LPL taps Wells Fargo vet as new chief technology and information officer

LPL has hired away a seasoned tech executive from Wells Fargo, adding another senior technology leader to a bench it has been steadily refining since 2024 as it touts continuing efforts to enhance its digital and AI infrastructure for advisors.

On Monday, the firm announced the addition of Jonathan Lewis as managing director and chief technology and information officer. He will oversee architecture, engineering, infrastructure and development at the firm.

Lewis, who will be based in New York, will be reporting to Greg Gates, who in turn is taking on the broader title of group managing director, chief product and technology officer.

At Wells Fargo, Lewis most recently led digital and trading technology for the bank's wealth management arm and worked on AI-driven engineering capabilities for advisors and clients, according to the announcement from LPL. 

Earlier in his career he ran asset management technology at J.P. Morgan, giving him more than two decades of experience building large-scale technology platforms inside major financial institutions. 

"Jonathan is a proven technology leader with a strong track record," Gates said, adding that Lewis's background in engineering and infrastructure would help the firm push forward on artificial intelligence and platform modernization.

Read more: Fintech 2026: Five trends reshaping the future of wealth, advice, and digital finance

A years-long buildout of tech leadership

Lewis's arrival is the latest in a string of technology-focused leadership moves at LPL in recent years. In July 2024, the firm brought in Sushil "Sid" Vyas as executive vice president and chief technology officer of infrastructure and operations, a role focused on the stability of LPL's operating platforms. 

Vyas has spent more than 25 years in various technology leadership roles across different financial institutions, including two decades at Wells Fargo and its predecessor companies before a stint at Mizuho Americas. He has since moved on to join RBC Capital Markets, stepping in as managing director and global head of capital markets operations, supervisory and regulatory technology, according to a LinkedIn post he made this month.

In April last year, LPL restructured its executive ranks to elevate five long-serving leaders to a newly created managing director tier. Those included Gary Carrai, who became managing director and chief product officer overseeing the firm's advisor and institutional technology platforms.

That same month, LPL hired Vaughn Harvey, an industry veteran whose professional background includes stints at JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, as the firm's first chief data and artificial intelligence officer, a role created specifically to steer LPL's broader AI strategy.

Read more: Building AI you can trust in wealth management

AI investment sets the backdrop

At its Focus 2026 advisor conference in San Diego earlier this month, LPL unveiled a nearly two billion-dollar, three-year investment in modernizing its technology infrastructure. That spending, underwrites LPL Latitude, a unified platform meant to combine data, workflows, cybersecurity and an embedded AI agent called Cyan into a single system for advisors.

"The best technology isn't technology that shows off what we can build," Gates said at the event.

LPL CEO Rich Steinmeier used the same conference to address advisor anxiety about automation directly.

"Will AI replace the advisor? Quite simply, no," Steinmeier said. "Those who embrace AI will become more valuable."

LPL isn't alone in that commitment. Late last month, Ameriprise revealed it has been investing $1 billion a year in technology including AI for its advisors, while Raymond James also revealed its own $1.1 billion spending spree on tech this year.