Mastercard is aggressively integrating AI into its talent development and workforce strategy, according to Lucrecia Borgonovo, the company’s Chief Talent and Organizational Effectiveness Officer. In an extensive interview, Borgonovo revealed how the financial services giant is leveraging artificial intelligence to transform employee training, recruitment, and career development.
The centerpiece of Mastercard’s AI-driven talent strategy is Unlocked, an AI-powered internal talent marketplace launched in 2022. This platform enables employees to pursue skill-building opportunities and career development paths while helping leaders identify talent and skills across the organization beyond traditional reporting lines. The system acts as a “copilot” for managers seeking specific expertise within the company.
Borgonovo, who rejoined Mastercard in 2021 as a “boomerang” employee, emphasized that the pandemic fundamentally changed workforce strategies. “Whether there was a playbook before the pandemic, you’re kind of throwing it out the window because you have to reimagine the art of the possible,” she explained. The company has seen significant growth in integrating AI, analytics, and data into its operations since then.
Mastercard is also developing an AI digital coach to support people leaders during critical employee interactions, including performance reviews and feedback conversations. This tool will allow managers to practice and refine their approach to candid performance discussions, supercharging key moments between leaders and their teams.
Regarding employee sentiment, Borgonovo shared encouraging findings from Mastercard’s latest employee survey, which included questions about AI for the first time. Results showed that employees are “incredibly excited about the benefits that AI can have in their work” and are eager to build confidence and fluency with the technology.
The company has implemented a democratized approach to AI education, offering resources tailored to employees’ learning journeys and specific job families. Whether someone works in software development, consulting, or sales, training is customized to how they’ll actually use AI technology in their roles.
Borgonovo identified the speed of change as her biggest challenge, emphasizing the need to develop people quickly enough to match business needs while future-proofing the organization. She noted that innovation and technology, social impact, and company culture serve as the three anchors making Mastercard an attractive employer, with employee referrals ranking as the No. 2 recruitment source.
Key Quotes
Whether there was a playbook before the pandemic, you’re kind of throwing it out the window because you have to reimagine the art of the possible.
Lucrecia Borgonovo, Mastercard’s Chief Talent and Organizational Effectiveness Officer, explained how the pandemic fundamentally disrupted traditional workforce strategies, forcing companies to completely rethink their approach to talent management and development in an AI-driven era.
We’re about to embark on providing our people leaders an AI digital coach that can support them in those key moments, for them to be able to practice having rich, candid, and valuable performance and feedback conversations.
Borgonovo revealed Mastercard’s upcoming AI coaching tool designed to help managers improve their leadership skills during critical employee interactions, demonstrating how AI can augment human capabilities in people management rather than replace them.
For the first time in our employee survey, we asked a question about AI, and what we’ve learned is our employees are incredibly excited about the benefits that AI can have in their work.
This finding from Mastercard’s latest employee survey reveals positive workforce sentiment toward AI adoption, contradicting fears about employee resistance and suggesting that transparent communication and proper training can generate enthusiasm rather than anxiety about AI transformation.
From an HR standpoint, we’re very much looking forward to leveraging the incredible value of this platform, not only in terms of increasing the quality of work but also freeing up time for people to be more focused on innovation and their personal well-being.
Borgonovo articulated Mastercard’s human-centered philosophy for AI implementation, emphasizing that the technology should enhance work quality while creating space for creativity and employee wellness, rather than simply driving productivity gains.
Our Take
Mastercard’s approach represents a mature, strategic vision for AI workforce integration that goes beyond the hype. What’s particularly noteworthy is the company’s focus on AI as an enabler of human potential rather than a replacement for workers. The AI digital coach for managers is especially innovative—it addresses a critical gap where AI can genuinely add value without threatening jobs.
The emphasis on democratized access and role-specific training shows sophisticated change management thinking. Rather than one-size-fits-all AI training, Mastercard recognizes that a software engineer and a sales professional need different AI competencies. This tailored approach likely contributes to the positive employee sentiment they’re seeing.
Most significantly, Borgonovo’s candid discussion of speed of change as the primary challenge resonates across the industry. The real competitive advantage won’t come from AI technology itself—which is increasingly commoditized—but from how quickly organizations can upskill their workforce to leverage it effectively. Mastercard’s multi-pronged strategy of talent marketplaces, AI coaching, and comprehensive training programs provides a roadmap other enterprises should study carefully.
Why This Matters
This interview provides crucial insights into how major corporations are preparing their workforce for an AI-driven future. Mastercard’s comprehensive approach—combining AI-powered talent marketplaces, digital coaching tools, and democratized AI education—represents a blueprint for enterprise-scale AI adoption in human resources.
The story is particularly significant because it addresses the dual narrative surrounding AI in the workplace: the technology as both disruptive threat and transformative opportunity. Mastercard’s employee survey results showing excitement rather than fear about AI suggest that proper education and transparent implementation can shift workforce sentiment positively.
For the broader AI industry, this demonstrates that successful AI integration requires more than just technology deployment—it demands comprehensive change management, tailored training programs, and tools that empower rather than replace human workers. The emphasis on using AI to free up time for innovation and well-being, rather than simply increasing productivity, offers a human-centered model for AI adoption that other organizations can emulate. As companies across industries grapple with AI transformation, Mastercard’s experience provides valuable lessons on workforce development, leadership enablement, and cultural adaptation in the age of artificial intelligence.
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