Building Chase with Rohan Amin: Designing for Trust

Podcast: Building One with Tomer Cohen
Host: Tomer Cohen, LinkedIn's Chief Product Officer
Guest: Rohan Amin, Chief Product Officer at Chase
Release Date: April 22, 2025

Introduction

In this engaging episode of Building One, Tomer Cohen sits down with Rohan Amin, the Chief Product Officer at Chase, to explore the intricate balance of designing financial products that foster trust. Rohan delves into his unique journey from the defense industry to leading product development at one of the largest banks in the United States. The conversation highlights the critical role of security, the importance of anticipating customer challenges, and the strategic integration of physical and digital banking services.

Rohan Amin’s Professional Journey

[03:18]

Rohan Amin begins by outlining his transition from a cybersecurity expert at Lockheed Martin to his current role at Chase. With a PhD in electrical engineering, Rohan spent over a decade in defense and intelligence, where he honed his engineering skills and developed a strong sense of purpose from working on mission-critical projects. More than ten years ago, he transitioned to JP Morgan’s cybersecurity team, eventually moving to Chase to oversee technology for customer-facing business lines. A few years ago, he was promoted to Chief Product Officer, where he now oversees product development, data and analytics design, digital platforms, and customer and employee-facing experiences.

Notable Quote:
"I love it and I'm thankful to be at a place that also gives me an opportunity, gives me a mobility opportunity, allows me to try different things."
— Rohan Amin [03:18]

Security Principles from Defense to Banking

[05:16]

Rohan emphasizes that principles from his defense background, such as security controls, resiliency, and reliability, are foundational to his approach at Chase. He underscores that trust is paramount in financial services, stating that reliability and security must be the "first feature of the product." This ensures that once the core components are solid, innovation can flourish on top of a trustworthy foundation.

Notable Quote:
"Reliability and resiliency is the first feature of the product. There's no point having fancy feature in your product if it just doesn't work when it needs to, when it counts the most."
— Rohan Amin [06:39]

Anticipating and Designing for Unhappy Paths

[07:26]

Rohan discusses his obsession with "unhappy paths" — scenarios where customers might face challenges or fail to complete their desired actions within Chase’s digital platforms. By meticulously identifying and addressing these potential issues, Chase aims to minimize customer frustration and reduce the reliance on higher-cost channels like call centers.

Notable Quote:
"Unhappy paths can take various forms... whether it's a technical thing that can go wrong, whether it's the wrong copy that gets in front of a customer, whether it's the expectation that is not met."
— Rohan Amin [07:26]

Collaboration and Building Trust

[09:03]

Rohan attributes his success to being a strong collaborator and trust builder. He highlights the importance of working across diverse business lines to create cohesive customer experiences. Additionally, his engineering background equips him to discern what is feasible, ensuring that the team focuses on realistic and impactful solutions.

Notable Quote:
"I'm a strong collaborator and trust builder... My engineering background allows me to see what is realistic versus what's not and call out things that may or may not be possible."
— Rohan Amin [09:03]

The Future of Chase’s Product Ecosystem

[11:07]

When discussing the long-term vision for Chase, Rohan envisions the bank becoming an integral part of customers’ everyday lives, seamlessly embedded in various aspects such as travel, shopping, and financial management. By leveraging AI and personalization, Chase aims to offer tailored experiences that cater to the diverse needs of its 80 million consumers and 6 million small businesses.

Notable Quote:
"We have to do that for people who are just getting started all the way to ultra high net worth individuals. And so when you think about the spectrum of product offerings and the spectrum of consumers and small businesses. That's where all the complexity comes in."
— Rohan Amin [11:35]

Balancing Physical and Digital Banking

[20:00]

Despite the digital transformation in banking, Chase continues to invest heavily in physical branches. Rohan explains that branches are essential for providing personalized advice and handling significant life decisions, such as buying a home or planning for college. These physical interactions complement digital services by offering a human touch that many customers still value deeply.

Notable Quote:
"More of it has to be about advice and things that people are looking to do. Really important life decisions."
— Rohan Amin [20:57]

Omnichannel Strategy and AI Integration

[24:16]

Rohan elaborates on Chase’s omnichannel approach, ensuring seamless integration across all customer touchpoints. By leveraging data and AI, Chase personalizes experiences and anticipates customer needs, enhancing both digital and physical interactions. For instance, if a customer experiences a fraud alert, the system proactively provides relevant information across all channels to streamline resolutions.

Notable Quote:
"LLM stuff becomes magic, is that you're able to apply an LLM to help you start to reason through these problems and understand where the customer is in the journey and help identify drop off points."
— Rohan Amin [27:57]

Emphasizing Accuracy and Trust in AI

[29:57]

Rohan emphasizes the critical importance of accuracy and reliability when integrating AI into Chase’s systems. Given the sensitive nature of financial data, Chase prioritizes being right over being fast or comprehensive, ensuring that AI applications do not compromise trust.

Notable Quote:
"Being first with a LLM AI thing facing customers isn't necessarily our focus. Being right about it is probably more of our focus."
— Rohan Amin [27:57]

Advice for Aspiring Professionals

[32:47]

Rohan advises future professionals to pursue strong technical foundations, particularly in data science, machine learning, and AI. He believes that deep technical appreciation and curiosity are essential for building innovative and reliable products.

Notable Quote:
"Great product people also have enough deep technical appreciation curiosity as well because the how you build is equally if not more important sometimes than what you're building."
— Rohan Amin [32:47]

Key Takeaways

1. Security as the Foundation:
   "Trust is not just a feature, it's where we start."
   — Rohan Amin [33:59]
   In financial services, security and reliability are paramount. Building trust through robust security measures lays the groundwork for innovative customer experiences.

2. Designing for Unhappy Paths:
   Anticipating and mitigating potential customer frustrations ensures smoother interactions and reduces the dependency on costly support channels.

3. The Enduring Value of Physical Branches:
   Despite the rise of digital banking, physical branches remain crucial for providing personalized advice and fostering community connections.

4. Omnichannel Integration with AI:
   Seamlessly integrating digital and physical channels through AI and data analytics enhances the customer experience by anticipating needs and personalizing interactions.

5. Future-Proofing Through Technical Mastery:
   A strong technical foundation in areas like AI and machine learning is essential for building reliable and innovative products that meet evolving customer needs.

Conclusion

In this insightful episode, Rohan Amin articulates a comprehensive vision for Chase that harmoniously blends security, customer-centric design, and technological innovation. His emphasis on trust, collaboration, and strategic integration of AI underscores the future direction of banking, where physical and digital experiences coalesce to serve a diverse and dynamic customer base.

Notable Quote:
"Being right about it is probably more of our focus. Because, you know, there's been some missteps with these things that have been out there."
— Rohan Amin [29:57]

Thank you for tuning into Building One. This conversation with Rohan Amin offers invaluable insights into designing products that not only meet but exceed customer expectations through trust and innovation.