Don Relyea is Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Digital Officer for Employee Segment at U.S. Bank. In these roles, he works with the Digital, Innovation, Legal, and Technology teams to develop strategic assessments of emerging technologies and products, and their potential role within the company. He also negotiates intellectual property agreements in partnership with business lines, in-house legal experts, and outside counsel.
An avid inventor with more than 100 U.S. patents, Relyea’s career has spanned sectors in banking, telecommunications, interactive gaming, and web development, with focus areas in innovation, technology, design, and customer experience. He loves to bring people together for collaboration, problem solving, ideation, and strategy sessions, and enjoys mentoring young colleagues and innovators.
Relyea has more than 25 years of experience designing and developing award-winning customer experiences. Prior to U.S. Bank, he held leadership roles covering design, intellectual property and innovation at BBVA, Barclays, Verizon and others. His background also includes time as a video game designer, including a Star Wars 3D game that was featured on the Conan O’Brien show. His first job out of college included designing and developing the first website for Coke.
Relyea earned his BFA in Fine Arts and his BBS in Management Information Systems from Southern Methodist University.