# Arvest Bank: AI strategy and technology vision Source: https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/arvest/ai-strategy Last updated: Oct 16, 2026 *Part of the [Arvest Bank AI strategy profile](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/arvest).* ## What is Arvest Bank's AI strategy? Arvest has not published an AI strategy; AI appears inside its technology modernisation. The July 21, 2022 Google Cloud partnership said the bank would 'leverage Google Cloud's artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools', naming Contact Center AI Insights for the contact centre, Document AI to advance commercial lending decisions and AI tools to help meet regulatory requirements, and then transformation chief Laura Merling called 'data, insights, and artificial intelligence' the foundation of industry disruption, from credit risk modelling to data-driven relationship management. None of those tools has been reported in production since. The data groundwork is on record: a new data platform on Google Cloud fed by the Thought Machine core (2023) and Merling's own rating of data readiness rising from 2 to 7 or 8 out of 10. In April 2025 the IT executive director named Google's AI Code Assist and Gemini for Workspace as 2025 candidates for internal efficiency. In December 2025 Arvest hired Jennifer Baker, a Cornell AI-strategy-certified former Synovus CTO, as CIO to mature 'data accessibility and tools'. Its public AI content is otherwise defensive: customer guidance on AI-powered scams and a security engineer's May 2026 endorsement of an agentic-AI security model. As a private bank it files no 10-K, so AI spending and governance are undisclosed. ([Arvest Bank (PR Newswire)](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/arvest-bank-collaborates-with-google-cloud-to-transform-community-banking-301590851.html), [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/newsroom/arvest-bank-announces-collaboration-with-google-cloud), [Equipment Finance News](https://equipmentfinancenews.com/news/lender-operations/arvest-bank-rolls-out-equipment-lending-product), [CIO Dive](https://ciodive.com/news/Arvest-Bank-tech-modernization-transformation-leadership/701475), [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/cloud/arvest-bank-moves-40-of-apps-to-cloud/), [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/newsroom/arvest-names-new-cio-chief-credit-administration-officer), [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/articles/risk-fraud-awareness/how-ai-is-powering-scams), [Trent AI (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260505309646/en/Trent-AI-Announces-AI-Security-Maturity-Model-for-Agentic-Era)) ## What have Arvest's executives said about AI and data, and when? In date order. Words in quotation marks are as published by the cited source. | Date | Who | What was said | Where | Sources | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | September 16, 2021 | Kevin Sabin, then CEO | A next-generation core engine will let Arvest deliver a banking experience that 'makes their lives easier today and well into the future'; the multi-year strategy covers new products, emerging payments, digital applications and operational capabilities | Thought Machine and Accenture announcement | [Accenture Newsroom](https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/2021/arvest-bank-collaborates-with-tech-leaders-thought-machine-and-accenture-for-next-generation-core-banking-platform) | | July 21, 2022 | Laura Merling, then chief transformation and operations officer | 'Data, insights, and artificial intelligence are the foundation for that disruption, from reshaping credit risk modeling and better supporting underserved communities, to rethinking data driven relationship management' | Google Cloud partnership release | [Arvest Bank (PR Newswire)](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/arvest-bank-collaborates-with-google-cloud-to-transform-community-banking-301590851.html) | | July 21, 2022 | Janet Kennedy, Google Cloud | Google Cloud sees value in combining its 'leading experience in artificial intelligence' with Arvest's community-banking expertise | Google Cloud partnership release | [Arvest Bank (PR Newswire)](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/arvest-bank-collaborates-with-google-cloud-to-transform-community-banking-301590851.html) | | February 2023 | Laura Merling | The Thought Machine core runs on Google Cloud and its data flows into the bank's new data platform, also on Google Cloud | Equipment Finance News | [Equipment Finance News](https://equipmentfinancenews.com/news/lender-operations/arvest-bank-rolls-out-equipment-lending-product) | | December 5, 2023 | Laura Merling | Data had been 'locked in silos'; her rating of data readiness rose from 2 to 7 or 8 out of 10 | CIO Dive | [CIO Dive](https://ciodive.com/news/Arvest-Bank-tech-modernization-transformation-leadership/701475) | | April 4, 2025 | Mark Chastain, executive director of IT | 2025 goals include exploring Google's AI Code Assist and Gemini for Workspace for internal efficiency | Bank Automation News | [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/cloud/arvest-bank-moves-40-of-apps-to-cloud/) | | December 3, 2025 | Arvest (CIO announcement) | New CIO Jennifer Baker, holder of a Cornell AI-strategy certification, to continue a modernisation strategy covering customer experience, associate enablement, 'data accessibility and tools' and resource utilisation | Arvest newsroom | [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/newsroom/arvest-names-new-cio-chief-credit-administration-officer) | | March 25, 2026 | Amy Morbeck, chief product and innovation officer | Innovation 'is more than just using new technology' | Fortune Most Innovative Companies release | [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/newsroom/arvest-named-one-of-americas-most-innovative-companies-2026-by-fortune) | | May 5, 2026 | Justus Post, principal security engineer | Trent AI's maturity model 'helps me surface where our traditional security program simply doesn't see agentic AI risk yet' | Trent AI release | [Trent AI (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260505309646/en/Trent-AI-Announces-AI-Security-Maturity-Model-for-Agentic-Era) | ## Which AI tools has Arvest named, and which are known to be in use? 