Banking executive challenges students to align their values with their actions, embrace difficult decisions and preserve humanity in an age of artificial intelligence
Success in business requires more than ambition, expertise and the ability to adapt to change. It demands a deliberate commitment to integrity, an understanding of personal values and the courage to make difficult decisions.
That was the message Presbyterian College alumna Liz Wolverton ’96 delivered Nov. 9 during the 2026-27 Vance Lecture in Edmunds Hall, where she challenged students to approach their careers and lives with intention.
Wolverton, chief digital and product solutions officer at Pinnacle Financial Partners, drew on more than two decades of executive leadership experience in financial services to illustrate how ethical decisions shape successful organizations and the people who lead them.
Her central message was that achieving meaningful outcomes while maintaining integrity requires more than good intentions.
“Great achievements do not happen by chance,” she said.
Wolverton organized her remarks around three principles: aligning personal values with professional actions, deciding how to behave before challenges arise and being intentional about the people who influence decisions.
Knowing What Matters
Wolverton’s first principle grew from one of the most difficult disappointments of her professional career.
After years of preparing for a chief financial officer position at Synovus, she learned the company intended to hire an outside candidate. Despite her extensive experience and qualifications, the opportunity she had worked toward would not materialize.
She considered leaving the company.
But a conversation with Kevin Blair, now the company’s CEO, encouraged her to examine whether she was moving toward something better or simply running away from disappointment.
That distinction prompted Wolverton to reconsider the qualities she valued in her employer, including professional opportunities, supportive colleagues and flexibility for her family.
Ultimately, she stayed, opening the door to leadership opportunities she had not anticipated.
“When you have those points where you feel like there’s a conflict, you have to absolutely reassess,” she said.
Wolverton cautioned that misalignment between personal values and professional responsibilities can create resentment and encourage poor decisions.
“Know what you contribute, connect that to your purpose, and know what you value,” she said.
Know what you contribute, connect that to your purpose, and know what you value.”
Liz Wolverton ’96, Chief Digital & Product Solutions Officer, Pinnacle Financial Officers
Integrity Before the Pressure
Wolverton’s second principle focused on establishing ethical standards before confronting challenging circumstances.
Business leaders routinely face competing priorities, organizational pressures and decisions that must be made quickly, she said. Those pressures can become particularly intense during major changes, including the merger involving Pinnacle Financial Partners.
Rather than deciding what is acceptable in the heat of a difficult moment, leaders should establish their expectations for their own conduct in advance.
“Before you go into battle, you better know your intent,” Wolverton said.
One of her most valuable leadership practices, she explained, is knowing when to stop talking and concentrate on understanding other perspectives.
During a subsequent discussion with Dr. Suzie Smith, the Robert M. Vance Professor of Business Administration, Wolverton acknowledged that ethical business decisions rarely offer simple answers.
Some decisions benefit one group of stakeholders while disappointing another. The responsibility of leadership, she said, is to consider the relevant perspectives, act fairly and communicate transparently.
“Don’t ever make a closed-door decision without the right people in the room to inform it,” she said.
Making a decision also does not end a leader’s responsibility. Leaders must continue working with people who disagree and maintain the relationships necessary for their organizations to succeed.
The Human Advantage
Wolverton’s third principle emphasized surrounding oneself with people who bring different experiences, perspectives and opinions.
She warned against leaders who surround themselves exclusively with colleagues who agree with them, arguing that constructive challenges are essential to identifying problems and improving decisions.
“I do not want you on my team if you agree with everything that I say,” she said.
That emphasis on people also shaped her reflections on artificial intelligence and its growing influence on business.
Wolverton described a presentation to her organization’s leadership team by former OpenAI executive Zack Kass, whose message focused not simply on technological innovation but on the qualities that distinguish human beings from increasingly sophisticated machines.
Empathy, compassion, curiosity, creativity and moral judgment, she said, will become even more valuable as artificial intelligence transforms the workplace.
During the Q&A, Wolverton acknowledged AI’s potential to accelerate operational work and provide information that helps executives evaluate complex problems. But she maintained that technology cannot replace the human responsibility to make consequential decisions.
“There’s a lot of human left to do,” she said.
The challenge for future business leaders, Wolverton suggested, is not merely learning how to use emerging technology but understanding how to exercise sound judgment while using it.
A Return to Where it Began
Wolverton’s appearance was also a homecoming for the 1996 graduate, who shared photographs and humorous recollections of her undergraduate years, including her selection as PC’s 1995 homecoming queen.
During the Q&A with one of her former professors, Robert M. Vance Professor of Business Administration Dr. Suzie Smith ’82, Wolverton credited faculty members with supporting her academic development and reflected on how her understanding of service has evolved since college.
She also encouraged students not to expect their first jobs to fulfill every professional ambition. Instead, they should seek organizations with good people, embrace opportunities to learn and periodically assess their own growth.
Her journey from an aspiring certified public accountant to a senior banking executive, she said, demonstrated the importance of remaining open to unexpected opportunities.
The annual Vance Lecture honors the late Robert M. Vance, a prominent Clinton businessman who believed honesty, integrity and strong moral principles were essential to successful businesses and healthy workplaces.
Funded by the Bailey Foundation, the series brings accomplished business leaders to campus to explore the ethical responsibilities accompanying professional success.
Wolverton’s message reflected that legacy, reminding students that leadership is defined not simply by what people achieve, but by the values they demonstrate and the people they influence along the way.
