Marketing AI Company Persado Adds Financial Services Leaders to Board of Directors

Former Capital One Executive, Stephen Mugford, and Long-Time McKinsey Digital Transformation Leader, Somesh Khanna, to Help Guide Innovations and Growth

Persado Inc., a prominent provider of AI-powered content generation solutions for marketing, has added veteran financial services executives Somesh Khanna and Steve Mugford to its Board of Directors. The appointments follow Persado’s news of having driven $2.5B in new revenue for finserv organizations in the past five years and signal a strategic move to speed innovations and expand the company’s marquee roster of global banks and card issuers.

“Somesh and Steve join our Board at a pivotal stage of Persado’s growth,” said Alex Vratskides, CEO and Co-founder, Persado. “Somesh’s leadership and network in financial services are unparalleled, and his expertise will be instrumental in helping us further develop and deliver Motivation AI innovations that transform the way the world’s largest financial institutions acquire, engage, and keep their customers. Steve is a renowned veteran financial services strategist with two decades of leadership in driving differentiation and growth at Capital One; his insights will help Persado continue to disrupt and advance the AI market.”

Somesh Khanna

With more than two decades of experience leading best-practices services for financial services organizations, Somesh Khanna brings to Persado a wealth of knowledge and a proven track record of success in consulting with many of top retail banks, card issuers, and insurers.

Somesh’s career includes a long tenure at McKinsey & Company, where he co-led the Global Banking and Securities practice. During his 26 years at McKinsey, he spearheaded impactful digital transformations for financial services clients, guiding CXOs and their teams in harnessing the power of AI at scale, modernizing technology delivery, and establishing new avenues for growth. Khanna played a pivotal role in launching, scaling, and leading McKinsey Digital—a specialized unit dedicated to serving financial services clients—where he applied forward-thinking application of technologies to address the objectives of financial services enterprises.

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Prior to McKinsey, Somesh served as CEO of new business at eCredit, focused on digitizing the trade receivables securitization process in partnership with JP Morgan. He is also co-executive Chairman at Apexon, a technology services company specializing in Data/AI Engineering, Digital Engineering, and Design, with clients in financial services and other sectors, and serves as an Advisor to ASAPP, known for its innovative use of GenAI and AI technologies to elevate customer experiences (CX) and automate customer service.

Somesh holds a Masters of Science degree in Finance, Marketing, and Strategy from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and earned a post-graduate diploma in Management from The Indian Institute of Management. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children, is an avid New Yorker, and has a longstanding interest in performing arts, travel, and golf.

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Stephen A. Mugford

Steve Mugford is CEO and Founder of Visceral AI, a breakthrough market research platform leveraging the power of GenAI to disrupt market intelligence and decision making. He is a seasoned strategist with 30 years of experience driving transformative growth in companies, with a particular focus on the intersections of Financial Services, Data and Analytics, and Technology.

Steve began his career at the Boston Consulting Group and spent 21 years as Head of Strategy at Capital One, where he partnered directly with the CEO and founder to set the company’s vision and trajectory and drive implementation. During Steve’s tenure with Capital One, the company grew from an unbranded monoline credit card issuer to become the 7th largest diversified bank in the United States, with more than $273B assets and over $400B annual payment volume.

Additionally, Steve is an investor in and board director of Volo Sports, the largest and fastest-growing Adult Sports League network in the country. He was also a long-time active board member for Excel Academy, a high-performing public charter school network based in Boston, and he founded a premier indoor beach volleyball center located outside Boston.

Steve received his MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics and English from Amherst College. He lives in Boston with his wife and three daughters. In his free time, he is a competitive Masters swimmer, a beach volleyball fanatic, and an avid singer, songwriter and musician.