation from data and Visa’s global data programs. In this role, Bob drove the development of strategy and program execution for how Visa collects, manages, and uses data to create value for banks, acquirers, retailers, governments, and consumers. Bob led Visa’s global data-related activities including data policy, data governance, product development, data analytics, consent management, data for purpose, and responsible data use.  Bob’s efforts spanned more than 180 countries and led the efforts of more than 1000 data product, policy, and data science professionals.

Serving as Visa’s first Chief Data Officer, Bob established strategic direction, operating governance, and functional collaboration across Visa’s extended data, AI, and technology-related activities.  Working with Visa’s Data Leadership Team, Bob championed the exploration of new data technologies, strengthened consumer privacy as a source of strategic differentiation, and developed innovative strategic partnerships to unlock shareholder value. Bob was the principal architect of Visa’s Data Values, the company’s “North Star” for data use, as well as Visa’s AI Principles and Responsible AI program.  Under Bob’s leadership, Visa’s data-related revenues grew at 30% annually to exceed $1 billion and become an important business success metric.  After serving as Chief Data Officer, Bob remains engaged at Visa as a Senior Advisor for Data and Strategy focused on developing ecosystem trust in Agentic Commerce product development, data collaboration initiatives, and the public policy dimensions of corporate data practices.

Over his time as Chief Data Officer, Bob led critical strategic initiatives to expand Visa’s data product capabilities, grow revenues, and develop industry-leading consumer consent and data governance policies.  Through Bob’s efforts, Visa pursued important data partnership efforts with large technology firms, social media players, fintechs, innovative data aggregators, and privacytech start-ups. Bob pursued successful collaborations with the U.S. Department of Commerce,  the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and multiple non-US national regulators as well as with international organizations such as the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and Consumers International to both increase the application of data towards the development of economic growth-oriented public policy and increase consumer education around data privacy and digital rights. Visa partnered with institutions like MIT and Stanford, and tech firms such as DuckDuckGo and Mozilla, to drive innovation in data use while maintaining consumer privacy and transparency. Under Bob’s leadership, Visa became a global leader in responsible data use, setting new standards for consumer-driven data practices through notable programs like Visa’s global “Consumer Data Empowerment” study, which became an industry standard for analyzing consumer behavior regarding data sharing and privacy to inform corporate strategy and policy.

Bob has more than 30 years of experience in payments and financial services, including two decades of experience in financial services strategic consulting and 15+ years of experience in senior operating and leadership roles at financial institutions. Prior to joining Visa in 2018, Bob was a partner at the global consulting firm Kearney (fka A.T. Kearney) where he led the global financial services practice. At Kearney, Bob’s work focused on retail banking, digital commerce, innovation and growth in retail financial services, and consumer data privacy.  A hallmark of Bob’s leadership efforts has been his consistent and disciplined application of a market research-driven analytical approach to assessing and modeling consumer behavior and unmet needs.

Bob has held senior executive leadership roles at Shawmut Bank, FleetBoston, and Fidelity Investments, with operating responsibilities for retail banking, retail investments, digital channels, consumer credit, and payments.  Managing the digital evolution of financial services and levering the growing opportunities to create value from data, have been major operating themes across his past executive roles. Bob is the past Chairman of NYCE, the regional ATM/debit network, and served on the advisory boards of multiple past industry groups including Visa, Mastercard, the Bank Administration Institute, the Bank Marketing Association, the Smart Card Forum, and the Consumer Bankers Association. Early in his career, Bob gained consulting experience at the MAC Group (now Gemini Consulting) and First Manhattan Consulting Group. Bob is a highly regarded and widely-quoted industry commentator and author.

Bob earned his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.