From Side Projects to Client Solutions: How AI Experimentation Is Shaping J.P. Morgan Payments

What’s the best way to learn AI? Just build something. In this episode of the Pay It Forward Podcast, host Bria Bell, Vice President on the Payments Communications Team, sits down with Zack Anderson, Chief Data & Analytics Officer for Payments and Global Banking, and Alejandra Villagra, Head of Digital & Design, to discuss how experimentation has shaped their approach to AI. Recorded at the March 2026 Global Town Hall, they share personal stories, including building a custom learning app for Zack’s four-year-old son, debugging products through chat, and creating an app that picks Alejandra’s outfit each morning. Together, they argue that personal exploration is the fastest path to professional impact and encourage colleagues to revisit tools they may have dismissed months ago. They also discuss how these lessons are being applied across the business to simplify client experiences and help shape the future of digital payments.