In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with PayPal President & CEO Alex Chriss.

Alex took over as PayPal CEO in September 2023 after a nearly 20-year run at Intuit.

Today, Alex (and PayPal) are at the epicenter of some of the most disruptive trends in global technology & commerce.

Since joining PayPal less than two years ago, his tenure has turned several heads in the industry. PayPal seems reinvigorated and on the offensive, working to take advantage of the several platform shifts we're seeing in global technology and commerce. We've seen new hires, a company reorganization, startup-like release cycles, Will Ferrell branding campaigns, and so much more.

Alex comes on the show at the perfect time as he approaches the 2-year mark in his tenure and bold vision for PayPal is turning into reality.

Highlights

01:58 Alex's rallying cry 'Customer Back' and how he's reorganized the company to think customer-first

06:28 Tactical advice for implementing transformative change at a major global enterprise

09:15 His and PayPal's Top 5 strategic priorities for the coming years

11:42 How agentic commerce will disrupt global commerce (especially merchant data) and how PayPal is positioned to help serve consumers and merchants

17:25 A deeper look at initiatives like Quantum Leap, PayPayl's Remote MCP, and Agent Toolkit

20:47 PayPal's build / buy / partner approach in agentic commerce to date

22:41 The most successful AI initiatives at PayPal, including payment method recommendation, multi-modal customer service, next-gen fraud detection, and 'EVA'

27:55 Why orgs need to get flatter and empower smaller + leaner teams to run farther with AI

29:40 Where PayPal is focusing on crypto/stablecoins on the consumer and merchant side

32:44 His aggressive approach to PayPal's innovator's dilemma and why 'innovator's dilemma is a mindset'

35:30 Regulatory changes and what it has unlocked for PayPal

37:28 Why Intuit has become a breeding ground for so many top executives

39:30 Making the leap to join PayPal from Intuit

40:39 A fun rapid-fire round including his most important criteria for executive interviews, hanging with Will Ferrell, his workouts, his dream guest on the pod, and more

Enjoy the show.

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Alex Chriss has spent more than two decades harnessing the power of technology to help individuals and small businesses solve their greatest financial challenges. Having successfully founded and sold two start-ups and led a fast-growing division of financial software company Intuit, he is committed to helping customers compete and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Alex brings deep expertise in leading high-growth businesses, global product strategy, and customer-driven innovation to his role as PayPal’s President and CEO.

Prior to joining PayPal, Alex held various roles of increasing responsibility at Intuit. He most recently served on Intuit’s executive leadership team as the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intuit’s Small Business and Self-Employed Group where he led a global organization responsible for delivering QuickBooks and Mailchimp to millions of customers. Throughout his 20-year tenure with the company, Alex also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer of Intuit’s Small Business organization, managing the full suite of QuickBooks products, including payroll and payments platform segments.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Tufts University.

Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is a private markets investor at OMERS Ventures, the investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with $130Bn+ in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.