Business operations · Decision systems · Execution

Robert
Perry
Morris

An operator who turns ambiguous, under-governed business problems into clear decisions and repeatable systems.

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Operating thesis

Finding structure in ambiguous business problems

I'm an operator who looks for structure in ambiguous problems. Across 14 years at Citi and KeyBank, I have led teams close to the transaction, worked on markets and balance-sheet decisions, and built portfolio processes where data, judgment, controls, and execution have to stay connected.

The common thread is not a bank function or a particular tool. I learn how an organization works, find where a decision needs more structure, and build a clearer way to make and carry it out. Analytics, process design, and automation matter when they make that system faster, more reliable, or easier to govern.

At KeyBank, that currently includes credit risk-rating and line-freeze automation, exposure management, a completed Regulation B process automation, and early-stage revolving-line-to-term work with Product and Fair Lending. Banking is where I built this operating pattern; it is not the ceiling on where I can apply it.

Experience

Current scope and the progression behind it

KeyBank

Vice President, Business Banking Portfolio Analytics

Current focus: risk decisions that work in practice

2025–Present

  • Designing credit risk-rating and line-freeze automation with the governance required to operate it.
  • Operating an existing exposure model and acting on its signals; it has identified roughly $55M in exposure, with roughly $3M recovered.
  • Fully automated a manual, Excel-based Regulation B adverse-action process handling hundreds of applications a day, with output monitored by risk partners.
  • Working with Product and Fair Lending on an early-stage revolving-line-to-term initiative.

What I bring

The role brings portfolio analytics, process design, risk governance, and cross-functional implementation together.

Citi

A progression from the transaction to the balance sheet

2010–2024

  1. 2010–2019 FX operations and settlement—led global processing teams close to the transaction.
  2. 2019–2021 Equity derivatives product control—led daily P&L control and a six-person team.
  3. 2021–2024 Liquidity management and market risk—moved into balance-sheet, stress, and cross-functional operating work.

What I learned

That progression taught me to see a problem from the workflow, the numbers, and the control environment at the same time—and to move between frontline detail and senior cross-functional decisions.

Selected work

Four examples of the pattern in practice

KeyBankActive initiative

Credit risk-rating and freeze automation

Risk actions on credit cards and revolving lines need to keep pace as relationships change. The work is turning rating downgrades and line-freeze decisions into a repeatable process with clear rules, ownership, exceptions, procedures, and monitoring.

Result

A governed, repeatable workflow for consistent risk action—currently in development.

RoleDesigning the automation, decision rules, and governance; the initiative has no final outcome metric yet.

CitiCompleted

SWIFT savings through direct settlement

A client's settlement setup relied on a third party, creating network costs that were easy to miss at the headline-process level. A product-processor review surfaced the opportunity, followed by the sustained client and operational work required to establish direct SWIFT settlement.

Result

Approximately $29M in annual network settlement savings.

RoleI identified the opportunity and drove the client migration through implementation.

CitiCompleted team effort

Balance-sheet response during the 2023 crisis

During the 2023 regional-banking crisis, deposits and HQLA had to be repositioned entity by entity to strengthen liquidity and keep more funding within Citi's US entities. The work required close coordination with international Treasury teams, including Dubai and Hong Kong.

Result

Roughly $10B optimized; roughly $5B able to remain within Citi's US entities.

RoleCore, hands-on contributor to the team effort—not sole owner of the result.

Across Citi and KeyBankCross-career portfolio

Other enhancements

Across roles, I have looked for recurring work that could be made cleaner and more reliable. The individual changes were often small, but built around the people who had to run and trust the process.

  • Spreadsheet enhancements
  • Commentary automation for repetitive P&L pushes
  • Daily and manual upload automation
  • Verification and QC automation

Result

Cumulatively, these improvements saved hundreds of hours while making recurring outputs more consistent and easier to verify.

RoleWork I built or directly improved across multiple roles; the time saved is cumulative, not a single-project claim.

Capabilities

Tools for clearer decisions and reliable execution

Decision Systems

  • Decision Framing
  • Portfolio & Risk Analytics
  • Performance Signals
  • Scenario Analysis

Governance & Execution

  • Operating Model Design
  • Control Design
  • Procedures & Monitoring
  • Cross-Functional Implementation

Process & Automation

  • Workflow Redesign
  • Python & SQL Automation
  • BI & Reporting Systems
  • Regulated Process Execution

Leadership & Translation

  • Lean-Team Leadership
  • Stakeholder Alignment
  • Knowledge Transfer
  • Executive Communication

Leadership

Leadership across teams, systems, and communities

Lean Technical Modernization

Developing a long-tenured direct report with deep institutional data knowledge as they work on a legacy-system migration to GCP and legacy-product automation, pairing modernization with durable knowledge transfer in a small, high-leverage team.

Citi Buffalo Pride

Co-founded and grew Citi Buffalo's Pride employee network to more than 300 active members.

Training & Enablement

Designed and facilitated 25+ cross-functional workshops across Citi Buffalo, translating technical and operational topics into practical tools teams could use.

Conversation

Let's compare notes

I'm interested in work where problems need new solutions and a fresh set of eyes—especially when the answer has to reflect how operations flow, how risk is managed, and how disciplined execution can scale.

If you're working through something like that, I'd be glad to compare notes.

Email Rob LinkedIn 585.205.6387