Wells Fargo Names Kleber Santos Sole CEO of Consumer Banking as Van Beurden Moves to Full-Time AI Role

Wells Fargo has named Kleber Santos sole chief executive of its consumer banking and lending business, with former co-CEO Saul Van Beurden moving to a full-time artificial intelligence role, the bank announced Thursday. Both appointments are effective immediately. Santos will oversee consumer deposits, credit cards, business banking and auto lending. Van Beurden will focus on scaling AI adoption enterprise-wide, including deepening work with AI firms. CEO Charlie Scharf said the split lets each executive "focus fully" on growth priorities. On Wells' third-quarter earnings call Oct. 13, Scharf said AI now supports autonomous agents, faster marketing campaigns, code testing and risk management. Wells rose to No. 5 globally and No. 3 in the U.S. on the Evident AI index. Jasmine de Gaia, Wells' head of AI and enterprise data assets, will become Scotiabank's chief AI officer on Jan. 4.