Goldman alum Dina Powell McCormick joins Meta to lead AI partnerships

Dina Powell McCormick, a former partner who spent 16 years in senior roles at Goldman Sachs, joined Meta’s senior management team on Jan. 12, 2026 as president and vice chairman. Meta said she will help guide overall strategy and execution, with a particular focus on partnering with governments and investors as the company builds out large-scale AI and infrastructure projects.

The hire is a clear signal that Big Tech continues to recruit senior finance and government-relations talent with Wall Street pedigrees to accelerate capital-intensive AI and data-center builds. Powell McCormick’s Goldman tenure included work cultivating relationships with sovereign wealth funds and global finance clients, experience that aligns with Meta’s stated need to secure political and investment partnerships for its next phase of infrastructure expansion.

For current and former Goldman employees, the move underscores shifting career pathways for senior bankers and public-affairs professionals. Cross-sector transitions into technology and AI infrastructure roles are increasingly common, and competition for senior alumni talent is likely to intensify. Recruiting teams on both sides will be watching how compensation, equity and role scope are structured for executives who bring deep institutional investor networks and government ties.

The appointment also raises questions about corporate public-affairs strategy and political optics. Powell McCormick’s background includes senior government roles, and observers have flagged the potential sensitivities that come with blending high-profile public-sector experience and private-sector infrastructure ambitions. That dynamic can affect how companies staff lobbying, regulatory engagement and international investment teams, and it may prompt peers to reassess their own senior hiring mixes to balance technical, financial and policy expertise.

Operationally, Meta’s move illustrates the practical demands of scaling AI: negotiating host-country approvals, securing long-term capital commitments and coordinating with regulators and local stakeholders. Executives with access to sovereign funds and institutional investors can shorten deal timelines and ease financing for large builds, which is why firms are valuing those networks alongside engineering credentials.

For Goldman watchers, the hire is both a career signal and a reminder of alumni influence across industries. Recruiters, internal mobility teams and senior bankers should expect continued interest from tech firms seeking leaders who can marry capital markets savvy with government engagement. As companies race to deploy compute and data-center capacity, the competition for alumni with those dual capabilities will shape where talent moves next and how firms organize their public-affairs and investor-relations functions.