'Not reported' means no source since the announcement says the tool is live. | Tool or use | Named | Deployment | Sources | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Google Contact Center AI Insights for the contact centre | July 2022 | Not reported | [Arvest Bank (PR Newswire)](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/arvest-bank-collaborates-with-google-cloud-to-transform-community-banking-301590851.html), [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/newsroom/arvest-bank-announces-collaboration-with-google-cloud) | | Google Document AI to advance commercial lending decisions | July 2022 | Not reported | [Arvest Bank (PR Newswire)](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/arvest-bank-collaborates-with-google-cloud-to-transform-community-banking-301590851.html) | | AI tools to help meet regulatory requirements | July 2022 | Not reported | [Arvest Bank (PR Newswire)](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/arvest-bank-collaborates-with-google-cloud-to-transform-community-banking-301590851.html) | | Google AI Code Assist and Gemini for Workspace | April 2025 | Under exploration; no rollout reported | [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/cloud/arvest-bank-moves-40-of-apps-to-cloud/) | | Trent AI Security Maturity Model for agentic-AI risk | May 2026 | Endorsed by a security engineer; scope of use not stated | [Trent AI (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260505309646/en/Trent-AI-Announces-AI-Security-Maturity-Model-for-Agentic-Era) | | Customer education on AI-powered phishing, voice and video deepfakes and synthetic identities | 2024-2025 | Published | [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/articles/risk-fraud-awareness/emerging-fraud-trends-and-how-to-protect-yourself), [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/articles/risk-fraud-awareness/how-ai-is-powering-scams) | ## What has Arvest not disclosed about AI? Arvest has named no chief AI officer, head of AI or AI governance body, and as a privately held bank it files no 10-K, so there is no AI risk factor, AI budget or model inventory in public view. The technology bench has also turned over: the CTO who built the new core left for Fiserv in February 2026, and technology now sits under the CIO and chief operating officer Yurik Paroubek. ([Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/newsroom/arvest-names-new-cio-chief-credit-administration-officer), [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/strategy/ninish-ukkan-joins-fiserv-as-cio-of-digital-and-financial-services), [KNWA/KFTA (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/arvest-ceo-retires-coo-over-182143122.html)) The infrastructure that AI would run on is largely in place: a cloud-native core and a data platform on Google Cloud, with the migration due to finish in 2027. What runs on top has not been described, and the most specific AI claims, the 2022 Contact Center AI and Document AI plans, have not been updated by the bank since. ([Equipment Finance News](https://equipmentfinancenews.com/news/lender-operations/arvest-bank-rolls-out-equipment-lending-product), [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/cloud/arvest-bank-moves-40-of-apps-to-cloud/), [Arvest Bank (PR Newswire)](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/arvest-bank-collaborates-with-google-cloud-to-transform-community-banking-301590851.html)) ## What does the Arvest profile record on this topic? | Date | Move | Detail | Sources | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | May 5, 2026 | Security engineer on agentic-AI risk | Arvest's principal security engineer endorses Trent AI's AI Security Maturity Model for finding agentic-AI gaps against NIST AI RMF and the EU AI Act. | [Trent AI (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260505309646/en/Trent-AI-Announces-AI-Security-Maturity-Model-for-Agentic-Era) | | Dec 3, 2025 | Jennifer Baker named chief information officer | Newly designed executive role; continues multi-year modernisation with data accessibility as a pillar. | [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/newsroom/arvest-names-new-cio-chief-credit-administration-officer) | | Apr 4, 2025 | 40% of targeted apps in the cloud; AI Code Assist and Gemini under review | Mark Chastain reports a 98% cut in on-premises servers at one data centre since 2022, a multicloud strategy and 2027 as the end of application modernisation; 2025 goals include exploring Google AI Code Assist and Gemini for Workspace. | [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/cloud/arvest-bank-moves-40-of-apps-to-cloud/) | | Jul 25, 2022 | Google Cloud partnership with AI and ML tools | Five-year deal to migrate data centres and use Contact Center AI Insights, Document AI for commercial lending decisions and AI for regulatory requirements; then transformation chief Laura Merling called data, insights and AI 'the foundation' of industry disruption. | [Arvest Bank](https://arvest.com/about/newsroom/arvest-bank-announces-collaboration-with-google-cloud) | ## Common questions ### Does Arvest Bank use AI? Not in any deployment it has announced. The 2022 Google Cloud partnership named Contact Center AI Insights, Document AI for commercial lending decisions and AI for regulatory requirements, and in April 2025 the bank said it was exploring Google's AI Code Assist and Gemini for Workspace, but no production use of these has been reported. Its published AI material is customer education about AI-enabled scams. ### Who leads AI at Arvest? No one is named as head of AI. Jennifer Baker, chief information officer since December 2025 and holder of a Cornell AI-strategy certification, leads all technology teams. Mark Chastain, executive director of information technology, named the Google AI tools under exploration in 2025, and principal security engineer Justus Post has spoken on agentic-AI security risk. ### What did Arvest's Google Cloud deal say about AI? The July 21, 2022 release said Arvest would use Google Cloud's AI and machine-learning tools to enhance customer experience and streamline services, including Contact Center AI Insights, Document AI to advance commercial lending decisions and AI tools to help meet regulatory requirements. Then transformation chief Laura Merling said data, insights and AI were the foundation of industry disruption, from credit risk modelling to relationship management. ### Why is Arvest's AI record thin? Arvest is privately owned by the Walton family and files no 10-K or earnings calls, which are where most banks disclose AI risk factors, spending and use cases. Its public technology statements focus on the core and cloud migration due to finish in 2027, and it has not named an AI leader or published AI principles. ## Deeper on Arvest - [What technology stack does Arvest Bank run?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/arvest/technology-stack) --- Canonical page: https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/arvest/ai-strategy Part of [BankingNewsAI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/) — a free daily brief on AI in banking, an AI regulation tracker (42 authorities, 243 documents) and AI-strategy profiles of the 120 largest US banks. Markdown versions of every reference page: append `.md` to the page URL; index at https://www.bankingnewsai.com/llms.txt.