Sonny Sonnenstein

Sonny Sonnenstein is Chief Information Officer of Western Alliance Bank, where he is responsible for setting and executing the Bank’s enterprise technology strategy in support of growth, resilience, regulatory readiness, and operational excellence. In this role, he leads the Bank’s technology organization, overseeing digital platforms, core systems, data and analytics, infrastructure, and strategic technology partnerships. He reports to the Chief Banking Officer.

He brings more than three decades of experience in financial services, technology, and management consulting. Prior to joining Western Alliance Bank, Mr. Sonnenstein served as Group CIO for Consumer, Business, and Digital Banking at M&T Bank, where he led large scale modernization initiatives and supported the integration of People’s United Bank following its acquisition.

Before M&T, he was Enterprise CIO at Umpqua Bank and Deputy CIO at First Horizon, holding senior leadership roles across consumer, commercial, mortgage, data, and enterprise platforms. Earlier in his career, Mr. Sonnenstein worked in management consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers, advising domestic and global financial services firms on strategy and technology transformation, and held business strategy leadership roles at Wachovia (now Wells Fargo).

Mr. Sonnenstein holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Management Information Systems from Cornell University.