Regional banks

Among Sandy Pierce's accomplishments during the past year, the senior executive vice president and regional banking director merged the wealth units of Huntingdon and First Merit, rebranding the business as Huntington Private Bank.

The legal team that Ellen Patterson oversees at TD now uses some custom courses to better understand such emerging technologies as biometrics, artificial intelligence and open banking.

Ranjana Clark already had two large jobs, but she may be taking on her biggest challenge yet, having been named in March to the newly created role of chief transformation officer at MUFG.

As chief risk officer, Helga Houston is responsible for Huntington Bancshares' annual capital plan, as well as maintaining solid credit quality. And her work speaks for itself.

Two years into her tenure as the chief executive at Bank of the West, Nandita Bakhshi is candid about the hits — and misses — she’s experienced so far as she tries to grow an institution that has long had a conservative reputation.

It’s a testament to Duck’s leadership skills that BB&T was able to revamp much of its tech infrastructure in the span of a year. It’s even more impressive that the bank hit its tech targets while its CIO was fighting the battle of her life.

Karen Larrimer, the head of PNC's retail banking unit, she has a number of big challenges on her plate including leading the charge on the launch of the company’s digital-only bank to consumers nationwide.

Three years into her role as chief information officer, Jennifer Smith is leading the largest employee group at Zions Bancorp. and is overseeing a core banking conversion that is one of the largest of its kind in the nation.

Get ready to meet some of the rising stars who the Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance believe are poised to disrupt the industry.

Innovative. Influential. Impactful. The 25 female leaders in this ranking are skillfully navigating industry disruption and — in many ways — driving it as well.