“People build software.”
Marilyn McDonald is a visionary executive whose career has been defined by bold innovation, empathetic leadership, and a relentless drive to transform the digital landscape across multiple industries. With over 18 years of executive experience spanning financial services, e-commerce, and pharmaceutical sectors, Marilyn has consistently brought strategic clarity, technological excellence, and human-centered design to the forefront of enterprise transformation. At the core of her leadership philosophy is a fundamental belief in people—their capacity to build, grow, and create revolutionary digital solutions that not only serve the business but elevate the human experience.
Marilyn is currently consulting with two dynamic technology organizations. One engagement is with a European Issuer Processor serving customers across Europe and Asia. The other is with a Cloud cost optimization platform team, where she contributes strategic insights to improve their product strategy and go-to-market approach. In these roles, she continues to deliver cross-functional leadership that blends technical rigor with customer-centric design, helping teams develop enterprise-scale solutions that drive impact across diverse markets and use cases.
From June 2023 to February 2025, Marilyn served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Digital & Innovation at Moderna, where she led cross-functional teams—including product managers, user researchers, engineers, data experts, and innovation specialists—to architect and deliver seamless, customer-centric digital experiences. She implemented enterprise systems that provided a comprehensive 360-degree view of customer and product data, forming a critical infrastructure for decision-making and commercial growth. Marilyn spearheaded the development of direct ordering platforms, streamlined customer onboarding, and advanced commercial business intelligence tools. She oversaw digital solutions for healthcare providers and medical liaisons, ensured compliance, and developed technologies that empowered global sales and marketing teams. Notably, she introduced a generative AI-powered translation service that drastically reduced localization costs and accelerated operations. Under her leadership, Moderna integrated generative AI tools—including OpenAI technologies—into its digital strategy, driving innovation, operational excellence, and transformative outcomes across the organization.
Prior to her role at Moderna, Marilyn held a pivotal position at Mastercard as Senior Vice President of Customer Interoperability. She led a global team of 1,600 professionals and managed a $90M budget to drive digital excellence across the franchise. Her accomplishments included rebuilding the marketing technology stack for Mastercard in partnership with the CMO, consolidating communication systems across a global organization, and launching Mastercard’s “Single Front Door for Humans” initiative. This work unified the company’s B2B interface, improved customer satisfaction by 1300 basis points within months, and introduced engineering standards that were adopted by over 400 global teams.
Marilyn’s leadership journey is also marked by a transformative tenure at StubHub, where she served as both Senior Director of Product and interim Co-CTO. She led global engineering operations spanning San Francisco, Spain, and China, ushering in a culture of experimentation and continuous learning. Her initiatives around Lean UX and curated monetization strategies led to measurable increases in conversion rates and new revenue streams. She also built institutionalized practices for price testing and analytics, deeply embedding data-driven decision-making into StubHub’s product DNA.
At Citi, Marilyn was Director of Product Management for Global Digital & Cloud Technology, where she revolutionized the digital banking experience by driving transformation across people, tech, and culture. She championed the development of microservices, redesigned organizational interaction models, and introduced a standardized product documentation framework that shaped investment strategy across the business.
Earlier in her career, Marilyn held a director role at Expedia Group, where she designed core transaction platforms used across global brands such as Expedia.com, Orbitz, and Travelocity. Her innovations included a powerful reconciliation engine that reduced financial error rates and delivered enhanced accuracy across a sprawling e-commerce ecosystem.
Her tenure at Amazon and AWS marked the beginning of a remarkable run in global payments innovation. Marilyn launched Amazon Local Register, built platforms for in-person transactions, and managed multimillion-dollar foreign exchange operations. Her strategic initiatives increased currency coverage for AWS to over 94% of worldwide revenue and enabled Amazon’s B2B payment systems to thrive in global markets such as Australia and Japan. She holds two patents pending from her time at Amazon, reflecting her contributions to signature capture and loyalty systems.
Beyond her corporate achievements, Marilyn has actively shaped the next generation of technologists through speaking engagements at Women in AI, private pharma transformation events, and numerous women-in-tech forums. Her commitment to mentorship, equity, and diversity is evident in her founding of Women@Amazon and the Circles Program at both Amazon and Citi. She has served as a board member and treasurer for non-profits, including Last Hope K9 and Magic Box Productions, and she is a trusted advisor through her participation on product, STEM, and customer experience boards.
Academically, Marilyn brings intellectual rigor with studies from Northern Arizona University and executive education from Cambridge Judge Business School in strategic management. She is also a fellow at The Economic Club of New York and a certified graduate of the Behavior Design Bootcamp led by BJ Fogg, underscoring her passion for understanding the human element in digital interactions. Her publication, Forex Simplified, offers retail investors a clear guide into the world of leveraged foreign exchange trading—yet another example of her commitment to demystifying complex systems for broader audiences.
Throughout her career, Marilyn has remained focused on building scalable, inclusive, and innovative digital ecosystems. She continues to redefine what it means to lead in an era driven by technological change but grounded in human empathy. She is a force in aligning corporate strategy with digital execution and has created models of excellence in every organization she has touched.
Character:
Marilyn’s leadership is anchored in empathy and inclusiveness. She cultivates trust-based cultures that empower diverse teams to innovate, take risks, and thrive together.
Knowledge:
With deep expertise in payments, product management, and digital ecosystems, Marilyn blends technical knowledge with strategic insight. Her decisions are informed by real-world experience, academic training, and an unwavering commitment to data-driven thinking.
Strategic:
Marilyn’s ability to connect long-term business objectives with near-term execution plans has led to the transformation of global platforms and multimillion-dollar product lines. She anticipates market shifts and positions her teams to lead rather than follow.
Communication:
A powerful communicator and public speaker, Marilyn can inspire global teams and boardrooms alike. She articulates complex technical ideas with clarity and passion, creating alignment across stakeholders and departments.
