From Wall Street to Washington: The CEO who is overhauling the IRS and SSA

Good morning. Taking on a dual role is no small feat. But how do you simultaneously run two of the government’s largest agencies, each with a budget in the billions?

Frank J. Bisignano, the current commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), has taken on that challenge. He was appointed to the newly created role of CEO of the Internal Revenue Service, making him the top day-to-day leader of the IRS as well. For a new Fortune feature, my colleague Shawn Tully sat down with Bisignano to discuss what it takes to tackle two massive jobs at once.

Bisignano previously spent most of his career in large financial institutions and fintech companies, including serving as CEO of both Fiserv and First Data. Earlier in his career, he was co–chief operating officer of J.P. Morgan Chase and CEO of its mortgage banking unit.

Now, Bisignano is running the SSA and IRS much like the private sector firms he has made a career of fixing, according to Tully. He oversees both the largest retirement system in the world—which pays out $1.5 trillion annually to more than 70 million beneficiaries—and what Tully calls “a planet-topping revenue machine” that collects more than $5 trillion in annual taxes, funding over 90% of the federal government’s operations.

What Tully emphasizes about Bisignano is that he’s an operator, not a bureaucrat. “He’s bringing his restructuring skills to two areas that feature combined operating budgets of over $30 billion and workforces totaling around 150,000—and that famously need a big lift in efficiency and customer service,” Tully writes.

Bisignano’s push to modernize the IRS, in particular, should be closely watched by finance and accounting professionals who interact with the agency. Drawing on his experience leading digital transformations in the private sector, he is taking a more technology-driven approach to tax administration.

For companies and advisors, that could mean faster routine processing—but also more data-driven enforcement and less tolerance for inefficient documentation—making it increasingly important to upgrade systems, controls, and outreach strategies. To go deeper, you can read the full article here.

Sheryl Estrada
[email protected]

Leaderboard

Matt Horvath, CFO and treasurer at Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE: SRI), an electronic systems provider, has resigned, effective March 31, to pursue an opportunity in a different industry sector. Stoneridge has initiated a search to identify a CFO. Until a permanent replacement is appointed, Robert Hartman, chief accounting officer, will work closely with Horvath over the next two months. Hartman has a total of 27 years with Stoneridge.

William H. White was appointed CFO of Quantum Corporation (Nasdaq: QMCO), a technology company that provides solutions for unstructured data. White brings more than two decades of experience. Most recently, White served as CFO and head of revenue operations at Emotive, a venture-backed SaaS company. Earlier in his career, White was managing partner at Goldblum Lentz & Co., where he advised on mergers, acquisitions, and capital transactions.

Big Deal

According to Gallup’s latest employee engagement survey, 31% of U.S. employees were actively engaged at work in 2025—the same as in 2024. This reflects some stability following a multi-year decline from a peak of 36% in 2020, which capped a decade of consistent growth. Each percentage point shift in active engagement reflects roughly 1.6 million full- or part-time workers. In total, the drop since 2020 represents about 8 million fewer engaged employees, including a loss of 3.2 million compared to 2023 alone, Gallup finds.

Going deeper

“When Monetary Policy Is Asked to Do Too Much” is a new article in Wharton’s business review. As turmoil surrounds the U.S. Federal Reserve, Patrick T. Harker, former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, explains that monetary policy cannot substitute for sustainable fiscal policy. “My time at the Fed taught me a valuable lesson: Prudent monetary policy is an essential underpinning of the American economy, but it cannot solve every economic problem,” Harker writes.

Overheard

“What we are seeing across the board is a desire for CEOs who bring more of a beginner’s mind and adaptability, and not a rigorous pushback to ‘how it used to be.'”

—Jason Baumgarten, partner at Spencer Stuart, told Fortune in an interview. Read more in the article, “AI is changing the CEO’s role—and could lead to a changing of the guard.”