Leading 2,000 relationship bankers and support staff in Bank of America's Global Commercial Banking, or GCB, unit, Wendy Stewart prioritizes collaboration. Her frequent mixers bring together clients from diverse industries to question top bankers about the bank's views on key issues ranging from geopolitics and economics to the impact of artificial intelligence. And to talk to each other.
"Clients are often our best ambassadors," she said.
Shyam Reddy, president and CEO of BlueLinx Corp., a small-cap, Atlanta-based building-products distribution company, recalled meeting CEO Brian Moynihan at such events. Just as important, he said, clients can discuss best practices and issues ranging from local-market dynamics to the still-mysterious ways of Gen Z staffers.
As a collaborator by nature, he said, "It's not surprising that she's constantly bringing people together."
A 23-year BofA veteran with several commercial-banking positions under her belt, Stewart's collaborative, long-view approach as president of GCB for the last five years has reassured clients during recent global turbulence. Her bankers connect their middle-market firms located in 115 U.S. and Canadian cities and 20 international markets to the bank's full suite of commercial services.
In 2025, GCB generated $8.8 billion in revenue, down 1% from the prior year, while deposit balances grew by 11% (to $215 billion), and average middle-market loans, excluding commercial real estate and specialized industries, increased by 6% versus 5% the prior year.
Early last year, Atlanta-based Stewart and BofA's chief operations officer and heads of business and corporate banking began "reimagining" clients' end-to-end experience when using its long-standing CashPro digital front-end. Impacting onboarding — often complicated for multi-jurisdiction clients — through banking and treasury management services, the new and improved tools have been a priority for GCB bankers to educate clients about.
Cash forecasting fueled by generative AI, for example, replaces the formerly labor-intensive process, enabling treasury executives to focus on more strategic activities.
While admittedly not a technology expert, Stewart said, AI's possibilities prompted her to research the technology extensively before giving its adoption her full support. By Q1 2026, GCB bankers' AI tools could access 55 sources of client-related data, turbocharging client-meeting preparations and prospecting for new clients.
An avid runner and biker near home, and hiker and kayaker in the north Georgia mountains, Stewart co-leads the bank's health, wellness and longevity initiative that began last year, advising clients on workplace benefits to meet employees' physical and emotional health. Along with the co-head of BofA's Merrill Wealth Management, they also tackled issues including succession and employees' financial health.
Stewart's collaborative efforts also reach outside the bank. She is chairing the Grove Park Foundation's capital campaign for the second time, raising a total of $75 million to revitalize Grove Park, one of Atlanta's most underserved neighborhoods. "The people I've talked to there say she's a hero," Reddy said.
