Don't Put No in Innovation | Rickey Burks former CTO and Chief Innovation Officer at USAA

Here's a description tailored for Apple Podcasts (more narrative and editorial in tone, no hashtags or heavy SEO-stuffing, since Apple's algorithm favors natural, well-written copy over keyword density):From Underwater Welder to Fintech Pioneer: Rickey Burks on the Invention of Mobile DepositWhat does it take to build an innovation that changes an entire industry? In this episode, Joe talks with Rickey Burks, former Chief Technology Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at USAA, about the true story behind mobile check deposit — a technology now used by nearly every bank in America, which USAA brought to market roughly a year ahead of JPMorgan Chase.Rickey traces his unlikely path from underwater welding to a 40-plus year technology career, and shares how a change in banking regulation (Check 21), a deep focus on member needs, and a willingness to take calculated risk led his team to invent Deposit@Home and, eventually, mobile deposit.The conversation goes well beyond the origin story. Rickey and Joe dig into why enterprise architecture should be treated as business strategy — not an IT afterthought — drawing on research from MIT's Jeanne Ross. They discuss how USAA built an internal innovation engine modeled on venture capital firms, why chasing "platform purity" can quietly kill good ideas, and how leaders should be thinking about agentic AI today — particularly its potential to transform compliance, audit, and risk functions inside financial institutions.Whether you work in banking, technology leadership, or enterprise strategy, this episode offers a candid, experience-driven look at how real innovation gets built — and sustained — inside a large organization.In this episode:The regulatory shift (Check 21) that made mobile deposit possibleHow USAA's leadership culture enabled a risky, category-defining betEnterprise architecture as business strategy, not a technology functionBuilding an internal innovation model inspired by venture capitalAvoiding "technology purism" when adopting new platformsWhere agentic AI fits into banking compliance and risk managementWhy annual strategic planning may no longer be fast enoughGuest: Rickey Burks, former CTO & Chief Innovation Officer, USAA