Peter Gwaltney, President & CEO, North Carolina Bankers Association

Invest: sat down with Peter Gwaltney, president and CEO of the North Carolina Bankers Association, to discuss growth across North Carolina’s banking sector, regulatory priorities, workforce development, and the industry’s evolving technology landscape. “Each bank is exploring AI in its own way, at its own pace, based on its infrastructure and capacity. The direction is clear, but the adoption path will look different across institutions,” Gwaltney said.

How would you characterize the state of North Carolina’s banking industry and the situation of NCBA members today?

I would characterize 2025 as a year of strong growth, profitability, and expansion. Our member banks were profitable, and the key metrics we monitor continued to grow, including capital, loans, deposits, and earnings. We also saw several banks expand into new markets within the state, and we had banks from outside of North Carolina expand into North Carolina as well.

In many cases, that expansion has happened through de novo branching. That means finding teams, establishing a physical presence, and opening new branches rather than entering a market primarily through acquisition. Overall, the banking environment across the state has remained active and competitive, and our members have continued to lean into that momentum.

What recent advocacy or legislative efforts best reflect the association’s impact on your members?

A great deal of our advocacy has been focused on regulatory right-sizing, or regulatory tailoring. Some people refer to this as deregulation, but that is not the case. The focus has been on shaping a regulatory scheme that is tailored to the risk, size, and scope of financial institutions rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.

Our role has been to educate members of our congressional delegation and other policymakers about what that means in practice. What does it mean to an individual bank in their district? What does it mean to the industry? More importantly, what does it mean to the economy? When you scale the regulatory burden down to an appropriate level, especially for a community bank, you can unleash capacity in a meaningful way. You can free up capital, time, and talent. That shows up in lending, service, and community investment.

We have also worked to educate bankers and the public through communications and outreach. There has been a dramatic amount of change in financial services, including shifts in regulatory approaches, the speed of technology adoption, and broader policy changes at the federal level. We see it as our responsibility to help people understand the practical impact.

How do you approach representing banks of different sizes and business models across the state?

We sit in a unique place. Our members include some of the largest banks in the country as well as some of the smallest banks, all doing business in North Carolina. Those institutions see the impacts of regulation, technology, and market conditions in different ways, but they all share an interest in stable, responsible growth and in serving customers and communities effectively.

Because we are close to so many different types of banks, we are able to synthesize what we hear and translate it into a clear narrative for stakeholders. That means helping policymakers understand how decisions affect real communities. It means helping bankers understand what opportunities are available to them. And it means helping the public understand what changes in banking actually mean in day-to-day life.

How are your workforce development efforts helping prepare future banking leaders?

Workforce development is extremely important to us, and it is a major component of our strategic plan at NCBA. Banks tell us consistently that they are looking for talent, and we are focused on strengthening the talent pipeline in practical, hands-on ways.

We work at every level of a bank. That includes training and education for boards of directors, senior leaders, and middle management. We also support emerging leaders through our Emerging Leaders Division, which has grown to close to 1,000 members. That group meets regularly, hosts an annual conference, and focuses on helping the next generation understand what it means to be a banker. Banking is a profession, and it comes with responsibility and expectations, so our goal is to support development in a way that prepares people for long-term leadership.

We also work on talent entry points through career fairs and university connections via our Future Bank Leaders program. In addition, we have launched BankWork$, a national initiative we are bringing to Raleigh. This program is designed for midlife individuals who want to explore a career in banking. We will provide an eight-week training course at no cost, using our training center that includes a teller line for role play and simulation. Participants will be taught basic banking skills, professionalism, and what to expect on the job. When they reach the end of their eight-week program, they will be introduced to bankers and interviewed at a career fair, bringing bank-ready candidates directly to our members.

A major barrier for many people interested in banking is that they do not know anyone in the industry and end up submitting résumés to an online system where they are one applicant among many. Our goal is to put them at the front of the line, with skills, training, and vetting completed on the front end, so banks can hire with greater confidence and candidates can start with momentum.

How is the industry responding to AI and other new technologies, and how might this change banking?

We focus a lot of attention on this. AI presents both opportunity and risk, and bankers are risk managers by profession. That means banks are being thoughtful and cautious about introducing AI into the workplace and about how it interacts with customer data. Customer data is handled with extremely high levels of protection, and that will not change.

Banks are also exploring how AI can increase efficiency and strengthen both profitability and risk management. AI can help review data, explore trends, produce reports, and identify risks faster and more consistently. It can also support efforts tied to fraud detection and compliance needs, such as unusual behavior monitoring. There are many potential use cases, from back-office functions to front-line insight.

Each bank is exploring AI in its own way, at its own pace, based on its infrastructure and capacity. The direction is clear, but the adoption path will look different across institutions.

Looking ahead, what is your outlook for the industry and the association’s priorities over the next two to three years?

I travel the state extensively, visiting banks, listening to their needs, and spending time with leaders in their local markets. Based on those conversations, I have been pleased with how 2025 went for our members, and the outlook for 2026 is similarly positive. Many banks are expecting another strong year while continuing to pursue different projects tied to expansion, technology, and service.

Our priorities are aligned with our members. We are focused on technology and education, and we are forming strategic partnerships with subject matter experts in areas such as AI, stablecoins, and digital assets. That work is designed to help our members understand what is changing and how to think about it in a disciplined way.

The goal is not to tell them what to buy or what to do, but how to think. Every bank is different, and they need to decide how they want to proceed with new tools, new products, and new expectations. Our job is to provide perspective, education, and the right connections so they can make decisions that fit their institutions and serve their communities well.