Making a great experience is beyond rewarding.
Leading at scale: FinTech, security, and AI.
- Name
- Marcus Couto
- Role
- Executive Director, User Centered Design
- Organization
- JPMorgan Chase
- Scope
- Trust & Security portfolio — 35 million customers
- Standards
- FIDO Alliance, UX Working Group
- Tenure
- 16+ years — McAfee · Intel Security · Align Technology · JPMorgan Chase
- Through-line
- Passwordless
What I do
Passkeys and passwordless sign-in
Making the most secure option also the easiest one.
FIDO Alliance UX Working Group
Shaping global authentication experience standards.
Identity verification
Confidence in who someone is, without making it costly for the customer.
Fraud and trust experiences
Protecting customers without punishing the legitimate ones.
AI-native design practice
AI-assisted delivery across design, product and engineering.
Agent identity and delegated authorization
How AI agents prove who they are and act safely on a customer’s behalf.
Design systems and design operations
So quality scales with the organization.
Accessibility and inclusive design
A floor, not a feature.
Selected work
Leading at scale
- 35M
- Customers in scope
- 16
- Years leading design
I am currently the Executive Director of User Centered Design at JPMorgan Chase, where I lead global teams in defining the digital experience for the Trust & Security portfolio. My work focuses on bridging the gap between rigorous security protocols and seamless user experiences for over 35 million customers. In practice that means passkeys and passwordless sign-in, identity verification, and the fraud moments where protecting someone and frustrating them are one design decision apart. I represent our design team in the FIDO Alliance UX Working Group, and I have orchestrated industry-level partnerships with Apple, Google and Microsoft to improve authentication standards (FIDO/Passkey) across platforms.
The other half of my work is applied AI. I lead an AI-native design practice, where my teams use AI across the design and research cycle, and I am increasingly designing for AI agents themselves, including how they prove who they are and act safely on a customer’s behalf. Solving complex business problems with a “customer-first” innovation mindset has not changed. The tools have.
A history of impact
- 6
- PC Magazine best product
- 2023
- Gold Stevie® Award
My expertise spans 16+ years of leadership in high-stakes industries. Prior to JPMC, I directed the User Centered Design team at Align Technology (Invisalign), where we built the product design team, the process and the design system from scratch and transformed the digital experience for a global medical device leader. That work won multiple American Business Awards (Stevie), including Gold in 2023.
Before that I led the User Experience team at McAfee and Intel Security for a decade, through the Intel acquisition and the McAfee spin-out. I led design for McAfee LiveSafe, which won the PC Magazine Award for Best Product six years running, and for True Key, a biometric multi-factor identity product built on the principle that “you are the password.”
Passwordless has been my through-line ever since.
Operational excellence & AI-native delivery
I am used to fast-paced environments where multiple complex requirements converge. To manage that at scale I specialize in design operations: structured, high-visibility frameworks that give design teams the clarity to do their best work, evolving well beyond traditional Agile and Scrum. I have scaled these processes from small squads to large, cross-functional global organizations, overseeing product design for web, mobile (iOS and Android), wearables and IoT devices.
More recently that work has become AI-native. I guide adoption of the BMAD Method with GitHub Copilot across multiple models, so that design, product, engineering and analytics all start from shared context instead of a document nobody read. My teams use AI for early prototypes, wireframes, research synthesis and more, and the list keeps growing about as fast as the tools do. What I care most about is the human part: keeping human-in-the-loop review where judgment actually matters, and being deliberate about how much authority agentic systems are given and how they are held accountable for it.
The personal side
Beyond the pixels and strategy, I am a family-oriented person. I am the proud father of two — an 11-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy — and I love spending time with them and my wife.
As a Brazilian, soccer is part of my DNA. I still love to play and watch matches whenever I can. My heart beats for the Brazil national team, Real Madrid, Flamengo and São Paulo.
My philosophy
I believe that we spend too much time with our colleagues to not make it meaningful. I am dedicated to building inclusive, high-performing cultures where we can celebrate success, learn from our customers, and keep the passion alive. Seeing customers enjoy the products we create gives me tremendous satisfaction, but seeing my team grow and succeed gives me a sense of purpose.
Working notes
Design Process
Discover, optimize, validate — nine questions a team has to be able to answer, and the operational model that keeps design ahead of the development sprint.
7 Design Principles
Start with the end-user. Craft shows care. Be two steps ahead. Nudge when needed. Earn their trust. Be consistent and familiar. Build with a single focus.
Path to Success
What my team keeps in mind while working on a problem — understanding the customer better, and collaborating so the win is mutual.