Varo Bank has hired Asmau Ahmed as its first Chief Artificial Intelligence and Data Officer (CAIDO) to lead company-wide AI and machine-learning efforts. Ahmed has over 20 years of experience in leading teams and delivering products at Google X, Bank of America, Capital One, and Deloitte. She will focus on advancing Varo’s mission-driven tech evolution and improving customers’ financial experiences through AI. Varo uses AI to enhance its credit-decisioning processes, and Ahmed’s expertise will help guide future institution-wide advancements in AI.

Title: Varo Bank Appoints Asmau Ahmed as Chief Artificial Intelligence and Data Officer

Varo Bank, the first all-digital nationally chartered bank in the U.S., has announced the hiring of Asmau Ahmed as its first Chief Artificial Intelligence and Data Officer (CAIDO). Ahmed, who brings over 20 years of expertise in innovation from Google, Bank of America, and Capital One, will lead the company’s AI and machine-learning efforts, reporting directly to CEO Gavin Michael [1].

Ahmed’s appointment comes as Varo Bank continues to leverage AI to enhance its core functions. The bank has expanded credit access by using data and advanced machine learning-driven decisioning, reinforcing its mission of advancing financial inclusion with technology. The Varo Line of Credit, launched in 2024, uses self-learning models to improve its credit-decisioning processes based on proprietary algorithms, allowing some customers with reliable Varo banking histories access to loans that traditional credit score systems would have excluded [1].

Ahmed’s extensive experience includes leading technology, portfolio, and customer-facing product teams at Bank of America and Capital One, as well as co-leading the Digital Innovation team at Deloitte. She has also founded a visual search advertising tech company, Plum Perfect. Her expertise will be instrumental in guiding Varo Bank’s future advancements in AI.

“As a nationally-chartered bank, Varo is able to use data and AI in an innovative way that stands out across the finance industry,” said Ahmed. “Today we are applying machine learning for underwriting, as well as fraud prevention and detection. I am thrilled to lead the next phase of Varo’s mission-driven tech evolution and ensure AI can improve our customers’ experiences and financial lives” [1].

Varo Bank’s AI and data science efforts are designed to enhance various core functions of the company’s tech stack. The appointment of Ahmed as CAIDO underscores the bank’s commitment to leveraging AI to improve customer experiences and financial outcomes.

References

[1] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250904262245/en/Varo-Bank-to-Accelerate-Responsible-and-Customer-Focused-AI-Efforts-with-New-Chief-Artificial-Intelligence-Officer-Asmau-Ahmed

At the end of February, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees adopted its first artificial intelligence policy.

The board produced its policy statement with little attempt to engage faculty and students in meaningful discussions about the serious problems that may arise from AI.

At UT Martin, the Faculty Senate approved the board’s policy statement in late April, also without significant input from faculty or students.

In Section V of the document, “Policy Statement and Guiding Principles,” the first subsection states: “UT Martin embraces the use of AI as a powerful tool for the purpose of enhancing human learning, creativity, analysis, and innovation within the academic context.”

The document notes potential problems such as academic integrity, the compromise of intellectual property rights and the security of protected university data. But it does not address what may be the most dangerous and most likely consequence of AI’s rapid growth: the limiting of human learning, creativity, analysis and innovation.

Over the past two years, faculty in the humanities have seen students increasingly turn to AI, even for low-stakes assignments. AI allows students to bypass the effort of trying to understand a reading.

If students attempt a difficult text and struggle to make sense of it, they can ask AI to explain. More often, however, students skip reading altogether and ask AI for a summary, analysis or other grade-directed answers.

In approaching a novel, a historical narrative or even the social realities of our own time, readers start with limited knowledge of the characters, events or forces at play. To understand a character’s motives, the relationship between events, or the social, economic and political interests driving them, we must construct and refine a mental image—a hypothesis—through careful reading.

This process is the heart of education. Only by grappling with a text, a formula or a method for solving a problem do we truly learn. Without that effort, students may arrive at the “right” answer, but they have not gained the tools to understand the problems they face—or to live morally and intelligently in the world.

As complex as a novel or historical narrative may be, the real world is far more complex. If we rely on AI’s interpretation instead of building our own understanding, we deprive ourselves of the skills needed to engage with that complexity.

UT Martin’s mission statement says: “The University of Tennessee at Martin educates and engages responsible citizens to lead and serve in a diverse world.” Yet we fail this mission in many ways. Most students do not follow current events and are unaware of pressing issues. Few leave the university with a love of reading, despite its importance to responsible citizenship.

With this new AI policy, the university risks compounding these failures by embracing a technology that may further erode students’ ability to think critically about the world around them.

