Over the past year, since Dustin White was named a Titan 100, he has learned that the importance of character in leadership has been a consistent theme in his role as the chief risk officer at Visa Inc. “As we embark on many new frontiers, leaders must be reliable, trustworthy and uphold their ethical standards, irrespective of the challenges of the times,” said White. “This is closely tied to the principle of caring; it is ultimately people who face and overcome these challenges.”
White said that the most significant challenge facing his business and industry is coming in the form of AI with threat actors and fraudsters leveraging increasingly sophisticated tools and tech to try to defraud consumers, banks and merchants around the globe. That’s why Visa Inc. has made considerable investments to ensure the company is ready to overcome this challenge.
Visa Inc. focuses on business optimization, analytics, risk and operations with a mission to uplift everyone, everywhere, by being the best way to pay and be paid.
In his role, White said that while leaders often discuss “what” to do or “how” to do it, there isn’t enough focus on “who” leaders achieve great things alongside and how critical it is to empathize with teams to ensure their emotional and mental well-being achieve the same type of success as the business.
“Commitment to the team and mission is crucial, and leaders need to show this through their actions,” said White. “As leaders, we are often tasked with effectively conveying strategies and expectations to our teams; however, it’s important to create space for team members of every level to see where they fit into these visions and goals, making it as personal as possible in ways that resonate with what they experience on a day-to-day basis.”
White also said he believes in paying off the forever debt that we all carry through the doors of opportunities that have been given to us. That’s why he is an active volunteer with teams and local organizations such as Food For Thought and serves as a mentor in Visa’s Black Scholars Program and as the Denver executive sponsor for LatinX ERG.
“These programs seek to embrace our communities on many levels – from the basic need of addressing hunger for students in our elementary schools to creating network, community and opportunities for everyone,” said White. “The point, in all of it, is to not allow complacency to get even a toe-hold and to seek to constantly re-invest on both a large and micro scale with the blessings and gifts that I have been given.”
