Interview: Luke Gebb, head of global innovation, American Express | Computer Weekly

"“It has, no doubt,” he says, before pointing to artificial intelligence (AI) as the next driver of radical business transformation. “There are different waves. You can draw comparisons at this moment to the advent of the internet itself, or the mobile wave. Those comparisons are good. However, the pace of change and innovation we've seen recently is probably faster than we've seen before.”"

"As head of global innovation, Gebb leads Amex Digital Labs, an innovation hub focused on creating new digital products and features for the firm's card members. He works across the enterprise to accelerate the adoption and commercialisation of emerging technologies, such as generative AI, agentic commerce and blockchain."

"Gebb says his team is focused on innovation areas where business units don't have the time or expertise to turn their ideas into products or services. The team's goal is to bring these ideas to market, pilot them, see if they work, make them stable, and then graduate these finalised products to the business units."

"“We have a permanently interesting job that is always changing as technology trends come and go. Amex has about 120 people working in innovation, trying to push about 20 things into the market each year, where we're learning from customers and focused on new experiences powered by up-and-coming technologies.”"

Technology-led change has intensified rapidly, with AI identified as the next driver of radical business transformation. Innovation efforts are led through an innovation hub that creates new digital products and features for card members. Work spans the enterprise to accelerate adoption and commercialisation of emerging technologies including generative AI, agentic commerce, and blockchain. The innovation team targets areas where business units lack time or expertise to turn ideas into products or services. The process includes bringing ideas to market, piloting, validating performance, stabilising solutions, and then transferring finalised products to business units. The organization employs about 120 people to push roughly 20 initiatives into the market each year, learning from customers and focusing on new technology-powered experiences.

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