When social media was first introduced, it took off like wildfire. Millions and now billions welcomed this new technology that claimed to “connect” us all.

And, in some cases, that’s exactly what it does. For many, social media helps them find like-minded people, support communities they might not have discovered otherwise, or opportunities for self-expression. Just the other day, I posted photos from a camping trip and loved watching friends and family from all over the world chime in with their comments.

With all of the big promises (and big potential) of social media, it was shocking for us to learn over more recent years that it’s been linked to an uptick in mental distress, self-harm, and even suicidality.[i] Only now are we analyzing our social media usage in a thoughtful way, attempting to undo its lasting impact on our mental health while still preserving the parts that serve us.

I anticipate a similar societal arc for everyone’s new favorite tool: artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots. It’s impossible to deny that the generative AI revolution is upon us; its effects are already underway. But we still have the opportunity to reflect here and now, sooner rather than later, preventing ourselves from repeating history. I’m not proposing we abandon AI or pretend it doesn’t exist. But now, more than ever, we need to reconnect with our humanity. We need to protect our brains by relying on our souls, using our spiritual intelligence to light the way.

Research Reveals AI’s Power

A yet-unpublished study out of MIT[ii] caught my eye, laying out the not-so-hidden cost of AI on our brains. When people leaned on ChatGPT to complete creative tasks, their brains showed reduced neural engagement, their work felt “soulless,” and they retained little memory of what they had just produced. Researchers called this “cognitive debt,” a dulling of our inner spark or originality that can occur when we outsource too much of our thinking.

Of course, there are more extreme examples of AI affecting mental health, like the story of a young man who, after conversing with ChatGPT for more than 16 hours a day, died by suicide after the bot echoed sentiments that supported his break from reality.[iii] “AI-induced psychosis” as a term has entered our lexicon,[iv] as researchers warn against the use of chatbot therapists.[v]

All these cautionary tales raise a deeper question: How do we preserve our humanity, our spark, and our sense of self in the age of intelligent machines? And what might our role be in this new age?

Evolution, Not Oblivion

To draw from another historical narrative, the industrial and agricultural revolutions once thrust humanity into similarly unprecedented evolutions. As machines began to replace human manual labor in the fields and on the factory floor, we were forced to adapt to our current lifestyles. Now, many of us in the United States primarily sit at desks throughout the day, but have we allowed our legs to atrophy? No, despite no longer needing physical strength to survive, we still hit the gym, go for walks, or simply stretch in the mornings. As a species, we refused to lose what we had to use for our livelihoods.

And on a larger level, while many feared us being rendered obsolete, humankind was then freed up to step into knowledge-worker roles. Much of the discovery and innovation we celebrate today is a result of this new emphasis on the power of human brainpower.

What we once did for our physical strength, we must now do for our cognitive strength. Just as we protected (and still enjoy) our muscles, we must protect and enjoy our brains. We must lean into what makes humans special, even in the age of AI. And we can do it through our spiritual intelligence (SI).

Spiritual Intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence

Spiritual Intelligence, or SI — the ability to draw on spiritual resources and embody qualities from the world’s spiritual and wisdom traditions to enhance functioning and well-being — can offer a necessary counterbalance in the world of “soulless” AI, as well as a path forward for our humanity.

AI can help check our grammar; SI can remind us why we love to write. AI can synthesize articles; SI can help us rediscover our love of learning. AI can crunch data; SI can help us see the big picture, reconnecting to the larger purpose behind our daily work. And, while AI can change our brains for the worse, SI practices such as meditation have the power to rewire neural structure for the better.[vi]

And, in this new age of abundance and prosperity produced by AI, what will set humans apart, ensuring we still have something unique to contribute, is our SI. Newly unburdened, we can devote our energy to nurturing deeper connections with ourselves and each other, caring for our families, children, and one another. We can focus on creating, playing, and exploring both our inner and outer worlds, taking the time to express ourselves the way only we can.

This might mean caregiving and social work roles rise in demand, as society places greater value on empathy, compassion, and the human touch. It could also mean that fields centered on creativity, artistry, and meaning-making undergo a renaissance, as people turn toward expression and innovation that cannot be generated by machines. The future of work, and of humanity on the whole, may shift from efficiency and material production to heartfelt, compassionate presence and meaningful purpose.

Properly used, AI need not compete with nor make obsolete our humanity, but rather enhance it. Several start-ups are already developing spiritual coaching applications that individually tailor suggested practices. Perhaps, one day, we might even see an AI spiritual intelligence coach.

If you or someone you love is contemplating suicide, seek help immediately. For help 24/7 dial 988 for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. To find a therapist near you, visit the Psychology Today Therapy Directory.