General Motors Co. announced that former Visa Chairman and CEO Alfred F. Kelly Jr. has joined its board of directors, according to a Sept. 5 press release.
Kelly, 66, served as the credit card company’s top executive from 2016 to 2023, and was elected chairman of the board in 2019. He became executive chairman in 2023, retiring from the board in January.
Kelly navigated Visa through a tumultuous period, Payments Dive reported, including the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and stock market fluctuations. GM also highlighted the executive’s digital payments experience and his leadership through a period “unprecedented technological change.”
“Al Kelly’s incredible financial, tech, and consumer insights are a great complement to GM’s board as we unlock new growth opportunities in electric vehicles, autonomous technology, and software and services,” said Mary Barra, GM chair and CEO, in the release.
Including Kelly, GM’s board has 13 directors, with experience across manufacturing, information technology, digital commerce, defense, transportation and cybersecurity, among other fields. Six of GM’s directors are women and 12 are independent, the release said.
Kelly is the automaker’s first board appointment since April 2023, when it named Jan E. Tighe, former U.S. Navy deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of naval intelligence, to the board. Earlier this year, Aneel Bhusri, chairperson of Workday, transitioned from GM’s board to the board of autonomous vehicle unit Cruise, according to the company’s 2024 proxy statement.
GM has been implementing a “board refresh” in recent years, the proxy stated, electing eight new directors over the last five years. The company’s governance committee prioritized preserving the board’s diversity, while also adding directors with experience in technology, industry, marketing and cybersecurity.
