What worries you about the American economy?

I think for America to be successful, we’ve got to keep remembering that this system we have that allows people to be successful—no matter where they go, where they come from, whether they went to college or not—is critical. That capitalistic system, done right with the safety net to make sure that it’s fair, that it provides some fairness and that we don’t leave people behind, that’s the key.

You chair the Sustainable Markets Initiative, which works to create private-sector solutions for climate and sustainability problems. Two years ago, every CEO wanted to talk about ESG. Today, it’s pretty quiet. What happened?

It's not profits or purpose, it's profits and purpose. "The genius of the and," it’s called. We believe in that to our core.

The President has repeatedly called out Bank of America for refusing him as a customer. How do you deal with a sitting President calling out you and your bank?

This company’s been around since 1784. Our job is to work with every Administration, and make them successful. Because when America is successful, we’re successful.

Should AI be able to decide who gets a loan?

The worry about AI is, will it discriminate? We don’t let that happen. We don’t just let the model do it. Whatever tool we use, we’re responsible for the outcome.

Is AI a threat to your employees’ jobs?

If they work at Bank of America, they shouldn’t be worried.

Students booed a number of graduation speakers this year who chose to talk about the progress that AI is bringing. Who's right? 

Kids are worried about whether it's going to eliminate all jobs and all that, which isn't true. I'd listen to what Steve Wozniak said. I think he said it's actual intelligence I'm looking at.

What’s the best summer job you’ve ever had?

Working in the water sewer department, because I learned about stuff that nobody would ever learn.

Have you ever been fired?

Technically no. Have I eliminated my job? Yeah ... I did that more than once. I literally said, this position should go away. And then I ended up somewhere else.

You’re 66 years old, and you’ve been CEO for 17 years. When will you know when it’s time to step down?

If you don’t thrill to this job every day, you don’t really try to be curious and drive it, you don’t try to maintain your ability to let people move and prosper and drive it, if you’re blocking, that’s when you gotta go.

I’ve got a wonderful team and a lot of teammates. They don’t let you get stale because they’re pushing you every day. But I also have to develop talent—and we have lots of great talent. We run a deep process every six months to see who could run the company, not only for the next year if I got hit by the proverbial truck, but also for the decades ahead. Because somewhere in this company are the people who are going to run it in the year 2035 and beyond.