“Innovation. Central banking. Isn’t that an oxymoron?” That was the thought bubble in my head five years ago when I was approached about becoming the first Chief Innovation Officer of the Federal Reserve System. Having spent much of my career at the nexus of finance, tech, and crypto - often making good trouble on the other side of the policy folks - I was skeptical. But my curiosity superseded my skepticism. So I said yes! What followed was a master class in central banking. And I can disabuse any notion that innovation in central banking is an oxymoron. In fact, I would submit that in a world where the volume, variety, and velocity of technologies - AI, stablecoins, tokenization, quantum, and more - keep throttling up, innovation is an imperative for institutions, public and private alike, to meet the moment. A few lessons from five years of hands-on-keys building: • gnarly problems over shiny objects. Chasing the tech leaves you with a boneyard of zombie projects. The real unlock comes from obsessing over process friction and customer irritants and shipping outcomes that actually move the business or the mission forward. • the bold and the boring. The glitzy moments are powered by unglamorous discipline - the rhythms, the rigor, the reps. The real work is the scaffolding behind the wins on the board. And often, making the call when the risk of inaction outweighs the risk of action. • get in the arena. Innovation is a team sport - make that a full-contact sport. No spectators. The best outcomes happen when business, technologists, operators, and your BFFs in legal, security, and risk get in it together - alongside strong public-private partnership. I leapt in not knowing exactly what I was getting into except that I wanted to serve my country, take on a steep learning curve, and make a meaningful dent. Check. Super grateful to the many colleagues and partners who were part of the journey and helped build a durable culture of innovation. Now, on to the next adventure - perpetual beta!

I frequently quote this bit from @dhmeyer. The best people I've been lucky to work with have the excellence reflex. If you don't see it in anyone with you work with, you're on the wrong team.

My Saturday fun project: using AI, every US president as a Pixar character.

Resilience is not resistance to suffering. It's the capacity to bend without breaking. Strength doesn't come from ignoring pain. It stems from knowing that your past self has hurt and your future self will heal. Fortitude is the presence of resolve, not the absence of hardship.

Ideas are easy. Execution is hard.

In the latest Central Banker e-newsletter: Leaders of the FRED team discuss how innovation motivates their work in a Timely Topics podcast, and a Regional Economist article looks at the effects of stopping emergency unemployment benefits on job growth ow.ly/n8sv50KhW3M

I had to make a before and after to really appreciate how good the James Webb Telescope really is.

🚀gearing up for quality time at #consensus2022, listening & learning from builders in fintech & crypto 🔥delighted to connect crypto<>fed communities, facilitate meaningful convos, explore opps to collab w/ industry & academia 🙏🏽grateful to lead session on demystifying the Fed

Third round bound. #LetsGoOilers

As you become an adult, you realize that things around you weren't just always there; people made them happen. But only recently have I started to internalize how much tenacity *everything* requires. That hotel, that park, that railway. The world is a museum of passion projects.

Five types of people you want to surround yourself with: the inspired, the passionate, the motivated, the grateful and the open minded.

The Fed often takes a lot of heat for being behind the curve... but what if those assumptions are wrong? Chief Innovation Officer at the @federalreserve, @Sunayna sat down with @colleenklein to shed light on the many facets of work that the #Fed does.

The shock cycle: - Assume good news is permanent. - Oblivious to bad news. - Ignore bad news. - Deny bad news. - Panic at bad news. - Accept bad news. - Ignore good news. - Deny good news. - Accept good news. - Assume good news is permanent.

Our Digital Currency Conference program continues with a fireside chat on the importance of innovation in #payments with the @federalreserve's first Chief Innovation Officer @Sunayna Tuteja, who emphasises the need for central banks to innovate with the end user in mind

🔋energizing time at #ETHDenver, listening & learning from an impressive gathering of builders in DeFi, web3, overall blockchain innovation ecosystem. 🌱grateful for the opportunity to engage with a diversity of perspectives and flex my curiosity muscle. TY @EthereumDenver

The most expensive tasks that brains do are (1) moving your body and (2) learning something new. They have a metabolic cost that may feel unpleasant. So, feeling bad doesn't always mean that something bad happened. You might just be doing something really hard.

kindness ≠ weakness

North Carolina How it started How it's going

Our brains come preset to look at life up close. Don't forget to zoom out.