Catherine Gunnell

About Catherine Gunnell

I design enterprise AI operating architectures for global organizations — aligning governance, delegated authority, and capital deployment before scale introduces fragility.My background spans global cybersecurity governance, institutional separations, and enterprise risk operating model design across 90+ country environments. I have led initiatives in multi-jurisdictional regulatory settings where data sovereignty, cross-border exposure, and control integrity were foundational — and where governance had to enable execution, not slow it.Today, I focus on helping enterprises move from experimental AI adoption to structurally sound acceleration. That includes aligning AI initiatives to corporate strategy and risk appetite, establishing explicit 1LOD accountability, embedding lifecycle stage gates with risk-tiered deployment, and building telemetry and escalation mechanisms that support both velocity and control.AI governance is designed correctly, it enables organizations to scale AI confidently — protecting institutional integrity while unlocking durable enterprise value.I work at the intersection of business strategy, operating model design, and AI execution — translating emerging AI capability into enterprise systems that boards can trust and operators can scale.Responsible AI is not a philosophy. It is an operating discipline.

Experience

1. Director, Global Information Security Risk Management (1lod)

   Citi

   Aug 2019 — Present · Irving, TX, US

   Senior enterprise governance leader overseeing cybersecurity risk across 24 countries, managing a 125-person organization and $22M budget within a highly regulated global institution.• Designed and institutionalized enterprise governance operating models embedding 1LOD accountability, lifecycle controls, and risk transparency across global business units.• Led AI portfolio oversight within cybersecurity and contributed to enterprise Responsible AI strategy integration.• Co-designed and led execution of governance separation initiatives supporting sovereign infrastructure establishment and institutional spinoff, reconstituting risk frameworks and regulatory-aligned control environments.• Developed Cyber Risk Appetite Version 2 aligning regulatory expectations with enterprise technology execution.• Presented governance posture and AI oversight updates to executive and board-level forums.

Education

• SMU Cox School of Business

  MBA, Finance

  2001 — 2003