Melissa Hadley

About Melissa Hadley

It was 2022 when I ran my first marathon.I thought I was crazy, standing at the Chicago start line in 35 degrees with my equally stiff-from-the-cold race mates. A few months earlier, I had signed up because I wanted part of the action. On that cool mid morning in October, I had meandered down to the finish line, wondering if I\'d catch a glimpse of the runners who soldier by my street as they turned the corner to climb the infamous hill before the 100m dash to the finish. I was\'t a runner, and thought they were crazy, but there\'s something special about celebrating other people. Cheering on those complete strangers as they passed awaked something within me. I had to be a part of the action. I wanted to feel what they were feeling. I walked home with my head in the clouds, and set an alarm for the day sign up opened. I became obsessed with the grueling, transformative process that few truly know as marathon training. The sometimes-delirious-other-times-blissful 4 months of intense training. The discipline it forces out of you, the apex version of you that you become, the pain-mixed-with-pure-wonder you feel crossing the finish line with legs heavy as cement. I\'m a rookie, comparatively - some of my running mates entering double digits of marathon completion. but I don\'t care. The process of getting more out of the very same YOU every training run, the concept of doing more with less, the idea that we are only as good as let ourselves think we are - until we do the unthinkable and PR. these motivational snippets are the best part of it all. This is why I run. I keep meeting a better version of myself. I\'d argue that this is why I work in the productivity business. I\'m an expert in achieving more without being more than 1 person. AI and automation are productivity tools that bring cost-cutting, time-saving, bottom-line-impacting productivity to the enterprise. That\'s the future with AI and AI Agents.

Experience

1. Senior Dedicated Data & Ai Strategist - Truist Financial Corp

   IBM

   Jan 2026 — Present · Charlotte, NC, US

   Currently serve as IBM’s Senior Data and AI Advisor to Truist Financial Corporation, partnering with executive stakeholders to define and advance the organization’s long‑term data and AI agenda. Focus on enterprise‑scale adoption, governance, and responsible innovation—aligning advanced capabilities to strategic business outcomes across the bank. Provide thought leadership and strategic guidance to ensure investments translate into sustained impact, operational resilience, and competitive differentiation.

Education

• South Lakes High School

  Advanced High School Diploma

• James Madison University

  Bachelor of Business Administration - BBA, Marketing

Skills

• Graphic Design
• Leadership Development
• Social Networking
• Social Media Marketing
• Nonprofits
• Spanish Translation
• Teaching
• Qualtrics
• Hootsuite
• Event Planning
• Powerpoint
• Customer Service
• Tableau
• Microsoft Access
• Community Outreach
• Leadership
• Weebly
• Strategic Planning
• Data Analysis
• Social Media
• Adobe Marketing Cloud
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Office
• Canvas
• Salesforce.com
• Public Speaking
• Java
• Adobe Illustrator