Liberty Bank has named Marc Sylvain as its first chief artificial intelligence officer, a newly created executive role that places enterprise-wide AI strategy under a single leader. The $9 billion-asset bank, headquartered in Middletown, Connecticut, also debuted an internal AI Center of Excellence to identify, prioritize, and govern AI projects - a dual move that embeds AI oversight deep into the C-suite and risk management structure.
Sylvain joined Liberty in 2024 as senior vice president of strategic planning and innovation. He now reports directly to President and CEO David W. Glidden. In the CAIO role, Sylvain will develop and execute the bank's artificial intelligence strategy across all business lines.
AI Center of Excellence cross-function
The center, first announced in June, is a cross-functional leadership group co-chaired by Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Miller, Chief Financial Officer Paul Young, and Chief Risk Officer Troy Damboise. It is designed to ensure that AI initiatives align with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and risk management standards. The bank said the team will drive the full lifecycle of AI projects - from selection and prioritization to implementation and governance.
This structure gives risk, finance, and operations equal footing in steering AI investment. By embedding the center into the executive layer, Liberty is making a statement that AI adoption cannot remain siloed in IT or innovation labs.
A focus on responsible adoption
"AI is here, and we are embracing it," Glidden said in a statement. "With the help of AI, we are finding new ways to serve our customers, support our teammates and drive growth."
Sylvain said his focus will be "on the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence" throughout the organization. Before Liberty, he spent more than 20 years in banking, including roles at TD Bank. At Liberty, he led several strategic initiatives, including the implementation of Salesforce.
The creation of a dedicated CAIO role and a formal center of excellence mirrors a pattern across financial services, where institutions are moving from AI experimentation to structured governance. For executives mapping their own AI roadmaps, resources on AI for Executives & Strategy offer frameworks for aligning AI initiatives with business risk and compliance demands.
Sylvain holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University and a bachelor's degree from McGill University. He is based in Boston.
Liberty Bank, founded in 1825, operates 51 retail banking offices in Connecticut and Massachusetts with more than 900 employees. It offers consumer and commercial banking, mortgage lending, and investment services.
Why this matters for executives and strategy
Appointing a chief AI officer signals that AI is no longer a side project but a boardroom priority demanding dedicated leadership. The COO-CFO-CRO trio running the AI Center of Excellence provides a blueprint for governance: risk, finance, and operations all have veto power over AI deployment. For organizations still running AI from a single department, Liberty's model shows how to hardwire accountability and cross-silo collaboration early. The message is clear - treat AI like any other material business function, with a named executive, a formal charter, and built-in risk oversight.
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