CEO
Akoya
Paul LaRusso is Chief Executive Officer of Akoya. He is responsible for the strategic, financial, and operational leadership for the company and works closely with the Board of Directors.
Prior to Akoya, Paul served as the Head of Connected Banking / Open Banking at Chase. In this role, he led the industry in building out the infrastructure to deliver greater control and protection for consumers sharing their financial data. Through his leadership, Chase fully eliminated screen scraping.
Over his 14-year career at Chase, Paul held additional leadership positions including the Head of Product for Digital Servicing, responsible for Chase’s online communications and servicing products used by 40 million active users and Product Owner for Mobile where he led the strategy and rollout of Chase’s first mobile banking apps. LaRusso was also the Board Co-Chair of Financial Data Exchange (FDX) and was on the Board of Directors of Akoya.
In addition, Paul has worked in the mobile industry for Verizon and Sprint. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Georgetown University and a bachelor's (B.A.) from Bucknell University.
Open banking was sold on a promise: APIs would unlock innovation, data sharing would empower consumers, and banks would discover new revenue streams. Five years in, the results are mixed. The institutions winning in open banking identify specific customer pain points first, then reverse-engineer the technology and partnerships to solve them profitably. Panelists will share how customer-first open banking strategies generate measurable returns through reduced acquisition costs, improved retention, strategic partnerships that expand market reach, and digital architectures built for long-term profitability.